The FAO/SEAFDEC Regional Training Workshop held at the SEAFDEC Training Department at Samut Prakarn (Thailand), 9-12 September 2002 is one of the recent activities jointly organized by the two organizations in addressing issues and constraints in marine fisheries in the light of regional efforts in strengthening marine fisheries towards sustainability. The agenda of the workshop appears in Annex A. A total of 30 participants attended the workshop, from five countries of South Asia (Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Sri Lanka and Pakistan), eight countries of Southeast Asia (Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand and Viet Nam), and from the SEAFDEC Secretariat and Training Department in Bangkok and the SEAFDEC/MFRDMD (Marine Fisheries Resources Development and Management Department) based in Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia. The list of participants is attached in Annex B.
During the opening session, V. Hongskul of the FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific welcomed the participants on behalf of FAO. In his address, he appreciated the cooperation of SEAFDEC in the arrangement of the workshop. He emphasized the importance of good statistics in the region that would complement the work of scientists in an effort to understand the impact of fishing on the resources and the well-being of the users. He recalled a similar effort made by FAO in the late 1970s in the South China Sea area during which time the first analysis of the situation of resources in that region was being carried out and in which he was very much involved. The Deputy-Secretary General of SEAFDEC, J. Okamoto, welcomed the participants and emphasized the importance of stock assessment and statistics as a means to understand the status and potential of the resources in the complex tropical environment. The list of documents in Annex C and the welcoming addresses of FAO and SEAFDEC are in Annex D and E respectively.
