Opening of the Workshop

Mr Vu Van Trieu, Director of the Department of International Cooperation, Ministry of Fisheries Viet Nam opened the Workshop by addressing the participants.^[2] In his opening address, Mr Trieu expressed gratitude to all the partner organizations, namely the Asia-Pacific Fishery Commission (APFIC), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC), the WorldFish Center (WFC), the Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia-Pacific (NACA), the Mekong River Commission (MRC), the Australian Centre for International Agriculture Research (ACIAR) and Reversing Environmental Degradation in the South China Sea (UNEP/SCS) to support the organization of the Workshop. He stressed that it was timely and appropriate to address the issue of trash fish that has significant implications for the resource management, food security and livelihoods of coastal communities in the Asia-Pacific region (opening address is in Annex II).

Mr Derek Staples, Secretary of the Asia-Pacific Fishery Commission (APFIC) introduced APFIC as one of the oldest Fishery Commissions in the world and explained that the Workshop was being held on the recommendation of the APFIC 28^th Session held in Chiang Mai in 2004. APFIC recognised that there were many questions raised over the sustainability of both fisheries and aquaculture in the region in relation to the supply and demand of trash fish for both human and animal feed. This Workshop was convened to discuss the major issues connected with the changing nature of Asian fisheries from exclusively "fisheries for human food" towards a more diverse "fisheries for human food and feeds" and to develop an action plan to address these issues. Mr Staples also expressed his gratitude to the Ministry of Fisheries of Viet Nam for co-hosting the Workshop (welcome address is in Annex III).