D. Bartley  and J. Kapetsky NEW FAO PUBLICATIONS
Fishery Resources Division

 

 

Harvey, B.; Ross,C.; Greer, D.; & Carolsfeld, J. 1998. Action Before Extinction. World Fisheries Trust, Victoria, Canada. 259 pp.

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Though this book is not an FAO publication, it is featured here because it contains a contribution by Dr. Devin Bartley of the FAO Fisheries Depart-ment. This Conference, on which the book is based, followed-up on recommendations from several previous meetings sponsored by FAO and partners, such as ICLARM and
the Convention on Biological Diversity, and provided input to the FAO/ICLARM Bellagio Conference entitled, "Towards Policy for the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Aquatic Genetic Resources", the proceedings of which are currently being edited by Roger Pullin (ICLARM), Devin Bartley (FIRI), and Jay Kooiman (Netherlands).

Dr Brian Harvey, President WFT, and staff, with the support of several Canadian organizations including, inter alia, Canadian

Department of Fisheries and Oceans and the International Development Research Centre, have published the proceedings of the International Conference, "Action before Extinction". The World Fisheries Trust invited Dr. Devin Bartley of the FAO Inland Water Resources & Aquaculture Service (FIRI) to participate as part of FAO’s ongoing efforts to promote sustainable use and conservation of genetic diversity of aquatic animals. Dr Harvey brought together an excellent mix of about 25 international scientists and policy makers from established fish genetic conservation program-mes, genetic conservation programmes being developed, Canadian First Nation groups, and international development agencies and donor groups.

The main topics covered in the book are gene banking and in situ and ex situ conservation. However, the discussion of these topics quickly expanded, for example into areas of in situ gene banks, how to integrate in situ and ex situ conservation, access and property rights for genetic resources, how to and who will fund conservation efforts, the ethics of gene banking, and even some technical issues.

The book is extremely well produced in a very "user friendly" format that includes a brief summary of papers and discussions. Action before Extinction will be a valuable addition to the literature on conservation and sustainable use of aquatic genetic diversity. FIRI is pleased to have contributed to this work. Thanks again to Brian Harvey and staff, good job.

Action before Extinction is available from WFT.

Please contact:

Sarah Riecken, World Fisheries Trust

202-505 Fisgard Street

Victoria, B.C. V8W 1R3

Telephone: (250) 380-7585; Fax: (250) 380-2621

Email: [email protected]

 

FAO, 1999. Marine ranching: global perspectives with emphasis on the Japanese experience. FAO Fisheries Circular No.943. Rome, FAO. 252 pp.

The International Conference on Sustainable Contribution of Fisheries to Food Security resulted in the Kyoto Plan of Action that calls for a rapid transfer of technology and know-how in enhancement of inland and marine waters. As part of the implementation process of the Kyoto Plan of Action, Ishikawa Prefecture, in cooperation with the Fisheries Department of FAO, the Fisheries Agency of Japan, the Japan Sea-farming Association, Marino-forum 21, and others convened an International Symposium on Marine Ranching, 13-16 September, 1996, Kanazawa, Japan. This Circular is an unedited collection of the presentations of this Symposium, which have been assembled by the FAO Inland Water Resources and Aquaculture Service, Fishery Resources Division. The assistance of the Fisheries Department of Ishikawa Prefecture, and especially the work of Messrs M. Miyahara and A. Shikida, is greatly appreciated.

This circular reports on the status of marine ranching programmes throughout the world, with a special emphasis on the ongoing and planned enhancement work in Japan. The

contributed papers address the variety of issues that are necessary for responsible and cost-effective marine ranching.

These issues include, inter alia, technical concerns with producing and releasing large numbers of hatchery fish and invertebrates, habitat improvement, genetic resource manage-ment and biodiversity conservation, socio-economic evaluation, fishery management, technology transfer, criteria for success, and the multidisciplinary approach required for a successful ranching programme. The marine ranching programmes of Japan, the world leader in this type of fishery management, are extensively reviewed by Japanese experts. 

FAO, 1999. Review of the state of world fishery resources: inland fisheries. FAO Fisheries Circular No. 942. Rome, FAO. 54 pp.

The purpose of this review is to present a broad view of the state of inland capture fisheries. The review is organized in three main parts. The first part is an overview of inland capture fisheries. Overall, the trend is for an annual average increase in inland capture of about 138,000 t. The nominal inland capture amounted to about 7.7 million tonnes in 1997. Actual inland capture is considerably greater than the amounts reported to

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FAO. The factor is at least two overall, but may be as high as three in some instances. There is an urgent need for better data on inland fisheries that can be interpreted in both economic and ecological terms. Although the cost of improving inland fishery data collection may be high, failure to fully account for inland capture also is costly in terms of lessened, or lost, opportunities to increase food security and other economic and social benefits from inland fishery resources.

The second part deals with trends in capture organized by continental regions, sub-regions and countries for the period 1984 to 1997. Asia produces a disproportionately large share of the global inland capture in relation to its continental land area and the water surface available there. The 14-year trends are for increases in inland capture in Asia, Africa and Latin America and for decreases in the Former USSR Region, North America and Europe while Oceania is stable.

The third part sets out major issues, of which the environment is the salient concern, and future directions of inland fisheries, mainly towards increased uses of enhancements to increase outputs. Enhancements are characterised on a global basis according to type, species and geographical distribution. Rehabilitation and mitigation of inland systems are highlighted as is the importance of recreational inland fisheries.

 

FAO/NACA/WHO. 1999. Food safety issues associated with products from aquaculture. Report of a joint FAO/NACA/WHO Study Group. WHO Technical Report Series No.883, WHO, Geneva. 55 pp.

The past decade has seen rapid expansion in aquaculture production. In the fisheries sector, as in animal production, farming is replacing hunting as the primary food production strategy. In future, farmed fish will be an even more important source of protein foods than they are today, and the safety for human consumption of products from aquaculture is of public health significance. 

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This is the report of a joint FAO/NACA/WHO Study Group that considered food safety issues associated with farmed finfish and crustaceans. The principal conclusion was that an integrated approach - involving close collaboration between the aquaculture, agriculture, food safety, health and education sectors - is needed to identify and control hazards associated with products from aquaculture. Food safety assurance should be included in fish farm management and form an integral part of the farm-to-table food safety continuum. Where appropriate, measures should be based on Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) methods; however, difficulties in applying HACCP principles to small-scale farming systems were recognized. Food safety hazards associated with products from aquaculture differ according to region, habitat and environmental conditions, as well as methods of production and management. Lack of awareness of hazards can hinder risk assessment and the application of risk management strategies to aquaculture production, and education is therefore needed.

Chemical and biological hazards that should be taken into account in public health policies concerning products from aquaculture are discussed in this report, which should be of use to policy-makers and public health officials. The report will also assist fish farmers to identify harzards and develop appropriate hazard-control strategies.

A summary of the findings of the Study Group was published earlier in FAN No. 19, August 1998,
pp.3-7. News about the meeting of the group was published in FAN No. 17, December 1997, p.23.

The report is available from:
WHO Distribution & sales
CH-1211, Geneva 27
Switzerland
Price:SW.fr14.-
Price in developing countries: SW.fr.9.80

FAO-Fishstat Plus (v.2.19), 1999. (CD ROM)

FAO-Fishstat Plus (v.2.19) is now available from FIDI and provides access to Fishery statistics of various sorts, including:

- aquaculture production (quantities, tons) 1984- 1997 and

- aquaculture production (values, thousands US$) 1984-1997

Key Features

- Windows-based interface with menus and toolbar. Context-dependent menus available by clicking right mouse button.

- Easy to install

- Filtering capabilities for selecting only data you want.

- Aggregation and grouping by many group types.

- Simply start typing to find an object (country, species, etc.)

- Formula builder allows standard statistical functions as well as user-defined formulas.

- Simple and cross-reports, as well as charting capabilities, using Report Wizard. Reports can be printed or exported.

- Fast and simple data transfer to other applications through clipboard, as well as more advanced - through Report Wizard.

- Portability (any version of Windows)

- Context Help system.

System Requirements:

- Windows 3.1, Windows 95, Windows 98 or Windows NT

- 10 MB of hard disk for the system. Additional space for the datasets (2 - 20 Mb, depending on a dataset)

- 8 MB RAM with Windows 3.1, 16 with Windows 95 or NT

- Colour VGA monitor, SVGA recommended

Please contact [email protected] with any questions. This CD is free of-charge and can be ordered from the following address:
Fishery Information, Data and Statistics Unit
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Viale delle Terme di Caracalla
00100 Rome, Italy

 

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