Although the origin of fish culture is not clearly known, there is strong evidence that fish have been cultivated commercially for centuries in many parts of Asia, the Far East and Central Europe. In the last few decades rapid extension of fish culture has been achieved in these areas and it has also been introduced into a number of developing countries in tropical and sub-tropical areas to increase food production.
The important contribution that fish culture can make to the improvement of human diets, provision of profitable employment and general development of rural areas is also being increasingly recognized all over the world. Scientific research, so essential for the progress of such enterprises, has however not kept pace with the growing interest in the subject or the attempts being made to extend areas under fish cultivation. Some research has been carried out to understand the scientific basis of widely practised empirical techniques and to evolve new methods for increasing yields. There are, however, several aspects that are not being studied at all, or sufficiently intensively, and very large gaps exist in our knowledge of the subject. There is thus an obvious need to stimulate further research in this field and to facilitate efforts to modernize its practices.
Fish culture has been discussed in many national or regional meetings, but there has never been an opportunity to pool the experience of workers on a world-wide basis and to discuss critically existing information, research techniques and application of the results of research. Cognizant of this, the Eleventh Conference of FAO gave its approval for holding a world symposium as an important step in furthering international action for the advancement of fish culture. In 1964, FAO appointed a consultative panel of experts consisting of Prof. Marcel Huet (Belgium), Dr. Gerald Prowse (Malaysia), Dr. Homer S. Swingle (U.S.A.) and Mr. Shimon Tal (Israel), to advise on the organization of such a symposium. They met in Rome 11–15 May 1964 to discuss the conduct of the Symposium and proposed that it be held in May 1966, allowing enough time for necessary preparations. On the recommendation of this panel, it was decided to restrict the scope of the Symposium to selected aspects of warm-water pond fish culture for food production and to provide the maximum time possible to discuss these adequately. The consultative panel met again in Rome 6–10 December 1965 to assist in the selection of contributions and to plan the Symposium meetings.
The objectives of the Symposium were recognized as to:
evaluate warm-water pond fish culture development in different regions of the world,
review the present status of knowledge on:
fertilization and the role of soil in productivity;
feeds and feeding;
control of pond weeds;
stock manipulation and other biological methods of increasing production;
breeding and selection (including induced breeding and induced sterility);
new systems and new fishes for culture, and
diseases and parasites of pond fishes,
delineate major problems requiring solution,
consider means of stimulating critical scientific studies on pond fish culture and coordinating research programs, and
discuss and recommend future lines of endeavour, national and international, in the study and promotion of fish culture for food.
The prospectus of the Symposium was given a wide distribution with a view to obtaining contributions on experience in different parts of the world under varying conditions. FAO Member Governments and concerned international organizations were invited to send representatives or observers to participate in the Symposium. In view of the technical nature of the Symposium, the Member Governments were specially requested to depute specialists in the field.
Thirty-nine member countries of FAO and a number of international agencies, including both inter-governmental and non-governmental bodies, participated in the Symposium meetings. Simultaneous interpretation in the three working languages of FAO (English, French and Spanish) was provided.
At the Opening Meeting on 18 May 1966, an Address of Welcome was delivered on behalf of Dr. B.R. Sen, Director-General of the Organization, by Mr. Roy I. Jackson, Assistant Director-General (Fisheries). This was followed by election of the Chairman, Dr. Homer S. Swingle (U.S.A.), and two Vice-Chairmen, Mr. K.H. Alikunhi (India) and Mr. S.N. Semakula (Uganda). Dr. Swingle delivered a talk on “The Future of Pond Fish Culture”. Mr. Jackson concluded the Meeting with an address emphasizing the technical and scientific character of the Symposium and requested the participants to make purposeful and realistic recommendations for the furtherance of fish culture on scientific and economic bases.
The remainder of the Symposium was conducted in ten consecutive Meetings, each Meeting having a Discussion Leader and one or two Rapporteurs. The first nine Meetings discussed the selected subjects as follows:
| Meeting I | Progress of Fish Culture Development |
| Meeting II | Fertilization and Role of Soil in Fish Pond Productivity |
| Meeting III | Feeds and Feeding |
| Meeting IV | Breeding and Selection |
| Meeting V | Biological and Other Methods of Increasing Production |
| Meeting VI | Standardization of Research Techniques |
| Meeting VII | Weed Control |
| Meeting VIII | New Systems and New Fishes for Culture |
| Meeting IX | Diseases and Parasites |
The scientific documents that formed the basis of discussions at the Symposium were grouped into five types:
Review papers (32) - Critical surveys of existing knowledge on the topics selected for discussion at the Symposium, indicating gaps in knowledge and with suggestions for future lines of work, prepared on a regional basis by invited specialists;
Regional and country reports (7) - General assessments of the development and status of fish culture in regions or countries, prepared by the FAO Regional Fishery Officers of FAO or volunteering scientists;
Working papers (4) - Prepared by invited specialists on techniques adopted in fish culture research with suggestions for standardization of techniques or uniform methods of reporting;
Experience papers (79) - Contributed by volunteering scientists, describing the results of original research on subjects selected for discussion at the Symposium; and
Species synopses (3) - Summaries of available biological data on cultivated species of international importance.
Each Discussion Leader summarized the papers relevant to the Meeting; the subject was then open for discussion, and authors of papers had an opportunity to highlight pertinent aspects of their contributions. The conclusion of these discussions formed the basis for the Symposium recommendations.
A Recommendations Committee was appointed to study the recommendations made during the discussions and to select the most important ones to be presented for adoption by the Symposium. At the final Meeting (Meeting X) the Symposium Chairman summed up the main results of the Symposium and the recommendations selected by the Recommendations Committee were presented and unanimously adopted. A summary report of the Symposium was then adopted, and in conclusion, Dr. S.J. Holt, Director of the Fishery Resources and Exploitation Division thanked the participants who contributed to the outstanding success of the Meetings.
