There was much discussion of the needs for training at all levels. A number of institutions were cited by various countries, as capable of carrying out training of fisheries personnel. The distribution of such institutions is however very patchy and some areas, for example the Sahel, have no mechanisms for fisheries education at present. Furthermore, the various institutions often overlap in their curricula and the Symposium felt that much could be gained by a coordinated approach to the activities of the various schools. It was therefore recommended that a Working Party be set up charged with the coordination of these activities. The Working Party should also seek to establish the needs of the member countries with respect to the duration and type of training fellowships granted by FAO and other agencies. The Symposium, reflecting the view of the Director-General of FAO on the use of national institutions further recommended that the training of African fisheries workers should take place in African institutions where appropriate.
The Symposium also recognized the need for the coordination of research, development and management of the inland fisheries of Africa. Periodic advice and assistance on various specialized activities for instance, the planning and execution of stock assessment programmes or acoustic biomass estimations, the setting-up of automatic data processing and other related activities were also thought to be needed. On the basis of this the Symposium
Recommended that establishment of a Regional Centre for Coordination on the Management of Inland Fishery Resources which should form an integral part of the CIFA Secretariat in Africa and have the following terms of reference:
To promote the coordination of stock assessment investigations being carried out in the various inland waters of the African region through the preparation and regular dissemination to member institutions of abstracts of appropriate current publications and of summary accounts of ongoing fishery evaluation programmes;
To provide on request from member institutions, specialists' advice and assistance on stock assessment activities, particularly the aspects of the organization of statistical sampling programmes, the semi-automatic and subsequent interpretation of the data as well as the use of sophisticated acoustic techniques for the estimation of fish biomass, distribution and fish behaviour;
To compile and maintain an up-to-date annotated index of experts on African inland fisheries from which a regional pool of expertise short-term assistance for needy institutions can be speedily arranged as an element of cooperation between developing countries of the region.
The Centre should develop over a three-year period to comprise:
The Centre should preferably be based in an area with good communications with other African countries.
