1. The Commission for Inland Fisheries of Latin America (COPESCAL) held its second session from 2 to 4 December 1981 in the Hotel Plaza Dominicana, Santo Domingo, at the kind invitation of the Government of the Dominican Republic.
2. The session was attended by 10 members of the Commission, by observers from one Member Nation of FAO, by a representative from the United Nations and by an observer from the Inter-American Development Bank. A list of delegates and observers is given in Appendix A of this report.
3. Mr Napoleón Padilla, FAO Representative in the Dominican Republic, delivered a statement on behalf of the Director-General of FAO, Dr Edouard Saouma. He stressed the assistance given by FAO to the countries in making the best use of their inland fishery resources and in the increase of their production through aquaculture. His statement is reproduced in Appendix B of this report.
4. Mr Narciso Almonte, Director of Fishery Resources of the Dominican Republic, presented an account of the progress in aquaculture made by his country since its beginning in early 1950 stressing the positive results of the last three years. He further referred to the aquaculture development programme on which they are concentrating at present. The text of his statement is given as Appendix C.
5. Dr F. Henderson, Chief of the Inland Water Resources and Aquaculture Service of FAO, made the opening address on behalf of the Officer-in-Charge of the Fisheries Department of FAO, Dr A. Labon. He outlined the present situation of inland fisheries in Latin America pointing out the problems which still remain to be solved to attain a better utilization of these resources and to ensure progress in aquaculture. He mentioned in particular the achievement of the host country in this respect. The text of his address is given as Appendix D.
6. Ing. Hipólito Mejía, Secretary of State for Agriculture of the Dominican Republic indicated in his speech that inland fishery resources and aquaculture were viable options to contribute to the solution of the serious problems of hunger, malnutrition, undernourishment and employment. He emphasized that the increase in fishery production during the last three years had made it possible for his country to cut the fish imports by 50 percent, thus saving foreign currency. The text of his address is given as Appendix E.
7. Dr Armando Hernández (Colombia), Chairman of the Commission, gave an account of the work accomplished by the Commission since its first session. Four new members have since then joined the Commission. He said that in spite of the existing potential in inland fisheries, the estimated present catch reaches only 21 percent of this, which indicates an underutilization of the resources. The same applies to aquaculture. He underlined the main difficulties which still exist to attain a better use of the fishery resources, emphasizing the need for the Commission to find and propose alternatives for their solution for which the active participation of its members is considered essential. Finally, he stressed the complementary work carried out by other organizations such as the SELA's 1 Action Committee on Marine and Freshwater Fishery Products and the Latin American Aquaculture Association (ALA). His address is given as Appendix F.
SELA = Latin American Economic System
