38. The Chairman of the Symposium presented a summary of its conclusions and recommendations to the session (see Appendix I). Thirty-three individuals from nine countries participated. The discussions brought out the wide variety of sizes and types of man-made water bodies which were of interest to the participants, and to the equally wide variety of uses to which these water bodies are put. There was general agreement to the need to find more satisfactory ways of rapidly determining how best to utilize reservoirs and impoundments to achieve specific goals, the most prominent of which in most of the countries are those of providing food and work for hungry people. While many approaches were described during the Symposium, there was a feeling that these, however, appropriate, were selective in a rather hit-or-miss fashion, and that there was a need for a more orderly approach.
39. Also emerging from the Symposium was a recognition that much of the work of inland fisheries development was being carried out in isolation from other workers. Not only was there too little communication between countries in the region, but there was also too little coordination and cooperation of efforts among the scientists, planners and the production personnel within countries.
40. There were also a number of problems discussed which had a clear subregional character. These included the problem of building fish ladders that would work for a wide variety of species whose migrations are being threatened by dam construction, procedures for the selection of native species for stocking or culture purposes, and the urgent need for more detailed information on different species group in different areas.
41. After discussion the following recommendations were adopted by the Commission:
That FAO Secretariat propose an outline of a methodology for evaluating the potential of reservoirs and for identifying and selecting among alternative strategies for the organization and development of such fisheries. Using this outline as a basis, a small group of experts from the region should be assembled to discuss and develop this outline as a basis for a handbook or manual on methods for the development of the fisheries of reservoirs and small impoundments in Latin America.
That one or more persons from the Latin American region be identified to adapt and translate into Spanish appropriate documentation on pre- and post-impoundment planning for fisheries development in reservoirs and dams, upon the ecological problems resulting from their construction and upon the needs for a comprehensive and integrated approach to their utilization. The Secretariat should also seek to organize at least one seminar in the region on planning of development of fisheries in dams and reservoirs.
That Member Governments prepare inventories of their dams and reservoirs with an indication of their principal hydrographic and limnological characteristics and the nature of any fisheries in them, according to a format to be provided by FAO. These inventories will be compiled by the Secretariat with a view to issuing a publication in the COPESCAL series. Member Governments should equally prepare lists of fish species for intensive aquaculture and capture fisheries in dams and reservoirs. These will be distributed to the member countries by the Secretariat.
That COPESCAL through the Secretariat cooperate closely with other international organizations having similar activities such as the regional Man in the Biosphere (MAB) programme of Unesco, OAS, and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
That the Secretariat, with the cooperation of Member Governments, identify specialists of the region to compile the specialized terms of the Spanish language used in inland fisheries and aquaculture and to suggest a standardized usage of them.
That member countries encourage individual scientists to prepare synopses of the life history and management of species of commercial importance in Latin America, according to the standard format for FAO species synopses and for publication in the FAO synopses series. Priority should be given to species useful for fisheries in dams and reservoirs and for intensive aquaculture. Basilichthys bonariensis, Cichlasoma managerense and species of Colossoma, Prochilodus, Brycon, Petenia, Leporinus, Rhamdia, Percichthys and Sarotherodon Sp. are of particular immediate interest.
42. Consideration of a further recommendation requesting the establishment of a Working Party on Aquaculture was referred for consideration under item 6, Aquaculture, of the agenda.
43. In further discussions, various delegations emphasized the special importance which should be attached to the provision of fish to rural communities to alleviate hunger and malnutrition. In consequence, small impoundments and intensive aquaculture needed to be put to full use for this purpose and for providing useful employment in these communities. It was further emphasized that, to meet these needs, development programmes should be designed to integrate all the possible uses of these water bodies, and to support all facets of their management from ensuring good water quality to providing seed and feed and to the preservation and marketing of the products obtained from them.
44. Concluding the discussion of this item, it was suggested that members make their priorities known to all of the agencies in a position to assist them and that the Secretariat should make every effort to assist in finding funds to carry out projects of this type where required.
