1. SYMPOSIUM TO ACCOMPANY THE TWENTIETH SESSION OF EIFAC

A draft outline of contents for the Symposium on Water for Sustainable Aquaculture and Inland Fisheries was presented to the Committee. On the basis of discussions it was decided to focus on five themes to correspond to the time available for the meeting. The outline of the final prospectus will be elaborated by 15 May 1997 into a full prospectus that should be distributed by the Secretariat to the National Correspondents and by the organizers to interested parties.

The costs of the meeting will be largely borne by FAO and the host Government, although the possibility of selectively charging a participation fee should not be excluded. Such a fee could be used to offset the costs of the meeting and for other EIFAC activities. The executive report of the symposium will be published by FAO but an outside publisher should be sought for the technical contributions. "Fishing News Books", "The Journal of Fisheries Management and Ecology" or "Regulated Rivers" were all suggested. I. Cowx agreed to contact possible publishers.

The symposium will be convened by R. Müller (Switzerland) and chaired by H. Ackefors (Sweden). The following were suggested as leaders of the various sessions: Session A: J. Lundquist (Sweden) (agreed); Session B: L. Varadi (Hungary) (to be approached by K. Pintér); Session C: G. Petts (UK) (to be approached by I. Cowx); Session D: J. Allardi (France) (to be approached by R. Müller); Session E: R. Marini (Italy) (to be approached by R. Welcomme).

Working Group on Eel

The Second Session of the Joint EIFAC/ICES Working Group on Eel took place from 23 to 27 September 1996 in Ijmuiden (Netherlands). The Session was attended by 41 persons from 29 countries. Thirty-two papers were presented and seven posters exhibited. The report of the Working Group is being edited for publication as EIFAC Occasional Paper No. 33. Future activities of the Group will consist in a Symposium on Anguillid Eels. The Chairman, C. Moriarty, resigned and was succeeded by W. Dekker (Netherlands). G. Fontanelle (France) was appointed Vice-Chairman.

Working Group on Electric Fishing

It had not proved possible to organize the proposed Workshop on Harmful Effect of Electric Fishing in France. It was recommended that an alternative venue be found. A literary review on harmful effect of electric fishing is nearly ready for publication either in the Journal of Fisheries Management and Ecology or Reviews in Fish Biology.

No action had been reported in the intersession due to a heavy workload on the part of the Convenor. It was decided that an alternative Convenor be sought and E. Dahm (Germany) was suggested as a replacement. T. Brenner would approach him to ascertain his interest.

The proceedings of the Conference on Stocking and Introduction of Fish (Hull, April 1996) have now gone to press with Fishing News Books and should be published in September 1997.

An intersessional Working Party meeting has been organized in conjunction with the Fifteenth European Ichthyological Congress (Trieste, Italy, 25-27 August 1997).

The Convenor, V. Dimitriou (Greece) had reported that a meeting of the Working Party in collaboration with EAM took place from 6 to 8 February 1996 in Messolonghi, Greece. The Convenor is now looking for financial support from the European Union for an expanded programme for the Mediterranean Region.

The draft of M.W. Aprahamian (UK) will be completed by the end of 1997. The production of the final version is planned for 1998.

In response to the request of the Nineteenth Session, the Secretariat had asked countries to submit any maps of fish distribution and water quality available in Europe. Five countries have replied and maps were available for individual regions in Germany and Italy. These maps were all very different in approach and it would be difficult to summarize them at this stage. They could perhaps be completed with a pan-European guide to fishes. Although this approach may prove expensive, an alternative would be to update EIFAC Technical Paper No. 52, "Inland Fisheries of Europe", including much of the mapping and fish distribution information. The Convenor of the Sub-Commission agreed to raise these alternatives at the Twentieth Session.

The forthcoming ad hoc Meeting of the Working Party on Fish Diseases and their Control should be held in conjunction with the EAFP International Conference to be held in Edinburgh (Scotland) in September 1997. R. Richards, Convenor of the Working Party, is currently following up on this proposal.

It has been proposed that the fish and crustacean nutrition training course, targeted to the needs of the Eastern European countries, be held in 1998 at the Fisheries Research Institute in Szarvas (Hungary). At present efforts are being made by Z. Jeney to locate funds for the implementation of the training course.

It was decided that the Working Party be postponed to four days in February 1998 in Berlin, Germany, in order to allow countries to make provisions for travel. At the Dublin meeting in 1996, it was decided that the Convenor of the Working Party would send out a questionnaire on aquaculture and water resources. This was sent out in July 1996 and a reminder was sent in January 1997. As of April only six countries have sent their reports to the Convenor who would send out a further letter by the end of May to solicit a reply from non-reporting countries.

This item was discussed under Agenda Item No. 1.

A report had been received from Z. Svobodová (Czech Republic) which is mainly limited to Czech Republic and adjacent countries. It was felt that this should be expanded in particular in view of increasing concerns about mercury and in some areas cesium. It was therefore recommended that this activity be continued in the next biennium.

H. Lehtonen had accepted to convene the sub-group of this Working Party on Rehabilitation of Lakes and Reservoirs that will start its activities in the next year.

The publication of the Manual of River Rehabilitation Methods for Fish, prepared by the Working Party and edited by R. Welcomme and I. Cowx, is expected for summer 1997 by Blackwells.

It is planned to organize a Third Meeting of the Working Party in March 1998 in Hull (UK) in conjunction with the International Symposium on Management and Ecology of River Fisheries.

G. Marmulla will now act as Technical Secretary to this Working Party.

A. Van Houtte, Legal Officer at the FAO Legal Office, has continued to collect the relevant information. Evaluation is making some progress and it is hoped to complete the report by mid-1997 and publish it in the EIFAC Occasional Papers series.

No progress has been made with this Working Group as the status of the Convenor was unclear. The Chairman of the Sub-Commission will try to find a Convenor to reactivate it.

No activity has been recorded in this Working Group other than the attendance of the Convenor, E. Staub (Switzerland) at a Conference on Cormorants.

The Chairman of the Sub-Commission, I. Cowx, reported on progress. The Sub-Commission was concerned with the following issues:

The proceedings of the Symposium held as part of the Nineteenth Session are now with the publishers and should appear by October 1997. The Convenor, P. Hickley, is organizing an intersessional meeting in France together with D. Viard. The Executive Committee pointed out that the social and economic aspects of recreational fisheries require new focus and is recommended to the attention of the Working Party.

It was noted that no progress had been made with this group and the necessity for its continuation was questioned in view of changing priorities. The Executive Committee recommended that the Twentieth Session review this Working Group with a view to its abolition.

This topic will be a focus of the forthcoming Symposium on River Fisheries (Hull, 1998) and the Symposium on Water for Sustainable Aquaculture and Inland Fisheries (Portugal, 1998).

In discussing this item the Committee was informed of the difficulties of interesting the economist community in these activities. In view of the undefined nature of the recommendations on this topic the Committee recommended that the activity be renamed social and economic aspects and also recommended a better defined focus on one or more of the following: valuation of inland fisheries; externalities; opportunity costs or partnerships in management. A. Nieland of Portsmouth University (UK) was suggested as a Convenor for this Working Group. I. Cowx was requested by the Committee to approach him to invite him to serve in this capacity.

A. Van Houtte outlined the difficulties of gathering information on legal topics and in particular finding the manpower to carry out a synthesis. Nevertheless, compendia of legislation on environment relative to aquaculture were being prepared and it was suggested that a further compendium might be needed for legislation bearing on inland fisheries, especially questions of access and multi-purpose use. The Committee recommended that the Commission consider requesting a study of this topic. It was further suggested that an EIFAC member country might offer to finance the preparation of such a review.

The Secretary of COFI, B.  Satia, informed the Committee that COFI had strongly endorsed the need for Regional Bodies such as EIFAC. COFI recommended that an auto-review be carried out by the Bodies themselves. It had also been requested that FAO itself carry out an evaluation of its specialized Regional Bodies. Because of the tight financial circumstances of the Organization it has been recommended that Governments should bear most of the costs of the Commission. The Regional Bodies belong to the members with FAO acting mainly as a facilitator.

The Chairman of the Committee pointed out that a full evaluation of EIFAC had been carried out by its Eighteenth and Nineteenth Sessions and by the Executive Committee. During this evaluation EIFAC had decided that there were insurmountable difficulties in a formal move to a self-financing body and that FAO would be expected to continue to supply a Secretariat. Existing arrangements for informal funding of technical activities, including meetings and publications, would be continued. There had equally been a recommendation that the Executive Committees of Regional Bodies be disbanded. The Committee accepted to refer this to the Commission.

The Agenda for the Twentieth Session was discussed and will be circulated to the National Correspondents for comment.

Portugal has transmitted its letter of invitation to the Director-General although the precise place for the meeting was not specified. The offer specified a time between 15 June and 15 July. The Committee expressed a strong preference for the 10-day period from 22 June to 1 July. The Secretary was requested to inform the Portuguese authorities accordingly.

The proposed list of international organizations to be invited to the Twentieth Session was approved with the following additions: European Ichthyological Union; International Cooperative Alliance; European Anglers Union.

The Committee was informed that Luxembourg has formally expressed its wish to become a member of EIFAC, bringing the total membership to 32 members including the EC.