Improving planning and policy development in aquaculture Global

Food and Agricultural Organisation FAO - Project Dates:
February 2008 - February 2008

Description of Project:
At the Third Session of the FAO Committee on Fisheries Sub-committee on Aquaculture (COFISCA), held in New Delhi, India, 4-8 September 2006, Member Countries stressed the importance of the issue of adequate planning in aquaculture to respond to the fluctuations and pressures that confront the sector. In particular, they emphasized the importance of:

a. Integrated approaches to the development of the sector, in particular as a means to overcome concerns related to the unsustainable development of the sector and to harmonise legislation among the various layers of government.
b. The need to encourage the broad participation of stakeholders in planning processes, including the public, communities, industries and other sectors sharing the same resources as aquaculture.
c. The need for aquaculture development plans to respect national development frameworks and international agreements.

Member Countries requested that the Fisheries and Aquaculture Department of FAO pursued its work related to the provision of guidelines on planning and policy formulation and implementation monitoring in the aquaculture sector, and continued its support to develop policies and strategies at national levels. To this end, the sub-Committee recommended that an Expert Consultation on “Improving planning and policy formulation in aquaculture development” be organised during its inter-session with planners, social scientists and aquaculture professionals. Furthermore, the need for improving aquaculture planning and policy development at national and regional levels was reiterated at the recent Twenty-seventh Session of the Committee on Fisheries, which met in Rome on 5-9th March 2007.

Services Provided:
An Expert workshop was held in Rome over 26-29 February 2008. The goal of the Consultation is to recommend the most appropriate planning methods and policy contents to support the sustainable development of aquaculture at micro and macro levels.

A Poseidon Director presented a background paper on the issues involved and facilitated the rest of the workshop discussions.