Eighth session of the Sub-Committee on Aquaculture, Brasilia, Brazil, 5-9 October 2015.
Abstract
The eighth session of the Sub-Committee on Aquaculture of the FAO Committee on Fisheries (COFI) was held in Brasilia, Brazil from 5-9 October 2015, at the kind invitation of the Government of the Federative Republic of Brazil. It was attended by forty-nine Members of FAO, by representatives from one specialized agency of the United Nations and by observers from three intergovernmental and five international non-governmental organizations. The Sub-Committee acknowledged and commended the work carried out during the intersessional period in responding to the recommendations of the past sessions and requested the Secretariat to ensure their implementation during the forthcoming intersessional period. The Sub-Committee commended FAO on its efforts in developing and coordinating the new questionnaire on the implementation by Member Countries of the CCRF, on aquaculture and culture-based fisheries. The Sub-Committee expressed its support for the inclusion, as a new agenda item of the Sub-Committee, of the report from the Secretariat of the COFISub-Committee on Fish Trade (COFI-FT). The Sub-Committee agreed on seven priorities for its future work, in line with FAO's Strategic Objectives and the FAO Blue Growth Initiative. The Sub-Committee supported the efforts of FAO in developing the Technical Guidelines, the Evaluation Framework and the partnership with the Global Sustainable Seafood Initiative (GSSI). The Sub-Committee showed strong support to the Blue Growth Initiative (BGI) and requested to increase the number of participating countries in the piloting phase. The Sub-Committee acknowledged the important role that aquaculture education and research can contribute to the development of sustainable aquaculture and supported the research strategy for aquaculture development beyond 2000. The Sub-Committee recognized the importance of promoting decent work in fisheries and aquaculture and further noted that aquaculture provides safe jobs and reliable income in many countries and regions. The Sub-Committee stressed the importance of reliable and timely information from relevant sources on aquaculture, and expressed strong support to improve aquaculture data, information and statistics compiled by FAO. The Sub-Committee highlighted the importance of aquaculture to food security, poverty alleviation and national economies. The Sub-Committee appreciated the variety of strategies by countries to use aquaculture development as a tool to promote fish consumption. The Sub-Committee was informed of the discussion and recommendations from the first meeting of the COFIAdvisory Working Group on Aquatic Genetic Resources and Technologies and noted the importance of aquatic genetic resources in developing national strategies and facilitating sustainable growth of aquaculture. The Sub-Committee considered the recommendations of the "Second International Conference on Nutrition (ICN2)" and noted their relevance for aquaculture. A side event was held on FAO's work with partners towards sustainable use, conservation and management of Aquatic Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture and another side event was held on Biosecurity and Public-Private Sector Partnership (PPP): a shared responsibility. The Sub-Committee welcomed the offer of the Islamic Republic of Iran to host the ninth session of the Sub-Committee.