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SEAFDEC Holds the Forty-Fourth Council Meeting in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar

At the kind invitation of the Government of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, SEAFDEC held the 44^th Meeting of the SEAFDEC Council in Nay Pyi Taw from 2 to 6 April 2012. The Inaugural Ceremony of the Meeting was presided over by the Honorable Deputy Minister for Livestock and Fisheries of Myanmar, U Khin Maung Aye. During the Meeting, the SEAFDEC Council Director for Myanmar, U Khin Ko Lay, was unanimously elected as the new Chairperson of the SEAFDEC Council for the Year 2012-2013, succeeding Dato' Ahamad Sabki bin Mahmood, the Council Director for Malaysia who served as the Chairperson for the year 2011-2012.

cm44 While taking note on the good progress and achievements of SEAFDEC in 2011, the Council approved the proposed program of activities to be undertaken in 2012, which were formulated to respond to the current fisheries situation, challenges and priorities of the Member Countries. The Council then emphasized the importance of following up on the ASEAN-SEAFDEC Conference on Sustainable Fisheries for Food Security Towards 2020 "Fish for the People 2020: Adaptation to a Changing Environment"; and encouraged all ASEAN Member Countries to implement activities in line with the Resolution and Plan of Action adopted at the Conference. The Council also discussed a range of issues that are important to the sustainable development fisheries in the region requiring greater attention and cooperation. In particular, the Council focused on combating Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing, the international- and trade-related issues that may have impacts on fisheries development of the region, particularly the possible listing of species under CITES Appendices during its forthcoming 16^th Conference of Parties, and the sharing of experiences among countries in the implementation of catch certification scheme.

Council Director for Thailand visits TD

SEAFDEC Training Department (TD) welcomed the Director-General of the Department of Fisheries (DOF) of Thailand and SEAFDEC Council Director for Thailand, Dr. Wimol Jantrarotai, who visited the TD facilities on 5 March 2012. He was accompanied by the Alternate Council Director for Thailand, Mr. Chirdsak Vongkamolchoon and other senior officials from the DOF Thailand. The main purpose of their visit was to discuss and come up with ways and means of strengthening future collaboration between TD and the DOF.

wimol visit While discussing the collaborative activities that had been undertaken throughout the past years under the ASEAN-SEAFDEC FCG/ASSP mechanism and various bilateral arrangements, it was agreed that future collaborations could be fostered in a more systematic way in order that these would be more beneficial to both DOF and TD. Specifically, planning for future researches and resources survey activities should be done in more coherent way, the system of data and information sharing should be improved, and the extension of human resources and capacity building activities from TD as well as other experts through SEAFDEC mechanism should be enhanced. It was also agreed that existing consultative mechanism between the DOF Thailand and TD should be revitalized and strengthened to enhance effective planning and implementation of future activities.

Japanese Vice Minister visits SEAFDEC

jpvicevisit The Vice Minister for International Affairs of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) of Japan, Mr. Shuji Yamada visited SEAFDEC Secretariat on Monday 27 February 2012. During his visit, Minister Yamada was accompanied by the Director of International Trade Policy Negotiations of the Department of International Affairs of MAFF, as well as officials from the International Cooperation Division of the International Affairs Department of MAFF and from the Embassy of Japan in Bangkok, Thailand.

RTC on addressing technical issues on commercially-exploited aquatic species

intspecies2 The Regional Technical Consultation on Addressing Technical Issues on Commercially-exploited Aquatic Species was organized by the SEAFDEC Secretariat and Training Department from 18 to 20 October 2011 in Bangkok, Thailand. Attended by representatives from the ASEAN-SEAFDEC Member Countries, SEAFDEC senior officials and a representative from the UNEP Regional Office for Asia Pacific, the RTC aimed to build Member Countries' awareness of the issues related to commercially-exploited aquatic species, particularly sharks and rays, tuna, sea cucumber, as well as species under international concern where activities have already been put in place to develop aquaculture technologies for stock enhancement of the species, especially for seahorse and humphead wrasse. In addition, the Consultation also aimed to facilitate the development of policy recommendations reflecting the common views of the Member Countries that could be made known at relevant fora.