SEAFDEC organized the First Consultation on Fisheries and Statistics in Southeast Asia

On 21–22 September 2021, SEAFDEC organized the “First Regional Technical Consultation on Fishery Statistics and Information in Southeast Asia” through an online platform. The Consultation was attended by the representatives from the Asian Member States (AMSs), representative from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and officers of SEAFDEC Secretariat and Departments. This Consultation is the first of a series of Consultations intended to harmonize the “Regional Framework for Fishery Statistics of Southeast Asia” with the recently adopted global standards, definitions, and classifications of fishery statistics.

After the countries’ presentations, the Consultation discussed and agreed on the revised general parts of the Regional Framework and Explanatory Notes of the Fishery Statistical Bulletin of Southeast Asia produced annually by SEAFDEC. The Consultation also provided comments on the proposed inclusion of statistics on fish processing and fish trade (export and import) for regional compilation by SEAFDEC in the future. Several other concerns for revising the Regional Framework, e.g. categorization of national and foreign workers, inclusion on per capita fish consumption, were also raised and these could be discussed during the future Consultations.