PRESS RELEASES

The 48th Meeting of the SEAFDEC Council

20 April 2016

The 48th Meeting of the SEAFDEC (Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center) Council was held in Nha Trang, Viet Nam from 4 to 8 April 2016.

The Council Directors and their delegations from 11 Member Countries, consisting of 10 ASEAN member states and Japan, attended the meeting. Participants from Japan to the Council included Mr. Shigeto Hase, Deputy Director-General, Fisheries Agency of Japan and the head of the Delegation of Japan, and Mr. Yusaku Miyabukuro, First Secretary of Mission of Japan to ASEAN.

The Council noted the progress of programs implemented in 2015 and approved the proposed program of activities to be undertaken in 2016. They also discussed various kinds of policy issues that are important for the sustainable development of fisheries and that require greater attention and cooperation among the countries in the region.

Especially, the Council noted the progress of two programs funded by the Government of Japan, namely the “Development and Use of Alternative Dietary Ingredients in Aquaculture Feed Formulations” and “Addressing Early Mortality Syndrome (EMS) and Other Trans-boundary Diseases in Aquaculture,”

With regard to the Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing, the Council noted the progress of various efforts made by SEAFDEC such as “ASEAN Guidelines to Prevent the Entry of Fish and Fishery Products from IUU Fishing Activities into the Supply Chain,”

As for the preparation for the High-level Consultation on Regional Cooperation in Sustainable Fisheries Development Toward the ASEAN Economic Community” to be held on 3 August 2016 in Bangkok, the Council approved the draft of the“Joint ASEAN-SEAFDEC Declaration”, and decided to submit it to ASEAN Sectoral Working Group on Fisheries (ASWGFi).

The next 49th Meeting of the SEAFDEC Council will be hosted by Brunei Darussalam in 2017.