Report Of The Fourth Session Of The Advisory Committee On Fisheries Research Rome 10 13 December 2002

The Committee's report welcomes the attention given by the World Summit on Sustainable Development 2002 to fisheries issues and provides guidance on the responsible fisheries management goals. It recommends the establishment of a working party on small-scale marine fisheries to develop a draft research agenda and evaluate its role and significance, and identifies human capacity building as a key cross-cutting issue.

The Committee's report welcomes the attention given by the World Summit on Sustainable Development 2002 to fisheries issues and provides guidance on the responsible fisheries management goals. It recommends the establishment of a working party on small-scale marine fisheries to develop a draft research agenda and evaluate its role and significance, and identifies human capacity building as a key cross-cutting issue.

The session agreed on a vision statement and on a characterization of small-scale fisheries as well as on a research agenda of five main themes. It elaborated preliminary drafts of two separate technical documents on the contribution, role and importance of small-scale fisheries and research agenda for small-scale fisheries and requested that the documents be submitted, after finalization by the Secretariat, to the ACFR at its next session

The Advisory Committee held its sixth session in Rome, Italy in October 2006 and topics discussed included: a review of the work of the FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Department with a focus on fish trade, small-scale fisheries and aquaculture; and support for the work of FAO in aquaculture, particularly the timely inclusion of fish species in the Programme of Work of the FAO Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture.

The Committee examined its work since the First Session, undertook an appraisal of FAO's fisheries research-related programmes and elaborated the Committee's work for the intersessional period (1999-2000).

The FAO Advisory Committee on Fisheries Research (ACFR) held its Third Session in Rome, from 5 to 8 December 2000. The Committee examined its work since the First Session, undertook an appraisal of FAO's fisheries research-related programmes and elaborated the Committee's work for the intersessional period (2000-2002). The Committee emphasized the importance of establishing an international Plan of Action for Status and Trends Reporting in Fisheries as a means of enhancing its capacity to advise the Director-General and the Committee on Fisheries (COFI) with regard to the most up-to-date and accurate view of the prospects for maintaining or enhancing fish production.