A new era for Central Asian fisheries and aquaculture

Since November 2009 the Central Asian and Caucasus Republics are being supported in the rehabilitation of their fisheries and aquaculture sector by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), reports www.megafishnet.com with reference to FAO.

The start of the Central Asia Regional Programme for Fisheries and Aquaculture Development (FishDev Central Asia), with technical support from the FAO Turkey Partnership Programme, through a financial grant of 1.5 million US$ made by the government of Turkey, marked a new era of fishery collaboration between countries in the region. Current partner countries in the Programme are Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkey and Uzbekistan. The other two countries of Central Asia (Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan) will be joining soon.

In twelve months FishDev Central Asia organized technical training on fish feed production, aquaculture recirculation technologies, fish trade and investment, fish and fisheries products packaging, organizational strengthening of fishers groups and fisheries policy and strategy development. So far, more than 240 persons benefited from training delivered by FishDev Central Asia programme.

The Programme also made it possible that Central Asian fishery experts and fishery policy makers participated in study tours to Turkey and Thailand. Last but not least, FishDev Central Asia supported the establishment of the Central Asian and Caucasus Regional Fisheries and Aquaculture Commission (CACFAC) through its essential contribution to the organization of two regional intergovernmental meetings which took place in Istanbul (February 2010) and in Trabzon (30 November 2010).

The FishDev Central Asia Programme will continue its support to the region over the coming years; contributing to regional cooperation among fishery sector Stakeholders.