SEAFDEC - Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center

15/06/2022

𝐒𝐄𝐀𝐅𝐃𝐄𝐂 𝐣𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐯𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝟏𝟖𝐭𝐡 𝐒𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐎𝐅𝐈 𝐒𝐮𝐛-𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐅𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐞

SEAFDEC was invited to attend virtually the 18th Session of the Sub-Committee on Fish Trade of the Committee on Fisheries (18COFI:FT) which was hosted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) on 7–9 and 20 June 2022. The 18COFI:FT was attended by over 180 participants including delegates from FAO members and observers from intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations . The 18COFI:FT provided the forum for the member countries to review the progress of works of FAO and member nations related to international trade of fish and fishery products as well as to provide guidance to FAO for future work priorities. During the plenary sessions, FAO presented a number of topics i.e. recent trends in the fisheries and aquaculture sector, food safety and quality of fisheries and aquaculture products, and update on FAO work on traceability under the Voluntary Guidelines for Catch Documentation Schemes and on scoping paper and future developments on social responsibility.

In line with the agenda of the 18COFI:FT, SEAFDEC has several ongoing regional programs and initiatives that support the ASEAN Member States to address global and emerging issues such as combating IUU fishing and traceability system, safety of fish and fishery products, small-scale fisheries and market access, fisheries subsidies, CITES, and others.

13/06/2022

Photos from SEAFDEC/Aquaculture Department's post

07/06/2022

𝗦𝗘𝗔𝗙𝗗𝗘𝗖 𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝘿𝙧. 𝙉𝙖𝙠𝙖𝙯𝙖𝙩𝙤 𝙏𝙤𝙢𝙤𝙠𝙤 𝗮𝘀 𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗗𝗲𝗽𝘂𝘁𝘆 𝗦𝗲𝗰𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘆-𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗗𝗲𝗽𝘂𝘁𝘆 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗲𝗳 𝗼𝗳 𝗧𝗗

On 1 June 2022, SEAFDEC welcomes 𝘋𝘳. 𝘕𝘢𝘬𝘢𝘻𝘢𝘵𝘰 𝘛𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘬𝘰 as its new Deputy Secretary-General and Deputy Chief of the Training Department (TD), succeeding 𝘔𝘳. 𝘒𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘪 𝘏𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘢 who had served as the SEAFDEC Deputy Secretary-General and Deputy Chief of TD for two years from 1 September 2020 to 31 May 2022.

Prior to her designation in SEAFDEC, 𝘋𝘳. 𝘕𝘢𝘬𝘢𝘻𝘢𝘵𝘰 served as Head of the Fish and Fishery Products Safety in Oversea Fisheries Cooperation of the Fisheries Agency of Japan. She was nominated by the Government of Japan to serve in SEAFDEC for two years until 31 May 2024. With her experiences in various aspects of international fisheries, it is certain that she would provide invaluable guidance and support to SEAFDEC in the implementation of programs and projects toward sustaining the development of fisheries in the Southeast Asian region.

31/05/2022

𝗦𝗘𝗔𝗙𝗗𝗘𝗖 𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘇𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝘄𝗼 𝗶𝗻-𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄𝗹𝗲𝗱𝗴𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝗨𝗦𝗔𝗜𝗗 𝗳𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗿𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀

SEAFDEC Secretariat organized two in-house training courses including the “USAID Funding Requirements” and “USAID Budget Preparation” on 12 and 17 May 2022 at the Training Department, respectively. The Training courses were supported by the Sustainable Fish Asia Local Capacity Development-Capacity Strengthening Initiative (SUFIA LCD/CSI) which is funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). The trainings were attended by the SEAFDEC Secretary-General, senior officials, and staff from SEAFDEC Training Department and the Secretariat including project implementation related officer, information, research, training, finance, human resource, procurement, and administrative officers.

During the first training, the USAID Rules & Regulations: Grants & Cooperative Agreements, Financial Management for USAID Fundings, USAID Procurement: Grants and Cooperative Agreements, USAID Subaward Management, and Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning were introduced and discussed. In the second training, the discussion focused on the USAID budget preparation. As a public international organization, the two activities enhanced the capacity of SEAFDEC for compliance to receive funding support from the USAID in the coming years.

25/05/2022

𝗙𝗶𝗳𝘁𝘆-𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘁𝗵 𝗠𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗳 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗹𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗱.

At the kind invitation of the Government of Malaysia through its Department of Fisheries Malaysia as the host, the Fifty-fourth Meeting of the SEAFDEC Council was convened on 23 and 25 May 2022 through an online platform due to the situation brought by the COVID-19.

In attendance at the Meeting were the Council Directors and delegations from the SEAFDEC Member Countries, namely: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Viet Nam, and the SEAFDEC Secretary-General and SEAFDEC Deputy Secretary-General, as well as officials from the SEAFDEC Secretariat and Departments, and representatives from collaborating organizations. The Opening Session of the Meeting was held on 23 May 2022 and was presided over by the Director-General of the Department of Livestock and Fisheries and the SEAFDEC Council Director for Lao PDR, Vilayphone Vorraphim. The Meeting unanimously elected the Council Director for Malaysia, Mr. Haji Mohd Sufian bin Sulaiman, as the Chairperson of the SEAFDEC Council for the Year 2022–2023.

While taking note of the progress and achievements of SEAFDEC programs in 2021, the Council approved the proposed programs of activities to be undertaken in 2022 ensuring that the implementation would correspond to the priorities and needs of the countries in the region.

On the regional initiatives for combating illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, the Council acknowledged the progress made by SEAFDEC in sustaining the Regional Fishing Vessels Record (RFVR) Database for vessels 24 meters in length and over, and that the vessel data is to be updated regularly by the respective ASEAN Member States (AMSs) to ensure that the RFVR Database could be used effectively to combat IUU fishing; enhancing the regional cooperation to support the implementation of port State measures (PSM); and promoting the electronic ASEAN Catch Documentation Scheme (eACDS).

Moreover, the Council discussed several international fisheries-related issues. Noting that the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) is planning to organize its 19th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties (CoP19) on 14–25 November 2022 in Panama City, the Council supported SEAFDEC in the organization of the Regional Technical Consultation in August 2022 to discuss and come up with the ASEAN-SEAFDEC common/coordinated positions on the proposed listing of commercially exploited aquatic species into the CITES Appendices. On the negotiation of Fisheries Subsidies under the framework of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Council took note of the updated information on the discussion and expressed appreciation to SEAFDEC for organizing a series of Training Workshops that provided capacity building on stock assessment for the Member Countries to fulfill the WTO requirements. In addition, with regards to the U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) the Council noted the results of the Webinar on Regional Responses to the U.S. MMPA, and requested SEAFDEC to further coordinate with the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to provide technical support to enable the AMSs to fulfill the U.S. MMPA requirements.

With regard to the monitoring and evaluation of the implementation of the Resolution and Plan of Action on Sustainable Fisheries for Food Security for the ASEAN Region Towards 2030 (RES&POA-2030), the Council took note of the progress made by SEAFDEC in conducting the “RES&POA-2030: Regional Workshop on Development of the Key Indicators and Detailed Roadmap for Monitoring and Evaluation of the Implementation” in March 2022 and that the draft key indicators will be finalized at the Second Regional Workshop scheduled in June 2022.

The Council acknowledged the publication “The Southeast Asian State of Fisheries and Aquaculture (SEASOFIA) 2022” produced by SEAFDEC to provide information on the status, issues, challenges, and outlook of fisheries and aquaculture in the region. The Council also took note of the results of the “Study on the Impacts of COVID-19 Pandemic on the Fisheries Sector of the ASEAN-SEAFDEC Member Countries” undertaken by SEAFDEC providing a set of recommendations to mitigate the negative impacts of COVID-19 and revive the fisheries and aquaculture sector of the ASEAN-SEAFDEC Member Countries.

Noting that the “Act on Ensuring the Proper Domestic Distribution and Importation of Specified Aquatic Animals and Plants” of Japan will enter into force on 1 December 2022, the Council welcomed and approved the proposal of Japan for SEAFDEC to jointly conduct the Webinar on Japan’s Catch Documentation Scheme (CDS) in late July or August 2022.

On the utilization of the M.V. SEAFDEC 2 which was granted by the Government of Japan to SEAFDEC in 2004, proposals were put forward by some Member Countries such as Thailand and the Philippines for utilizing the research vessel in 2022; while the survey plan utilizing the research vessel by Myanmar in the near future would also be discussed and finalized within 2022.

The Council appreciated the extension of close cooperation and collaboration between SEAFDEC and other regional/international agencies/organizations, including the United States Agency for International Development/Regional Development Mission for Asia (USAID/RDMA) and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), in undertaking activities towards sustainable development of fisheries in the Southeast Asian region.

At the closing of the Fifty-fourth Meeting of the SEAFDEC Council, the Council extended its appreciation to the Government of Malaysia for the excellent hosting of the Meeting. The Council then announced that the Fifty-fifth Meeting of the SEAFDEC Council in 2023 would be hosted by the Government of Myanmar.

For further information, please contact:

Ms. Yeo Moi Eim, SEAFDEC National Coordinator for Malaysia ([email protected])
Ms. Nualanong Tongdee, Information Program Coordinator, SEAFDEC Secretariat ([email protected])

25/05/2022

Photos from SEAFDEC/Aquaculture Department's post

24/05/2022

Photos from SEAFDEC/Aquaculture Department's post

19/05/2022

CAUGHT IN THE ACT: Black tiger shrimp spawns

CAUGHT IN THE ACT: Black tiger shrimp spawns

19/05/2022

Timeline photos

SEAFDEC Member Country: Cambodia

DID YOU KNOW? The giant barb (Catlocarpio siamensis) is the national fish of Cambodia. It is called trei kol raing, trei ka hourn, or trei kbal larn in Khmer. Weighing 150-300 kg and is about 2-3 m long, giant barb is the largest freshwater fish in the country inhabiting the Mekong River and Tonle Sap. Its meat is tasty and rich in protein, which make it a favorite fish of Cambodians. However, this species was listed as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List because of habitat loss and overfishing. In order to promote conservation, the 2005 Royal Decree designated giant barb as the national fish and it is protected by Article 18, Chapter 2 of the Royal Decree 33 on Management of the Fisheries Sector. The Fisheries Administration (FiA) of Cambodia has encouraged hatcheries and breeding stations to conduct research on this fish for its potential for stocking in natural water bodies and aquaculture. Since 2000, the FiA has cooperated with the Mekong River Commission to tag giant barbs captured from the Tonle Sap and release into the wild to study its migration and growth.

References

Hogan, Z. (2011). Catlocarpio siamensis. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2011-1.RLTS.T180662A7649359.en
Royal Decree. (2005). Designation of Animals and Plants as National Symbols of the Kingdom of Cambodia. Office the Council of Ministers. Cambodia.

11/05/2022

Photos from SEAFDEC/Aquaculture Department's post

05/05/2022

Photos from SEAFDEC/Aquaculture Department's post

05/05/2022

To commemorate on 2 May 2022, the FIRMS Secretariat launched the FIRMS Global Tuna Atlas to help scientists, researchers, and policymakers analyze and interpret the global and regional distribution of catches of several species of .

https://www.fao.org/figis/geoserver/tunaatlas/

https://www.un.org/en/observances/tuna-day

02/05/2022

Strengthening Capacities of Regional Fisheries Organizations in the Asia Pacific Region

Regional fisheries organizations have a key role to play in helping member governments address threats to marine life, and especially in combating illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing. Their leadership is critical in coordinating with various stakeholders across the region for the shared goa...

22/04/2022

𝐒𝐄𝐀𝐅𝐃𝐄𝐂 𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐲 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐎𝐕𝐈𝐃-𝟏𝟗 𝐏𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐒𝐄𝐀𝐍-𝐒𝐄𝐀𝐅𝐃𝐄𝐂 𝐌𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬

SEAFDEC Secretariat organized the virtual Regional Workshop for the Finalization of the Study Report on Impacts of COVID-19 Pandemic on the Fisheries Sector of the ASEAN-SEAFDEC Member Countries on 20 April 2022. The Workshop was attended by the representatives from the ASEAN-SEAFDEC Member Countries, namely: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, and Viet Nam as well as the SEAFDEC Deputy Secretary-General and senior officials and officers from the SEAFDEC Secretariat and Departments. The Workshop was aimed at verifying the data and information provided by the countries as well as discussing the recommendations to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19. The final version of the Study Report would be submitted to the upcoming 54th SEAFDEC Council Meeting in May 2022. The Study was part of the project “Assistance for Capacity Development in the Region to Address International Fisheries-related Issues” supported by the Japanese Trust Fund.


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