Aiming to build regional capacity in aquaculture governance in Asia-Pacific, FAO and NACA jointly implemented a regional consultation in collaboration with NACA member governments to assess the status of aquaculture governance in Asia, share experiences and lessons learned in aquaculture governance among countries, and recommend strategies and actions for further improvement. The consultation consisted of two major activities: country assessment studies and a regional consultative workshop. The country assessment studies were carried out by seven national experts in seven selected countries including Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Viet Nam. The consultative workshop was conducted in 5-6 November 2019 in Bangkok, attended by 33 participants including experts and government officers from 15 Asian countries and representatives from FAO, NACA and the Asian Institute of Technology. The findings of the assessment studies were presented to the workshop, and participants then worked on identifying gaps, constraints, and challenges in aquaculture governance in the region and put forward recommendations for further improvement. This publication presents the seven country assessment studies and the outputs of the workshop, including the summary of the status of aquaculture governance in the region, challenges and issues in governing process, and recommendations for further strengthening aquaculture governance in the region.

Aquaculture sector in Asia-Pacific has grown rapidly during the past four decades and contributed significantly to food security, nutrition, livelihood and overall socioeconomic development in the region. Meanwhile, disease problem has become increasingly challenging in aquaculture. Un-prudent and poorly controlled use of anti-microbial in animal disease control in aquaculture can have significant contribution to AMR risk. Although the control over the use of antimicrobial in aquaculture through some regulatory frameworks has been strengthened over the past decade in the region, it is far from adequate and effective in many Asian countries. In order to support the members to effectively address AMR in aquaculture for public health and sustainability of the sector, FAO and Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia-Pacific (NACA) jointly organized the regional consultation on AMR associated with aquaculture in Asia-Pacific on 4-6 September 2018. This publication documents the conduct of the regional consultation and its outputs, which identified major issues and gaps in tackling AMR issue in aquaculture and recommended desirable interventions and long-term strategy to effective mitigate AMR risk related to aquaculture in the region. The document also includes the seven country case studies on status of use of antimicrobial in aquaculture and the efforts to manage the risks of antimicrobial resistance, which were presented at the regional consultation.

Fisheries and aquaculture is a sector of special importance to food security, nutrition and livelihood in the Asia-Pacific Region, which can be significantly impacted by climate changes and related disaster risks. Effectively addressing climate change impacts and managing disaster risks in fisheries and aquaculture sector are vitally important to building resilience of the sector for sustained and greater contribution to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) related to ending hunger, poverty eradication and sustainable use of natural resources. FAO member countries in the region have been making good effort and significant progress in addressing climate change impacts and related disaster risks with support of international communities. A FAO regional consultative workshop was convened to bring together a wide range of players including country governments, regional organizations and other partners to share their knowledge and good practices in addressing climate change implications for fisheries and aquaculture in the region, to assess the progress made in addressing issues with marine capture fisheries, inland capture fisheries, coastal aquaculture and inland aquaculture in the context of climate change adaptation and mitigation in implementing the national plan of actions for addressing climate change in fisheries and aquaculture, and to recommend strategies for addressing institutional and capacity gaps in building climate-resilience fisheries and aquaculture industry in the region. The publication is the compilation of the workshop executive report, background technical papers, extended summary of presentations by representatives from participating government and FAO partners, and the workshop conclusions and recommendations.

The Asia-Pacific region is remarkably diverse and wide ranging, geographically, in its flora and fauna, culturally, institutionally and economically. The region includes the two most populous countries in the world, China and India, a greater part of the Asian continent, the Australian continent, and many small islands, mostly in the Pacific Ocean, which are some of the smallest island nations in the world. Fisheries and aquaculture are socio-economically important sectors to most nations in the Asia-Pacific region and most nations in the region have high rates of fish consumption, mostly sourced from aquaculture although the small island nations depend to a greater extent on capture fisheries. This review entails analyses of the aquaculture sector in Asia-Pacific including the status and trends, progress made in achieving sustainable development, salient challenges, issues and anticipated future development. Status and trends are based on data extracted from the FAO Fishery and Aquaculture Statistics (FAO, 2020a; FAO, 2020b), unless stated otherwise, and are mostly for the period from 2008 to 2018 and occasionally for the period from 1990 to 2018 for relevant historical comparison and longer-term contextual analyses.

This is the report of the Seventh Asia-Pacific Fishery Commission (APFIC) Regional Consultative Forum Meeting (RCFM) on Sustainable Development for Resilient Blue Growth of Fisheries and Aquaculture. The meeting was convened in Cebu, Philippines from 7 May to 9 May 2018 and was attended by 80 participants from 16 countries, together with representatives from ten regional and international partner organizations and projects. The key conclusions and recommendations endorsed by the Seventh RCFM are summarized as: (1) The RCFM recognized the great advances in the four thematic areas pertaining to sustainable and resilient fisheries and aquaculture for blue growth in the region; (2) There are a number of remaining and emerging challenges to the sustainability and resilience of fisheries and aquaculture sector; (3) There remains a great need in many countries for reinforced legal frameworks and guiding policies to ensure a human rights-based and environmentally friendly development of the region’s fisheries and aquaculture sectors in line with the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-scale Fisheries (SSF Guidelines) and the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries (CCRF); and (4) More targeted disaster risk management and climate change strategies and technologies for the sector are needed in several countries. The RCFM considered the reviews of regional fisheries and aquaculture, presentations by member countries and regional organizations, reports of action plans of APFIC regional consultative workshops and the major issues outlined in the agenda and developed a report and recommendations to inform the Thirty-fifth APFIC Session.

conducted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Demographic change in fishing communities has implications for the future of fishing, fisheries, the fishing industry, and the social development of fishing communities in the Asian region. This publication looks at demographic change in small-scale fishing communities to understand potential implications for fisheries sustainability, migration patterns, climate change adaptation, and livelihoods diversification. The publication explores the general question: How are fishing communities in the region changing with demographic changes? Specifically the publication tries to address the following questions: (1) What are the changes in demography (ageing, migration) in selected Asian fishing communities? (2) How are fishers adjusting their livelihoods with the changes in fishery resources and labour availability? Are they moving to other livelihoods? (3) What are the consequences of these adaptation strategies? Are there any gender differences in the impact of such adaptation strategies? (4) What are the challenges faced and policy and programme support needed for fishing communities for sustainable small-scale fisheries?