The Conference on Aquaculture in the Third Millennium was held for the purpose of developing a strategy for aquaculture development in the next 20 years. It was a sequel to the Kyoto Conference on Aquaculture, which was organized by FAO in May-June 1976. This report of the Bangkok Conference on Aquaculture, the second publication arising from the Millennium Conference, includes the detailed recommendations of the 14 thematic conference sessions. The third publication will be the technical proceedings of the Bangkok Conference (available from NACA - see http: //www.enaca.org/).

In recent years, the demand for reliable data and reporting on aquaculture has greatly increased, driven not only by the need to formulate and monitor sound policies and development plans, but also by the reporting requirements of international agreements and by increasing public demand for transparency and accountability. This document sets out the findings of a FAO expert consultation, held in January 2004, to discuss relevant issues including approval of a draft strategy and outline plan for improving information on status and trends of aquaculture.

The workshop referred closely to the results of a first workshop held in Bangkok in 2002 (The International Workshop on Factors Contributing to Unsustainability and Overexploitation in Fisheries) but aimed more specifically at answering the following three major questions: What are the major obstacles to the implementation of major legal instruments? What are the main lessons learned and the possible paths to solutions for improved implementation? What are the possible gaps that may exist in these instruments to guide the international community in improving the management of marine fisheries? The workshop was based on a review of eleven case studies, each relating to one of the following categories of fishery: large volume small pelagics; tuna and tuna-like species; large volume demersals; and coastal fisheries. This publication contains the report of the Workshop, discussion papers containing case studies and notes submitted by participants. The document, and in particular the conclusions adopted by workshop participants, will serve as a basis for further analytical work aimed at improved fisheries management and a more effective implementation of major international fisheries instruments.

The Expert Consultation on the Assessment of Socio-economic Impacts of Aquaculture was held in Ankara, Turkey, from 4 to 8 February 2008. It identified the many positive and negative impacts of aquaculture with their far-reaching socio economic implications. While they agreed that multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) framework using analytical hierarchy process (AHP) as a measurement technique is a suitable method for assessing socio-economic impacts of aquaculture, experts recognized that other methods such as the costs benefits analysis (CBA) could also be used depending on circumstances. They recommended that case studies be carried out in a certain number of developed and developing countries on assessing the socio-economic impacts of aquaculture using AHP, CBA and another technique in order to test and compare the applicability and results of these methods. They also suggested developing a user guide on the implementation of these methods and build capacity in developing countries in using them, and identified other needs for future work in socio-economics of aquaculture.

The Expert Meeting to “Develop Technical guidelines to reduce bycatch of marine mammals in capture fisheries” was held in Rome, Italy, on 17-19 September 2019. Twenty-nine fisheries and bycatch experts and observers from FAO Members participated in the meeting: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Denmark, Iceland, Japan, Norway, Russian Federation, Sweden, and the United States of America. The meeting was also attended by experts from various regional and international organizations. The meeting aimed to prepare “Technical guidelines to reduce bycatch of marine mammals in capture fisheries” that are directed at decision-makers, planners, managers, and all those involved in developing and implementing policy and technical interventions relevant to the bycatch of marine mammals in fisheries. The meeting was organized by FAO in response to the request from the Committee on Fisheries at its 33rd session in 2018 to develop technical guidelines on this subject. At the meeting the experts reviewed and discussed technical measures that can be applied for the reduction of bycatch of marine mammals in fisheries, including: time-area closures, acoustic deterrents, modifications to fishing gears and changes in fishing operations.

This publication contains the report of the workshop, held in Fiji in October 2003. Issues discussed include: the 1995 FAO Code and its framework, legal considerations and issues; responsible fisheries management and post-harvest practices; aquaculture and inland fisheries; and the integration of fisheries into coastal area management.