Asia-Pacific Fishery Commission

This step-by-step manual contains information on the construction of small multi-purpose boats typical of those found in the Ayeyarwaddy Delta in Myanmar. Its purpose is to give organizations access to detailed information on boatbuilding, which will allow the production of small boats appropriate to the Delta. The manual is also intended to assist organizations in their understanding of the boatbuilding process and to provide guidelines on good practice. It should assist in the review of contracts and quality control in boatbuilding.

The manual provides information on two boat designs: 12 ft and 18 ft boats. It also gives the scantlings and material requirements as well as the guidelines for selecting and using timber for the boat construction. The largest part of the manual describes how to build the boats step-by-step. Finally, the manual contains boatbuilding guidelines for wooden boats of less than 7 m in length and operating at speeds of less than 12 knots.


Project: "Immediate Rehabilitation of Subsistence Fisheries Livelihoods in Areas Affected by Cyclone Nargis (OSRO/MYA/805/SWE)" Funded by the Government of Sweden

Building awareness in aspects of fishery statistics, stock assessment and management
An account of the FAO/SEAFDEC workshop, this document includes a brief account of the fishery statistics programme undertaken by the FAO Fishery Information, Data and Statistics Unit. Catch statistics from the FAO database are provided for each country along with comments relevant to the quality of the statistics. Fish stock assessment initiatives in the region are briefly reviewed. This is followed by an introduction to spreadsheet applications of the Thompson and Bell

Aquaculture growth worldwide involves the expansion of cultivated areas, a higher density of aquaculture installations and farmed individuals and greater use of feed resources produced outside of the immediate culture area. Such evolution of the sector could carry negative impacts on the environment and on portions of the society when unregulated and badly managed. In response to the explicit request of the Third Session of the Committee of Fisheries (COFI) Sub-Committee on Aquaculture to improve the management and enhance the socio-economic impacts of aquaculture, the Aquaculture Management and Conservation Service (FIMA) of the FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Department initiated in 2006 an effort to look into the development and application of the ecosystem approach to aquaculture.

This activity is funded under a Japanese Trust Fund Project (Towards Sustainable Aquaculture: Selected Issues and Guidelines) and conducted in collaboration with the FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Development and Planning Service (FIEP).Several activities have taken place to support sustainable aquaculture, including the workshop coorganized with the Universitat de les Illes Balears that took place from 7

Building 18 ft Wooden Multi Purpose Boats for the Ayeyarwady Delta in Myanmar: A Step by Step Guide to Quality Boats (2010 UPDATED)

This step by step guide describes the construction of 18 ft wooden boats suitable for use in the Ayeyarwady Delta for fishing and transportation and possibly other purposes. The design is similar to that of traditional boats commonly used in the Delta and the guide emphasizes the quality of construction. The design and construction are based on the prototype developed by FAO under its emergency and rehabilitation programme following cyclone Nargis, Building small wooden boats in Myanmar – 12 ft & 18 ft Multi-purpose boats.

The reason for producing a revised guide was that the feedback from fishermen and other users of the boats would prefer a slightly wider boat for increased stability. A second reason was that the preferred species of wood, Thin Gan is becoming increasingly rare and expensive necessitating the use of other species. This also necessitates greater care in the selection and treatment of the wood, which is covered in the guide.

The guide was used and elaborated during the conduct of seven training workshops in which a total of 164 boat builders/carpenters were trained.

Project: “Support to the immediate rehabilitation of farming, coastal fisheries and aquaculture livelihoods in the Cyclone Nargis-affected areas of Myanmar (GCP/MYA/012/ITA)” funded by the Government of Italy.

APFIC (2010). Best practices to support and improve livelihoods of small-scale fisheries and aquaculture households. FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, Bangkok, Thailand. RAP Publication 2010/21,140 pp.

At its 30th Session in Manado (2008), the Asia-Pacific Fishery Commission (APFIC) committed itself to identify areas of best practice and policies to support coastal community livelihood and also review those aspects that are to be avoided or which negatively impact coastal livelihoods. As part of this commitment, APFIC convened a Regional Consultative workshop “Best practices to support and improve the livelihoods of small-scale fisheries and aquaculture households”, 13–15 October 2009, Manila, Philippines, to develop guidance applicable to the local context of the region, to bring to the attention of policy-makers, government, regional organizations and non-governmental organizations. This guidance covered approaches and practices which offer the best opportunity for really improving livelihoods and building resilience in communities. This document contains three reviews covering some key aspects related to policy support to livelihoods resilience and diversification.

“The impact of sectoral and non-sectoral policies on fisheries and aquaculture dependent livelihoods in Asia” by Gayathri Sriskanthan

“Facilitating access to rural finance/microfinance services for small-scale fisheries & aquaculture in Southeast Asian countries” by Jocelyn Badiola

“Microfinance services for coastal small scale fisheries and aquaculture for South Asia countries with special attention to women” by K.G. Karmakar, G.S. Mehta, S.K. Ghosh and P. Selvaraj

APFIC (2009). APFIC/FAO Regional consultative workshop Best practices to support and improve the livelihoods of small-scale fisheries and aquaculture households, 13-15 October 2009, Manila, Philippines. FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, Bangkok, Thailand. RAP Publication 2009/01,50 pp.

For resource background materials and presentations:
http://www.apfic.org/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=372

Ensuring that fisheries and aquaculture are undertaken sustainably and equitably lies at the heart of the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries (CCRF). Although the CCRF offers some suggestions as to the major areas where this should be applied, it does not offer specific guidance on best practice. It is the function of working arrangements such as the Asia-Pacific Fishery Commission (APFIC) to develop this sort of guidance, applicable to the local context of the region and, as part of a greater advocacy role of the Commission, to bring to the attention of policy makers, governments, regional organizations and non-governmental organizations, those approaches and practices which offer the best opportunity for really improving livelihoods and building resilience in communities. Too often, well intentioned policies are implemented that result in unintended outcomes such as environmental degradation, marginalization of small-scale producers and their families or see benefits captured by other interest groups or elites. It is through taking stock of such lessons of success and failure that we can offer guidance on future efforts and draw attention to those policies or interventions that may not be achieving their intended outcomes or are even creating more problems than they solve. This report contains a set of recommendations developed from an APFIC Regional Consultative workshop that indicate those areas of best practice and policies that support coastal community livelihoods. It also contains advice on practices and policies that are to be avoided. The purpose of this workshop was to generate a greater sense of where Asia-Pacific countries and organizations should be directing their efforts to improve livelihoods and the resilience of communities dependent on fisheries and aquaculture and it is hoped that these best practices will form the basis for future dialogue on policy planning and development in the region.

This ad hoc publication contains the country case studies on supporting livelihoods diversification, increasing resilience , conflict reduction and alternative forms of income generation, presented at the APFIC/FAO Regional consultative workshop “Best practices for supporting and improving livelihoods of small scale fisheries and aquaculture households”, 13 - 15 October, 2009, Manila, Philippines.