Report of the Regional Workshop for Asia and the Pacific region on the development of a Registry Of Farmed Types of Aquatic Genetic Resources (incorporating a review of strategic priorities for a Global Plan of Action), virtual workshop, 8-12 June 2020

ABSTRACT

This report summarizes the proceedings and outcomes of the "Regional Workshop for Asia and the Pacific on the Development of a Global Information System for Farmed Types of Aquatic Genetic Resources (incorporating a review of strategic priorities for a Global Plan of Action)" held from 8 to 12 June 2020. The final wrap-up session was held on 22 June 2020. This workshop, supported financially by the Government of Germany, was the second in a series of regional workshops held to generate feedback on the Registry of Farmed Types of Aquatic Genetic Resources (Registry) being developed by FAO in response to the findings of the first report on The State of the World's Aquatic Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (SoW-AqGR) prepared under the guidance of the Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (Commission) and launched by FAO in 2019. As requested by the Commission, the workshop also sought feedback on an outline of a Global Plan of Action for Aquatic Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (GPA). The workshop was originally planned to be held face to face in early 2020 but was eventually cancelled due to the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic. The workshop was thus held in a virtual online format over a period of six days, with sessions lasting between 60 and 120 minutes. The workshop was attended by National Focal Points for Aquatic Genetic Resources from Member Nations from Asia and the Pacific. The participants included officials from ministries, governmental organizations, research institutions and representatives of regional aquaculture organizations. The objectives of the workshop were to promote standardized use of nomenclature and terminology in the description and categorization of aquatic genetic resources (AqGR), especially below the level of species (i.e. farmed types). Also to identify priority regional stakeholders who would benefit from and could contribute to an information system, such as the Registry, to evaluate the key elements of the prototype Registry using regionally relevant species and their farmed types and finally to review the strategic priorities and propose concrete activities under each of the four Priority Areas of the GPA. Participants identified academia and researchers, government resource managers, aquaculture producers and policy-makers as the principal stakeholders and beneficiaries of the Registry. These same stakeholders would also be the main contributors of information to the Registry. Several participants noted the difficulty of knowing or even of estimating production data for farmed types and it was agreed that initially the registry would only attempt to collect estimates of the proportional contribution of farmed types to overall species production for the country. Through a series of working group sessions, participants identified regionally relevant long-term goals for the four Priority Areas of the GPA, revised the list of strategic priorities of the GPA, and identified specific regionally relevant actions that should be taken under the different strategic priorities, and identified some potential indicators that may be used to monitor progress in the implementation of the GPA. This input will be considered in the preparation of the draft GPA.