42 



COMMEECIAL FISHERIES REVIEW 



Vol. 28, No. 9 



International (Contd.): 



Fishery Statistics : Throughout the ses- 

 sion, representatives referred to the need for 

 adequate fishery statistics. They stressed 

 that statistics are an essential prerequisite 

 both for development of fisheries and for 

 maintaining already developed fisheries at 

 productive levels. 



Closing Statement : Roy Jackson, FAO As- 

 sistant Director-General for Fisheries, had 

 this to say about the meeting: "For a long 

 time, many of us have felt the need for a 

 world-wide Committee of this kind. After 

 listening to the discussion at the first ses- 

 sion, I am encouraged to believe that we now 

 have a body with the membership, and com- 

 petence, to deal effectively with many of the 

 complex new international fishery problems 

 with which we are faced. This Committee is 

 unique in the fisheries field. Its membership 

 represents more than two-thirds of the fish- 

 ing power of the world in terms of total catch. 

 No comparable body exists in the world today. 

 The importance of its work cannot be over- 

 stressed." 



The Committee will hold its second ses- 

 sion in Rome in the second quarter of 1967. 



jfi ^ ^ ^ ^ 



WORLD SYMPOSIUM ON 



WARM -WATER POND FISH CULTURE: 



A World Symposium on Warm-Water Pond 

 Fish Culture was held in Rome May 18-25, 

 1966, under the sponsorship of the Food and 

 Agriculture Organization (FAO). 



The meeting was attended by 120 experts 

 from 39 nations and several international 

 agencies. 



While the marine fisherman must hunt the 

 deeps much as he finds them, the inland fish 

 culturist can control his fish stocks and the 

 conditions in which they live. So scores of 

 countries are working to develop their inland 

 waters. "Growing fish in ponds goes back to 

 prehistoric times," said Dr. H. S. Swingle of 

 the United States after his election as Chair- 

 man of the Rome symposium, "but we still 

 have much to learn if it is to help substantial- 

 ly in solving the problem of world hunger." 



Summary : Among its recommendations, 

 the symposium asked FAO to (1) intensify its 

 fish-culture training programs, (2) prepare a 



manual of fish-culture research methods, (3) 

 and prepare a directory of fish -culture in- 

 stitutes. 



The yield of fresh-water fisheries can of- 

 ten be greatly increased through intensive 

 management techniques such as systematic 

 breeding and specialized feeding. In the case 

 of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, these 

 methods have given yields of up to 9,000 pounds 

 per pond acre. Such advanced technologyhas 

 also been applied with success elsewhere, in- 

 cluding the United States and the U.S.S.R. In 

 some cases, the whole natural fish population 

 has been removed from lakes which were then 

 restocked with fewer species of larger, edible 

 fish which feed at different layers, thus using 

 all the food available. 



In many Asian countries such as Mainland 

 China, India, the Philippines, Indonesia, Ma- 

 laysia, and Thailand, there is a long tradition 

 of pond-fish culture. Yet this does not always 

 mean that they are efficient producers, and 

 several of these countries have received ex- 

 pert help from FAO in improving pond pro- 

 duction. As the Rome symposium's chairman 

 warned: "in many areas fish culture scarcely 

 produces sufficiently to justify the use of wa- 

 ter and land it utilizes." 



In some Near East and Latin American 

 countries, FAO experts have introduced pond- 

 fish culture to areas where it had never been 

 practiced. The Rome symposium offered an 

 opportunity for some of these field workers 

 who operate in isolation to examine their re- 

 sults in the context of world fish -culture de- 

 velopments. 



Uganda Experiments with Tilapia and Carp: 

 An FAO fish culturist whose headquarters is 

 the Kajansi fish farm seven miles outside 

 Uganda's capital of Kampala reported that he 

 had cross-bred Uganda tilapia with Zanzibar 

 tilapia and achieved 100 percent male off- 

 spring. The all-male stock was a stable pop- 

 ulation which could grow to the large size de- 

 sired by consumers. Previously, since ti- 

 lapia are such prolific breeders, the fish were 

 stunted as ponds became overcrowded with 

 fish competing for the available food. The 

 FAO fish culturist in Uganda also increased 

 carp production by developing improved 

 breeding methods. 



Experiments such as these are only the 

 first step in increasing production. The next 

 step is for local fish farmers to make full use 



