FAO, the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH), NACA and partners have developed the “Progressive Management Pathway for Aquaculture Biosecurity” (PMP/AB), as an extension of the progressive control pathways concept used for controlling major livestock and zoonotic diseases. It focuses on building management capacity through combined bottom-up and top-down approaches with strong stakeholder engagement. PMP/AB aims to promote the application of risk management at the producer and industry levels, as part of a coordinated national approach.

The FAO COFI/Sub-Committee on Aquaculture has recommended the establishment of a Technical Working Group of the PMP/AB, which now serves as the main implementation mechanism under the auspices of the Project on Responsible Use of Fisheries and Aquaculture Resources for Sustainable Development.

NACA and FAO are collaboratively working on the development of the Regional Aquatic Organism Health Strategy (RAOHS) to support the implementation of PMP/AB in the Asia-Pacific region. The Regional Technical Working Group (RTWG) for PMP/AB will be established to undertake the following tasks:

1. Provide strategic direction and leadership in the implementation of activities relevant to Outputs 3.1, 3.2 and 3.3
2. Specifically, the RTWG will, at the regional level:
   a. Take a lead in the roll-out of PMP/AB, starting with the development and/or revision/updating of RAOHS using available FAO PMP/AB guidance for application documents and relevant tools.
   b. Ensure a well-defined and guided policy on health management of aquatic organisms within the PMP/AB context.
   c. Provide guidance in enhancing awareness about PMP/AB, the overall PMP/AB communication stream and visibility and capacity building needs.
   d. Convene a sub-regional TWG that will deal with specific technical areas, as necessary.
   e. Meet on a regular basis (within a 10-month period).
   f. Prepare a 10-month work plan (July 2023 to April 2024) with concrete deliverables and time-line.

Applications

• Membership of the technical working group is open to candidates that have:
  A degree in aquaculture, biology, fishery science, veterinary medicine, or a related field.
• Academic and professional work and experience related to health management of aquatic organisms, aquaculture biosecurity, aquatic health information systems, education and learning tools, policy and governance, diagnostics, surveillance, field and laboratory work.

Expressions of interest may be sent via email to Jie HUANG, Director-General of NACA ([email protected]), with cc to Melba Reantaso, Team Leader of NFIMF, FAO ([email protected]), on or before 20 June 2023.

Applications should contain (i) a motivation letter, (ii) curriculum vitae or biodata, and (iii) list of publications or projects. Selected candidates will be informed by the end of June 2023 and the first meet-and-greet meeting of the official PMP/AB RTWG will be held in first week of July 2023.

For further details and application requirements, please download the announcement linked below.