While significant progress has been made on improving the data and information needs for promoting sustainable aquaculture worldwide, there remains much work to be done to further improve the knowledge base on aquaculture. Recently, on the advice of the members, a Strategy and Outline for Improving Information on Status and Trends of Aquaculture has been developed by FAO. The Strategy has been elaborated within the framework of the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries, and taking into account the process undertaken resulting in the Strategy for Improving Information on Status and Trends of Capture Fisheries, which was formally accepted by the FAO Committee on Fisheries in February 2003. The Strategy applies to the assembly and dissemination of information on the status and trends of aquaculture. Data collection needs for aquaculture are primarily for national policy making, planning and management of the aquaculture sector and at the global level are established by existing obligations of states to report fisheries statistics to FAO under Article XI of the FAO Constitution. The Strategy proposes to significantly improve data collections and related research for the benefit of users at the national, regional and global levels. This should include additional support from relevant international organisations and financial institutions for capacity building in developing countries.

The strategy is global in scope and is designed to cover all aquaculture production practices, for food and non-food uses, in fresh, brackish and marine waters including all commercial and small-scale aquaculture. It states the needs for information and statistics data in areas including social and economic aspects, impacts and utilisation of natural resources, especially land and waters, and impacts and utilisation of ecosystems and bio-diversities. It addresses national capacity for the collection, processing, analysis and dissemination of information, quality, completeness and scope of data and information, timeliness of information collection and dissemination, national and international institutional frameworks for coordination of data and information collection, and participation and transparency in the preparation of global status and trends reports.

The overall objective of the strategy is to provide a framework for the improvement of knowledge and understanding of aquaculture status and trends as a basis for policy-making and management, and to ensure development that is compatible with good stewardship of resources and the environment.

The strategy will be implemented through arrangements between states, directly or through their participation in regional fisheries organisations, and FAO. These arrangements should be established at various geographic scales, ranging from local to national to regional, and they should be linked to form a global system under the auspices of FAO. Consistent with Article 5 of the CCRF, the capacity of developing countries will be taken into account in implementing the strategy.

The strategy categorises actions to be undertaken into three broad categories: (a) Capacity building in developing countries - critical to fulfil national needs and existing reporting obligations, and to ensure that developing countries can fully participate in, and benefit from, the strategy; (b) global methodologies and standards - gaps and constraints in the data collected should be addressed, in addition to evaluating what data should be collected in the context of national needs and priorities, data collection cost and national capacity. FAO, with its partners, should develop harmonised standards, definitions and methodologies and software for the compilation, processing and analysis of aquaculture statistics, and should promote its adoption and application by member countries; and (c) improving institutional mechanisms and procedures for statistics and status and trends reporting – FAO should consider establishing an inter-regional Coordinating Working Party on Aquaculture Statistics to review requirements for aquaculture statistics, agree on standard concepts and definitions, and make proposals for the coordination of aquaculture statistical activities among relevant organisations under the international mechanism of Coordinating Working Party on Fisheries Statistic (CWP). States should agree on arrangements to facilitate the provision and exchange of information on aquaculture with FAO, and should monitor these systems to ensure their sustainability for meeting the needs of aquaculture policy-making and management.