Professor E.G. Silas presents a special address to the NACA Governing Council.

Sena De Silva presents NACA's achievements from 2006-2011.

The purpose of the workshop, held in Can Tho Vietnam on 16 April 2011, was to build capacity and awareness of prospective cluster farmers and their leaders on the adoption of better management practices through cluster based management. The workshop shared experiences in cluster formation from other Asian countries and developed a join work programme for implementation of the project.

The Asia Regional Advisory Group on Aquatic Animal Health meets annually to discuss regional health issues including emerging disease threats. This report includes a review of regional disease status circa 2010, global and regional disease reporting arrangements, global issues and standards, progress in implementation of the the Regional Technical Guidelines on Health management for the Responsible Movement of Live Aquatic Animals, identification and designation of regional aquatic animal health resources and regional and international cooperation.

Sustainability of the sector implies technical feasibility, economic viability, environmental integrity and social licence. A sustainable aquaculture sector will benefit every member of society because of its associated invaluable environmental and social amenities. This review examines countries’ recent experiences and the role that aquaculture has played in improving socio-economic growth and development, and to discuss how governance instruments and effective partnership amongst stakeholders can lead to enhanced aquaculture’s net benefits to society.

There is a consensus that modern aquaculture has a business orientation, similar to any small or medium-sized enterprise. For resources to be invested, there must be an enabling economic environment and secure property rights. However, there must also be controls to curb short-sighted business behaviour that damages the ecology or society. This presentation examines aquaculture governance from a global perspective, looking at its current status and the role of governments and stakeholders.

This presentation builds on countries’ recent experiences to review the role of aquaculture in countries’ socio-economic growth and development, and discusses how institutional arrangements can lead to aquaculture’s enhanced net benefits to society. Aquaculture growth has recently been slowing down, and the sector is facing various resource, environmental, economic, knowledge and institutional constraints. Population growth, economic expansion and increasing preference for healthy food are expected to sustain the demand for aquaculture products.

The main objective of this review is to understand the status of aquaculture-fisheries interactions associated with the biological, technological, social, economic, environmental and other aspects of aquaculture development. It will also examine how the interactions are addressed under the EAA. It cover aspects of scoping, prioritising, management tools and plans within the context of the elements of ecosystem resilience, social and economic issues and the integration of aquaculture with other sectors.

An essential element for the ecosystem approach to aquaculture is the use of virtual technology and decision-support tools, particularly if developing nations are to promote the key elements of aquaculture sustainability. We provide an overview of current and emerging issues and trends related to this topic over the past decade, an assessment of progress with regard to the expectations and commitments expressed in the Bangkok Declaration and conclude with some thoughts for the future.

The Phuket Consensus is a declaration on aquaculture development endorsed by participants of the Global Conference on Aquaculture 2010, held in Phuket, Thailand, 22-25 September. The consensus builds on the Bangkok Declaration, which was formulated at the International Conference on Aquaculture in the Third Millennium, held in Bangkok, 20-25 February 2000. The consensus and declaration provide strategic guidance on sustainable development of aquaculture considering social, environmental, technical and economic issues.