On March 5-8, the 33rd Governing Council Meeting of the Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia-Pacific (NACA) was held at the ICAR Convention Center, NASC in New Delhi, India. Appointed by the Department of International Cooperation of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Liu Xiangzhou, Deputy Director of the Asian and African Division of the Department of International Cooperation of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, and Researcher Zhu Jian, Director of the Scientific Research Division of FFRC, attended the meeting as representatives of the Chinese side.
Dr. Joykrushna Jena, Deputy Director of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, chaired the agenda of the meeting as the chairman. Dr. Huang Jie gave a work report of the Board of Directors, which covered the main activities of NACA, management, personnel and financial matters, the completion of tasks in 2023 and the work plan for 2024. Subsequently, representatives of the four regional guidance centers of China, India, the Philippines and Thailand made work reports.
On behalf of China Regional Guidance Center, Prof. Zhu Jian reported on the achievements and development strategies of China’s green fishery development, introduced the important progress made by the FFRC in 2023 in scientific and technological innovation, condition construction, achievement transformation, technology extension, talent training, foreign aid training and international cooperation, and formulated a work plan for 2024. Cambodia, the Philippines, Thailand, India and other countries, as well as FAO and other international organizations, spoke highly of the effectiveness of FFRC in all aspects, affirmed the important contribution of FFRC to promoting the fishery industry and economic and social development of member countries, and expressed a strong willingness to further strengthen cooperation with FFRC.
The meeting elected China as the vice presiding country, and Deputy Director Liu Xiangzhou as the vice chairman of the meeting. It was decided that the 34th Governing Council Meeting of NACA will be held in China in 2025, with China as the presiding country of the 34th Governing Council Meeting.
The meeting reported on the progress made in the regional aquaculture transformation and the following work suggestion since the 2nd High-Level Meeting on Aquaculture Transformation. The meeting elected Dr. Eduardo Leano from NACA as the next NACA Director General. The meeting was attended by 48 representatives from 18 NACA member countries, 4 regional guidance centers, collaborating international organizations and funding agencies, and the host country.
