Report of the FAO Scoping Workshop on Regional Cooperation Programme for Responsible Aquaculture and Fisheries Development in the Central Asian and Caucasian Countries

This report comprises the workshop proceedings and the strategy for regional cooperation that was developed by the participants; the latter was the principal output of the workshop. The major inputs to the discussions to craft the strategy were the country reports that described their priorities in five areas, namely research and technology development, manpower development, extension and information, management and policy; and their own assessment of their weaknesses and strengths in these areas. The deliberations on regional priorities and technical areas for cooperation and potential co-operators in each area were informed by presentations from institutions, projects and agencies that are working or have associations with either or both the Central Asia and Caucasus regions. A significant result of this process is a matrix that matches potential co-operators (provider country or institution) and hosts (recipient country) for various and specific capacity building needs, which were identified as common regional or subregional priorities. To start the programme, the workshop recommended seven activities that need to be initiated as soon as possible