Technical Group ad hoc Fishing Group

The ad hoc Fisheries and Aquaculture Group, with Chile as pro tempore Coordinator of the Pacific Alliance and ECLAC as advisory body, prepared the matrix with short and medium-term actions that have established the lines of action to follow for the design of the work agenda in fisheries and aquaculture.

Since its creation, the alternate focal points of the ad hoc Group on Fisheries and Aquaculture of the countries of the Pacific Alliance have been coordinating actions through videoconferences. To date, the following has been completed:

1. Development of the annual meeting of high authorities of the fishing and aquaculture sectors of the PA in the international fair of Aquaculture – Aquasur.

2.  Participation with the joint Pacific Alliance stand at the International Aquaculture Fair – Aquasur, held in Chile from October 19 to 22, 2016.

3. Coordination among the members of the ad hoc Group in support of the Organization of the First Meeting of the Fisheries and Aquaculture Research Institutes of the PA countries, held in Lima, Peru from July 5 to 7, 2017.

4. Creation of the Network of Fisheries and Aquaculture Research Institutes of the Pacific Alliance, which will allow the exchange of experiences and the promotion of fisheries and aquaculture research among the PA countries.

5. Development of coordination among the members of the ad hoc Group to promote the exchange of experiences on the internal promotion of the consumption of fishery and aquaculture products in the PA countries. The institutions that have shared experiences are:

• Mexico: COMEPESCA (by its acronym in Spanish) – Mexican Council for the promotion of fisheries and aquaculture products.

• Peru: PNACP (by its acronym in Spanish) – National Program let’s eat fish – Ministry of Production – Deputy Minister Office of Fisheries and Aquaculture.

• Chile: Program from the sea to my table – Ministry of Economy and Finance – Undersecretariat of Fisheries and Aquaculture.

It is important to note that Chile created its program in May 2017, after learning about the experiences of Mexico and Peru.

At the Aquasur 2016 International Fair, held in Puerto Montt, Chile, from October 19 to 22, 2016, the authorities of the 4 countries on fisheries and aquaculture made a presentation on the perspectives and challenges of Aquaculture in each of the member countries. In addition, a first promotional stand of the Pacific Alliance was set up, through which the four countries exhibited information on the aquaculture and fishing sector products of each country.

The ad hoc Group on Fisheries and Aquaculture has been developing a Work Plan between 2017 and 2018, which includes the activities described below. The most recent videoconference among the four countries took place on April 10 and another follow-up is planned for May 10 to monitor the following advances:

1. Through coordination pro tempore (Colombia), to get a space on the website of the PA, to make visible the work being done by the Ad hoc Group, the Network of research institutes of the PA, and others.

2. Organize the next annual meeting of high authorities in fisheries and aquaculture of the Pacific Alliance, for which the next food fair to be developed in 2018 must be identified.

3. Evaluate the possibility of having a PA stand at the next Aquaculture Fair to be held in Bogotá, Colombia, in the month of October 2018.

4. Evaluate the possibility of creating a Network of fishery and aquaculture health authorities of the PA (to date information is being collected in this regard).

Strengthen the existing programs for the promotion of seafood consumption and support Colombia in the implementation of a program in the country.

Prioritization of actions by countries of the ad hoc Group