Towards the sustainability of Southeast Asian fisheries: the role of SEAFDEC during the past 50 years and beyond

Abstract

This article is based on the Keynote Address delivered by the Author during the Celebration of the 50th Anniversary of SEAFDEC at Dusit Thani Hotel in Bangkok, Thailand on 15 November 2017, which recounts the developmental efforts of SEAFDEC during its first 50 years and provides suggestions for the enhancement of SEAFDEC’s tasks in the years to come. The Author started the Keynote Address by paying tribute to two regional projects that have had profound impact on the accelerated development and rational utilization of fishery resources and on the thinking of fisheries administrators of Southeast Asia. These are the FAO/UNDP South China Sea Fisheries Development and Coordinating Programme from 1973 to 1984 and the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center from 1967 to the present.