Sustainability of inland fishery resources against the ASEAN economic community backdrop: Challenges and opportunities

Abstract

The Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC) has been playing the leading role in promoting sustainable fisheries development for food security in Southeast Asia. In so-doing, SEAFDEC has been implementing programs that aim to 'enhance the awareness of stakeholders on the contribution of inland fisheries to food security and sustainable livelihoods', in accordance with the Resolution on Sustainable Fisheries for Food Security for the ASEAN Region adopted in June 2011. In a Keynote Address delivered by SEAFDEC Secretary-General Dr. Chumnarn Pongsri during the 4th International Conference on Inland Capture Fisheries organized in Palembang, Indonesia in September 2014, he spelled out the importance of inland fisheries for local food security in the Southeast Asian region, especially when the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) shall be unified by 2015. He also recognized the Conference as timely considering the importance which is currently being directed towards the conservation and sustainable utilization of inland water resources for food security. Such direction has paved the way for SEAFDEC to craft programs and activities that would address important emerging issues related to the sustainable development of inland fisheries in the Southeast Asian region.