The Japanese Trust Fund Project Report (JTF6 Phase I) for Promotion of Sustainable Fisheries in the Southeast Asian Region

Abstract

Since 1998, six phases of the Japanese Trust Fund (JTF) program have been implemented in the Southeast Asian region at SEAFDEC, and a number of activities carried out by the SEAFDEC Secretariat and Departments had been completed resulting in developed fisheries and aquaculture technologies which were transferred to the Southeast Asian countries through enhanced capacity building, as well as policy recommendations and guidelines that were used by the countries to revise their respective laws and regulations for the sustainable development of their fisheries.

The project activities under the JTF6 Phase I from 2013 to 2019 were carried out in the region in line with the Resolutions and Plans of Action for Sustainable Fisheries in the ASEAN Region that were adopted during the ASEAN­ SEAFDEC Conference on Sustainable Fisheries for Food Security Towards 2020 "Fish for the People 2020: Adaptation to a Changing Environment" in June 2011 as not only SEAFDEC projects but also ASEAN projects under the Fisheries Consultative Group of the ASEAN-SEAFDEC Strategic Partnership (FCG/ASSP) mechanism to strengthen common goals on sustainable fisheries development for food security and poverty eradication.

During the JTF6 Phase I, a number of common policies and guidelines were developed and adopted by ASEAN as well as training activities for ASEAN Member States and R&D of fisheries and aquaculture technologies were implemented. The significant achievements through the implementation of the various projects funded by the JTF6 Phase I are summarized in this document.

SEAFDEC has been successful in transforming the status of the region's fisheries from being production-oriented to sustainability. In the past 20 years, fisheries production from the Southeast Asian countries has continuously soared higher making the region as one of the most reputable in terms of fisheries production. SEAFDEC will continue to foster the mainstreaming of the policies and findings in fisheries and aquaculture that emanate from the activities to be conducted under the JTF6 Phase II program started from 2020 in the ASEAN context for sustainable development of fisheries in the region.