For bibliographic purposes, this document should be cited as Yadava, YS (ed), Report of the National Workshop on the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries, 29-30 September, 2000, Chennai, India, BOBP Report No. 90. Pages 166.

The Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries is one of the most important international instruments devised for wholesale management of the living aquatic resources of our planet. The Code is an outcome of several contemporary global initiatives, which expressed concern about the overexploitation of important fish stocks, damage to the ecosystems, economic losses, and issues affecting the fish trade.

As a first step toward promoting implementation of the Code ofConduct for Responsible Fisheries in India, a National Workshop for coastal States and Union Territories was organized by the Bay of Bengal Programme (BOBP) in association with the Government of India at Chennai during 29-30 September 2000. The objectives of the Workshop were to fully familiarise government functionaries with the elements of the Code and the technical guidelines that have been prepared by FAO to assist member-countries in implementing the Code.

The National Workshop brought together senior fisheries administrators working with the Union Ministry of Agriculture and the State and Union Territory Governments, scientists and experts from fisheries institutions, and representatives from national and international NGOs. The Workshop, saw an enthusiastic participation by 43 de’egates and incidentally, it was the first occasion when senior fisheries administrators from the Union and the coastal States and Union Territories had assembled to discuss the Code and arrive at an implementable plan of action. For many of the participants, the Workshop also marked the first systematic exposure to the Code of Conduct.

The two-day Workshop highlighted several problems concerning implementation of the Code in a large country like India. Keeping in view the strengths and weaknesses of national and state governments, the vastness of the country and the diverse and highly complex demographic and sociopolitical fabric, the planners and experts concluded that massive efforts would be needed to take the Code to the grassroots level quickly in India. The report contains the Plan of Action and the papers presented at the Workshop by the experts and senior officers representing the coastal States and the Union Territories.