This document is the report of the ninth meeting of the Advisory Committee of the Project for Small-Scale Fisheries Development of the Bay of Bengal Programme (BOBP). The meeting was hosted by the Government of Thailand and was held in Bangkok, February 25-26, 1985.

The meeting constituted a session of the third meeting of the Committee for the Development and Management of Fisheries in the Bay of Bengal (briefly Bay of Bengal Committee or BOBC) held from February 25 to March 1. This report is therefore an extract of the proceedings of the BOBC meeting. (The full report of the BOBC meeting is being published under the FAO fisheries report series by the FAO headquarters.)

The report records the deliberations and conclusions of the Advisory Committee meeting. lt includes a description and analysis of progress made by the project in 1984, the sixth year of operation. It may therefore serve as a source of reference to officials of fisheries agencies of member countries and to donor agencies. It may also interest other institutions and individuals engaged in small-scale fisheries development, particularly in the Bay of Bengal region.

“Development of Small-Scale Fisheries in the Bay of Bengal,” GCP/RAS/040/SWE, is funded by the Swedish International Development Authority (SIDA) and executed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Five countries are members - Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Thailand. Its aims are to develop, demonstrate and promote appropriate technologies and methodologies to improve the conditions of small-scale fisherfolk and to increase the supply of fish from the small sector in the member countries.

The Advisory Committee is composed of representatives of the five member-countries plus representatives of FAO and SIDA. The committee meets once a year. Earlier meetings were held in Colombo (1976), Madras (1977), Chittagong (1978), Phuket (1979), Penang (1980), Colombo (1981), New Delhi (1983) and Dhaka (1984).