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Region's Fishing Industry Urged To Address Environmental Issues SINGAPORE (AFP) - Southeast Asia's fishing industry was urged this week to pursue responsible fishing methods to ensure the survival of a sector providing food and valuable income to regional economies. "Environmental concerns, conservation of fisheries resources through sustainable fishing and aquaculture are some of the looming international issues that need to be addressed as they can have serious environmental and trade implications," said Singapore's Minister for National Development Mah Bow Tan. Speaking at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Fisheries Federation council meeting here, Mah said overfishing and not allowing resources to regenerate posed a threat that cannot be ignored. "We must therefore balance the size of our catch with the need to ensure that available resources are not harvested beyond their replacement rate," he said. He also urged the practice of environment-friendly aquaculture to reduce its negative impact on the environment and more focus on fisheries' post-harvest technology to improve fish handling and processing and efficiently use other species of fishes caught in fishing nets. "These challenges call for a concerted and determined effort from government agencies in ASEAN and their private sector counterparts," he said. Fish and fishery products exports from members of the ASEAN totaled $7.7 billion or 14.7 percent of world exports in 1996, while imports were $2.1 billion, he said. The fishing industry also was a major source of employment for some ASEAN countries, with 1.7 million people involved in full-time fishing and another three million in part-time fishing activities, Mah added. In 1996, ASEAN's total fish production was more than 13 million tons, with aquaculture accounting for 2.6 million tons of the total. The ASEAN Fisheries Federation, which represents the private sectors of member countries, can help ensure sustainable fisheries' development in the region, Mah said. The meeting of the council is being held together with the Singapore Seafood Exhibition, which gathers seafood and seafood equipment buyers and sellers from Southeast Asia, Europe and North America
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