Tumi Tómasson

programme director

October 2001

The UNU/FTP was established in Iceland in 1998, following an agreement between the UNU, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Iceland and the Marine Research Institute in mid-1997. The design of the programme is based on a comprehensive feasibility study which was carried out under the auspices of the UNU, and is designed for professional people in various areas of fisheries from the less developed countries.

The programme is run from August to February each year and consists of two distinct parts. In the seven-week common introductory course the fellows gain an overview of the fisheries sector in general, which enables them to put the fisheries in their home countries into a regional and international perspective and to gain an appreciation for its development potential. The rest of the programme is devoted to specialist training, where the fellows are split into small groups according to their area of expertise. This part consists of 5 weeks of course work and 13 weeks of project work and, where appropriate, on-the-job training. Care is taken to select a project that will be of direct relevance to the home situation of the fellow.

Emphasis is put on the practical application of knowledge for assessment, development and research. The programme takes place in a working environment and is carried out as a cooperative venture of four institutions in Iceland which include the Icelandic Fisheries Laboratories, the University of Iceland in Reykjavik and the University of Akureyri in northern Iceland, under the leadership of the Marine Research Institute. In the first four years of the programme, specialist courses in six different areas have been offered, two of them only once. So far, 29 fellows from 14 countries have completed the programme, including 9 women, and this year there are 14 fellows participating in the programme, including 3 women, with one new country being represented. A breakdown according to countries and areas of specialisation is given in Table 1.

Table 1. Fellows of the UNU/FTP in 1998-2001, including 14 fellows who will

complete the programme in February 2002

The programme has two permanent members of staff, the director and deputy director, both employed by the Marine Research Institute, which also supplies all general services.

It is governed by a seven member board, with representatives from the cooperating institutions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the fisheries sector in Iceland and the UNU. In addition, the director of the programme is assisted by a studies committee composed of experts in the different fields offered as specialisations by the programme.

All the fellows who engaged in the programme in August 2000 completed their studies in February this year. An evaluation showed that the fellows were generally pleased with the programme and felt that it had met their expectations. An informal assessment by the staff, supervisors and members of the studies board, led to the development of a "quality assurance scheme" which is currently being implemented. In this the aims and objectives of the programme and the individuals participating in it are made more explicit than before, making it easier to monitor progress in a more formal and structured way than before.

The guest lecturer for the third session was Dr. Jeppe Kolding from the University in Bergen. Dr. Kolding has wide-ranging experience of stock assessment in the tropics, especially in Africa, both in fresh water and the marine environment. He gave a series of lectures on stock assessment in tropical situations focusing on the use of length based methods and survey data. The lectures were both illuminating and entertaining as Dr. Kolding described practical methods in stock assessment where the availability and resolution of catch data is limited. In addition the fellows presented their projects at a seminar for Dr. Kolding and he met with several of them afterwards to discuss their projects in more detail.

So far the board has met four times this year, and the last meeting of the year is scheduled for early November. The representative of the foreign ministry, Dr. Björn Dagbjartsson left his post as the director of the Icelandic International Development Agency early in the year to become Iceland’s first ambassador in Africa based in Mozambique. In his new post, Dr. Dagbjartsson has continued to support and promote the UNU/FTP. He was replaced on the board by the new director of ICEIDA, Sighvatur Björgvinsson. ICEIDA has a strong tradition in development work in fisheries in Africa and has so far sponsored the participation of four fellows in the UNU/FTP.

The main criteria for the selection of candidates is to contribute to the capacity building of institutions, organisations or the fisheries sector in general in LDCs. Participants must have at least a first university degree or equivalent and at least one year work experience. They are to return to their work after the training, and must have the full support of their organisations. At the same time care is taken to select candidates who are judged to be likely to derive the greatest benefits from the training in terms of professional development. Key institutions in cooperating countries are visited and a pool of potental candidates are interviewed. Selected candidates are invited to apply for a UNU fellowship and the applications, along with a report from the programme is sent to the UNU Training Implementation Committee (TIC) for evaluation and final approval.

The board finalised a document of selection criteria early in the year and this and issues relating to the strategic development of the programme were discussed and reviewed in a special meeting with the UNU training officer, Dr. Birgit Poniatowski, who visited the programme in October. As a result some minor amendments were made to an agreement on a six year extension of the programme signed during the visit of the Icelandic minister for foreign affairs to the UNU headquarters in Tokyo later in the month.

Two weeks of the core course are conducted at the University of Akureyri in northern Iceland. The fisheries sector is particularly strong in Akureyri and the surrounding district with a large number of companies, both directly involved in fishing and processing, but also in various services to the sector. During the stay in Akureyri a diversity of companies is visited. The opportunity is also used to visit sites of special interest from an environmental, cultural and historical point of view. The university is only 10 years old, and specialises in the training of professionals and offers among others a specialised B.Sc. degree for managers of fisheries companies. Management of fisheries companies was offered as a specialisation by the UNU/FTP for the first time last year. The experience was reviewed, the part of the introductory course relating to company management was re-structured and a framework for reviewing the specialist training agreed on. The aim is to offer this specialist option again next year at the University of Akureyri.

This year a specialised training option in Environmental Assessment and Monitoring is taught for the first time. The course has three main elements, general oceanography and limnology, coastal zone management and environmental impact assessment. This work also led to some changes in the core course.

There is a considerable interest in the programme and we get a lot of inquiries. Last year a brochure was prepared. Concurrently a website has been developed, and it was launched in late August. After consultations with the UNU Training Implementation Committee, it was decided to put the final projects of the fellows on the net, rather than publishing them in the printed form. So far all the projects of the second session have been put on the net, and preparation of the projects completed earlier this year is underway. The site is http://www.hafro.is/unuftp.

Interest in the programme remains strong. Since the aim is to build up a group of former fellows with each partner, there is a limit to the number of partners in the short to medium term, as there have already been fellows from 15 countries. Earlier this year, the deputy director visited Mexico, Cuba, Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania, with visits being planned to Cape Verde, Estonia and Iran in the next couple of months The last two countries will be new to the programme if successful candidates are identified. Authorities in Malaysia have made contact with the UNU/FTP and are keen to enter into cooperation. During a visit of an official delegation from Malaysia to Iceland in April, a letter of intent was signed, proposing to offer places to two candidates from Malaysia in the coming years, provided that funding for one is found outside the programme and that the candidates meet the selection criteria and are approved by the TIC.

This year the fellows attended a large international conference on responsible fisheries in the marine ecosystem. The conference was held in Reykjavik and sponsored by FAO and the governments of Iceland and Norway (http://www.refisheries2001.org/). The UNU/FTP participated in the poster session and formal discussions were held with the delegations of several of the countries already cooperating with the UNU/FTP. In addition the programme was discussed with representatives/delegations from Iran, Ukraine, Sudan, Mauritania and the Maldives.

The programme is financed from three sources. Most of the finance is provided by the annual budget approved by the end of each year by the Icelandic parliament. The budget is based on a proposal put forward by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, based on requests the programme puts forward in February. This year the programme received IKr 38.1 million (USD 450 000) from the regular budget and an additional IKr 2 m (USD 20 000) later in the year. The UNU provides a contribution according to its budget allocation decided on every second year, which this year amounts to USD 80 000. In addition third parties may sponsor some of the participants. This year ICEIDA provides sponsorship for two candidates. Since the beginning of the year, the Icelandic currency has weakened by about 25% against the US dollar, and this has brought about some increases in the cost of the programme.

Although the programme can still be considered to be in its development phase, it has received strong support, both from the Icelandic government and the UNU. Outside interest in the programme is strong and as it becomes more firmly established, there will be opportunities to expand its activities. However, the impact of the contribution of the UNU/FTP to the development of fisheries in any given region, country or province is likely to be limited unless there is a long-term commitment on both sides, so a number of candidates from the same partner will participate in the programme. As the pressure to admit new countries increases, it is important to that the capacity of the programme be increased so that justice can be done by those already cooperating with the UNU/FTP.