SEAFDEC participates in the Kick-off Meeting for USAID Sustainable Coral Triangle

The Policy Officer from the SEAFDEC Secretariat, Ms. Sawitree Chamsai, participated in the Kick-off Meeting for USAID Sustainable Coral Triangle on 29‒30 April 2024 in Manado, Indonesia. Organized by the Coral Triangle Initiative for Coral Reefs, Fisheries, and Food Security (CTI-CFF) Regional Secretariat, the Meeting was attended by representatives from the Coral Triangle six member countries (CT6), United States Agency for International Development Regional Development Mission for Asia (USAID/RDMA), CTI-CFF Regional Secretariat staff, Sustainable Fish Asia (SUFiA) project Implementing Partners e.g. SUFiA Technical Support, and other relevant stakeholders including SEAFDEC and University Partnership.

During the Meeting, Ms. Sawitree presented the overview of the SEAFDEC five-year grant from USAID/RDMA for the USAID Southeast Asia Fisheries Partnership, known as the “Activity.” She conveyed the Activity’s objectives, experiences, and challenges as well as potential collaborations with CTI-CFF. Moreover, she emphasized the importance of regular consultation with the Agreement Officer’s representative, developing working mechanisms, and the need for capacity building in areas such as USAID finance, monitoring and evaluation, and gender issues during the initial phase of implementation of the USAID direct funding implementation. She also underscored the potential collaboration efforts between SEAFDEC and CTI-CFF. This includes inviting CTI-CFF for participation in the Inception Workshop of the Activity, sharing information on stock assessment of tuna in Sulu-Sulawesi seas, and research on seaweed-based integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA) in the Coral Triangle.