The United Nations University Fisheries Training Programme in Iceland

On March 9 18 fellows (eight women and 10 men) from 14 countries successfully finished the UNU-FTP. Mr. Jon Bjarnason, the minister of fisheries and agriculture, gave a speech at the ceremony and handed out the certificates.
The fellows of 2009 (as they are usually called) graduated from four lines of specialization: Fisheries Policy and Planning, Fish Stock Assessment, Sustainable Aquaculture, Quality Management of Fish Handling and Processing. The countries represented were: South Africa (2 fellows), Uganda (1 fellow), Cameroon (1 fellow), Sri Lanka (3 fellows), Madagascar (1 fellow), Barbados (1 fellow), Sierra Leone (1 fellow), DPR Korea (2 fellows), Cape Verde (1 fellow), China (1 fellow), Namibia (1 fellow), Belize (1 fellow), Jamaica (1 fellow), and Fiji (1 fellow). This year four new countries were represented: Barbados, Belize, Madagascar, and Cameroon.
At this point more that 200 fellows from about 40 countries have graduated from the UNU-FTP, which was established in 1998. In addition to running the six months training programme, The UNU-FTP takes also part in developing short courses in our partner countries in cooperation with universities and regional organizations. Currently several short courses are being developed in cooperation with Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM) and NACA (Network for Aquaculture Centres in Asia-Pacific) in Belize, Uganda, and Vietnam.