Memorandum of Understanding with the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC)

On July 29, 2019, Nagano University and the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to cooperate in research and education on inland fisheries resources and freshwater ecosystems. The MOU was updated on July 18, 2024.

SEAFDEC is an intergovernmental organization established in 1967 and consists of 11 member countries: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. SEAFDEC aims to promote and facilitate cooperative action among member countries to ensure the sustainability of fisheries and aquaculture in Southeast Asia. It has five technical divisions: the Secretariat (SEC) and the Training Department (TD) in Thailand, the Marine Fisheries Research Department (MFRD) in Singapore, the Aquaculture Department (AQD) in the Philippines, the Marine Fishery Resources Development and Management Department (MFRDMD) in Malaysia, and the Inland Fishery Resources Development and Management Department (IFRDMD) in Indonesia.

The Institute of Freshwater Biology considers this MOU with SEAFDEC as the first step in establishing a sustainable cooperative relationship linking Nagano University with various research and educational bases (universities, etc.) in Asia, and promotes scientific and technological cooperation and academic and educational cooperation in the fields of inland fisheries and freshwater ecology with SEAFDEC research institutes in various countries. The achievements of the cooperation agreement based on this MOU are as follows:

• Acceptance of a short-term trainee from SEAFDEC (Dr. Dina Muthmainnah, S.Si., M.Si.) (Supported by Marino Forum 21: July 29, 2024) (SEAFDEC/IFRDMD Link)

• Member of SEAFDEC Research Evaluation Committee (Kodama Sakie, December 2022, requested business trip to Palembang, Indonesia, photo right)

• Personnel Exchange: Employment of Ayu Daryani, who applied from SEAFDEC, as a research assistant (We published one paper during this period).

• Collaborated with SEAFDEC in the eel research project funded by the Fisheries Department.

• Participated in the Eel Task Team 1 of the Informal Consultation on International Cooperation for Conservation and Management of Japanese Eel Stock and Other Relevant Eel Species (Informal Consultation): The 1st Online Workshop of Eel Task Team 1: Progress and challenges in collecting and analyzing long-term time series data on Japanese eel, 7 February 2023

• Participation in the Eel Task Team 2 of the Informal Consultation: The 1st Online Workshop of Eel Task Team 2: Tracking the spawning migration of eel species: challenges and ways forward for Japanese eel, February 17, 2023

• “The In-House Training on Enhancement of sustainability of catadromous eel resources in Southeast Asia” on December 13–14, 2018 at IFRDMD, Palembang, Indonesia (Lecturer: Hiroshi Hakoyama)

• The 2nd Regional Meeting on “Enhancing Sustainable Utilization and Management Scheme of Tropical Anguillid Eels in Southeast Asia” on October 18–19, 2018, Bangkok, Thailand (Hiroshi Hakoyama).