ROHANA SUBASINGHE is a specialist in aquaculture development and aquatic
animal health management. After 22 years of service, he retired from the FAO
in late 2015, while serving as the Chief of the Aquaculture Branch. Since his
graduation in 1980 from the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka, he has worked in
all parts of the world. He joined FAO in 1994 and took responsibility for
implementing projects on aquaculture and aquatic animal health at national,
regional and international levels. Among others, at FAO he was also
responsible for analyses of global trends in aquaculture development. He
served as the FAO focal point for international and regional agencies involved in
aquaculture and food security. A former teacher of the University of Colombo
and the Universiti Putra Malaysia, Rohana earned his PhD from Stirling
University. Rohana is a strong advocate of sustainable aquaculture and its
significant contribution to poverty alleviation and food and nutrition security. His
passion is to empower people engaged in small-scale aquaculture value chains.
He supports responsible certification of aquaculture and is also responsible for
developing the globally approved FAO technical guidelines on aquaculture
certification. He served as the
Technical Secretary to the Sub-Committee on Aquaculture of the Committee on
Fisheries of the FAO, the only global inter-governmental forum on aquaculture,
for 15 years, since its inception until his retirement. He spearheaded the
development of a global partnership for aquaculture development in FAO, the
Global Aquaculture Advancement Partnership (GAAP), particularly addressing
the need
for a concerted effort to ensure future aquaculture development will become
increasingly socially acceptable, environmentally sustainable, and responsibly
managed. Rohana is still contributes to the global aquaculture development
agenda, as a freelance consultant.