Aquaculture Asia April 08

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SSN 0859-600X Volume XIII No. 2 April-June 2008

Vietnamese catfish

Culture-based fisheries in LaoChanging face of carp culture


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Algae blooms

Disease

Large scale

Weather losses

Mass escape

Non-compliance

Pollution &Environmentalcontamination

Predators

Super chill

Theft

Damage to equipment,cages, moorings


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Aquaculture Asia

is an autonomous publicationthat gives people in developing

countries a voice. The views and

opinions expressed herein are

those of the contributors and

do not represent the policies or

position of NACA.

Editorial Board

Wing-Keong NgM.C. Nandeesha

Editor

Simon Wilkinson

[email protected]

Editorial Assistant

Phinyada Sompuech

Editorial Consultant

Pedro Bueno

NACA

An intergovernmental

organization that promotes

rural development through

sustainable aquaculture. NACAseeks to improve rural income,

increase food production and

foreign exchange earnings and

to diversify farm production. The

ultimate beneficiaries of NACA

activities are farmers and ruralcommunities.

Contact

The Editor, Aquaculture Asia

PO Box 1040Kasetsart Post Office

Bangkok 10903, Thailand

Tel +66-2 561 1728

Fax +66-2 561 1727

Email:

[email protected] http://www.enaca.org

Printed by

Scand-Media Co., Ltd.

Volume XIII No. 2April-June 2008

ISSN 0859-600X

Standards for catfish aquaculture

The development of aquaculture standards is back in fashion. At the centre of

attention is the Vietnamese catfish industry, which has emerged from the catfish

war with the US stronger than ever, now producing more than one million tonnesper year and exporting all over the world.

The meteoric rise of the catfish industry has prompted a mad scramble for the

establishment of standards for catfish production. Standards have been proposedor are in development by EurepGAP, GTZ, WWF (the Pangasius Aquaculture

Dialogue) and Naturland (Naturland Standards for Organic Aquaculture). Thesegroups have different goals and priorities and so for the most part these standards

are being developed as separate entities, and may not be mutually compatible or

complementary.

There are a few things that trouble me about this situation. Firstly, the wordstandard implies a norm that has broad-based acceptance. A proliferation of

standards is a headache for both farmers and consumers, and the resulting

fragmentation of effort reduces the chance of a broadly accepted standard (ie. a

realstandard!) emerging. The organizations propounding various standards need

to get together with stakeholders from throughout the value chain and start talking

about developing a common approach. This issue was raised by NACA at a recentmeeting of the Pangasius Aquaculture Dialogue. It has also been raised in more

general terms at a series of international consultations on the development of

guidelines for aquaculture certification over the past year.

Secondly, the standards are for the most part being developed, funded and

promoted by US and European interests and consultants and not by local industry.Given the still recent catfish trade war and resistance of domestic industry in many

countries to the importation of Vietnamese catfish, there are legitimate concerns

that some of these standards could serve as non-tariff trade barriers in future, ie.

that they are potentially a wolf in sheeps clothing.

Lastly, Vietnamese interests, particularly those of farmers, are not necessarily wellrepresented on the various committees that have been established in the name

of consultation. There is a substantial gap that exists between the people thatare promoting standards and Vietnamese producers. Some of this gap is cultural:

posting thick English-language documents on the internet and engaging in vigorous

debate at public meetings may be accepted forms of consultation for international

experts but they arent necessarily an appropriate form of consultation in the localcontext; some of the gap would also appear to be due to lip service to consultation

by people who are more concerned about putting a report on a shelf than estab-

lishing a standard that key stakeholders, that is to say the farmers, accept and can

follow. It is one thing to put a group of technical experts in a room and have them

devise a technically excellent, cutting edge standard, but is it appropriatefor small

scale catfish producers to implement? Has it been field tested? Is any guidance isoffered to small scale farmers on how they can achieve the performance measures

required by the standard? If standards are going to be adopted in reality, we should

not forget that farmers need to be one of the primary beneficiaries.


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2 Aquaculture Asia Magazine

In this issue

Sustainable aquaculture

Peter Edwards writes on rural aquaculture: From integrated carp polyculture tointensive monoculture in the Pearl River Delta, South China 3

Better management practices for Vietnamese catfish 8

Ipomoea aquatica an aquaculture friendly macrophyte 12

A status overview of fisheries and aquaculture development in Pakistan with contextto other Asian countries 14

The changing face of post-grad education in aquaculture: contributing to soaringproduction and sustainable practices 19

Genetics and biodiversity

Hatchery management in Bangladesh 20

Research and farming techniques

Production of Cirrhinus molitorellaand Labeo chrysophekadionfor culture basedfisheries development in Lao PDR Part I: Captive spawning 24

Application of ipil-ipil leaf meal as feed Ingredient for monosex tilapia fry(Oreochronis niloticus) in terms of growth and economics 31

Fermented feed ingredients as fish meal replacer in aquafeed production

Aquaculture and fishing management in coastal zone demarcation: the case of Thailand 35

Reservoir fisheries of freshwater prawn success story of an emerging culture-basedgiant freshwater prawn fishery at Malampuzha Dam in Kerala, India 40

Asia-Pacific Marine Finfish Aquaculture Network MagazineDetermining and locating sea cage production area for sustainable tropical aquaculture 42

SPC Pacific-Asia marine fish mariculture technical workshop: Farming Marine Fishesfor our Future 44

Developing Better Management Practices for Marine Finfish Aquaculture 45

Breeding and seed production of silver pompano (Trachinotus blochii, Lacepede) atthe Mariculture Development Center of Batam 46

Potential of silver pomfret (Pampus argenteus) as a new candidate species for aquaculture 49

NACA Newsletter 51

Page 3.

Page 8.

Page 24.

Page 40.

Page 46.


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3April-June 2008


Traditional dike-pond

system

The integrated agriculture-aquacultureDPS system dates back to the 14thcentury (Lo, 1990). Wetlands in thePearl River Delta were reclaimed bydigging ponds and using the excavatedsoil to raise elevated dikes on which fruitand vegetables were raised, includingmulberry bushes to provide leaves tofeed silk worms which supported the silkindustry of southern China. It was alsocharacterized by integration with otherlocal human activity systems besidesplant crops and used inputs, both on-

and off-farm, from animal husbandry,sanitation and cottage-level industriessuch as silk and soybean processingwastes. It used the well known Chinesepractice of carp polyculture whichconsists of a polyculture of up to 8-9

Dr Edwards is a consultant and

Emeritus Professor at the Asian Institute

of Technology in Thailand where he

founded the aquaculture program.

He has over 30 years experience in

aquaculture education, research anddevelopment in the Asian region.

Email: [email protected].

From integrated carp polyculture to

intensive monoculture in the Pearl

River Delta, South China

Dramatic changes have taken placeover the last 20 years in inland Chineseaquaculture with a decline in traditionalintegrated Chinese carp polyculture. Iwas fortunate to witness the peak devel-opment of the former as a consultantfor UNDP/FAO at the Integrated FishFarming Center, Freshwater FisheriesResearch Center, Wuxi, in 1981, whichincluded field visits and interviews offarmers of the dike-pond system (DPS)in the Pearl River (Zhujiang) Delta. On avisit to southern China last November Ispent a day revisiting fish farms aroundQuangzhou and in Shunde County(now a district), Quangdong Provinceand saw at first hand these remarkable

changes.

species of fish, with various feedingand spatial niches leading to efficientutilization of nutritional and spatialniches or resources in the pond. Themajor species in the dike-pond systemwere the herbivorous grass carp, thefilter feeding bighead and silver carps,the detritus feeding mud carp, and the

omnivorous common and crucian carps.It reached its most complex stage ofdevelopment in the 1980s during the eraof collective ownership of agriculture.

Watering vegetables with fish pond water. Shunde District, 2007.

Cultivation of mulberry (foreground)adjacent to a fish pond. Le Liu Peoples

Commine, Shunde County, 1981.

Watering vegetables with pond water,

foreground, sugar cane background.Shajiao Peoples Commune, ShundeCounty, 1981.


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ustainable aquaculture

The most comprehensive description ofthe system is the book by Ruddle andZhong (1988).

Demise of the dike-

pond system

As I witnessed late last year, thedike-pond system has changed beyondrecognition since the Governmentintroduced a market-driven economy inthe mid 1980s. The Pearl River Deltanow has the most expensive land insouthern China as it has been thepowerhouse of Guangdongs economicreform of the last 25 years (Jin, 2007).Guangdong Province took the lead inChina in setting up special economiczones (SEZs) starting in 1979. Townshipenterprises are booming in the formerrural area. By the early 1990s, ShundeCounty at the centre of the formerDPS had already become one of thefour richest counties in China. It isthe largest productive base of electricappliances in China; it is the capitalof home appliances of the world andit hosts annually Chinas InternationalFair of Home Appliances. The largestbicycle production base and the largestproducer of microwave ovens in theworld are also located in Shunde Districtas well as factories for manufacture of

air conditioners, refrigerators, elec-tronics, telecommunication appliances,garments and animal feed.

The cultivation of mulberry was one ofthe defining features of the pond-dikesystem but it has disappeared frommost of Shunde District. Polycultureof Chinese carps has been mostlyreplaced by monoculture of high-valuespecies such as eel, freshwater prawnand soft-shell turtle over the pastdecade (Yee, 1999). The farmer Iinterviewed during my recent visit, was

culturing channel catfish in 100 mu (6.7ha) area of ponds in Xin Long villagein Longjiang, Shunde District. Thevillage had 1,000 mu (67 ha) of privatelyowned ponds in which many specieswere being cultured, including tilapia.

Although the fish farming village wassurrounded by urban/industrial develop-ment, it was not going to be convertedinto factories as it was a special area foraquaculture as decided by the villagefish farmers according to the farmer Iinterviewed.

While considerable areas of land andponds occupied previously by dike-pondsystems have been converted into

urban and industrial development, theremay be a larger pond area today than inthe 1980s as previously reported by Yee(1999). Many farmers continue to beinvolved in aquaculture although mainlyintensive culture of high-value specieswith off-farm feed within aerated ponds.There is a ready market for fish in therelatively affluent area and intensive fishculture is more profitable for farmersthan the traditional DPS dominated bylower value filter feeding species. Dikesare now much narrower to maximize

pond surface area as aquaculture ismore profitable than dike cropping andmany are in poor shape through neglect

as well as erosion by aerated pondwater. Crops are still being cultivated onthe dikes of some ponds but are mainlyintegrated with aquaculture through useof the pond for watering crops. I saw nolivestock in Shunde District as manuringof ponds is no longer required; today themajor concern is pond eutrophicationfrom residual fertilizer effects of uneatenfish feed and faeces rather than use oflivestock and human manures to fertilizethe pond as in the past.

Most fish ponds have aerators. Shunde District, 2007.

Feeding channel catfish with pellets. Shunde District, 2007.


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5April-June 2008


Nutrient relationships

of the dike-pond system

A widely held misconception is thatthe dike-pond system was a more orless closed system in terms of nutrientflows. Ruddle and Zhong (1988) intheir detailed study of the traditionaldike-pond system claimed that it was arelatively closed ecological cycle based

almost entirely on the tightly managedrecycling of materials and the bulk ofthe inputs have always been generatedfrom the within the system itself.Similar claims were often repeated:the Chinese dyke-pond systemisunique in integrating agricultureand aquaculture within a single self-contained systemrequiring minimalinput of energy and materials (Zhong,1989); without any external input offuel, fertilizer or feed in an ecologically-balanced system (Chan, 1993); and,the DPS itself supplied most of the

nutrients for effective functioning of thesystem (Yee, 1999).

However, it was difficult to reconcilethe production and export of largeamounts of nutrients in commercialcrops such as fish, pigs, silk, sugar andvegetables with a relatively closedecological cycle (Edwards, 1993). Itwas estimated that the mean yield offish alone would require an absoluteminimum of 180 kg of consumablenitrogen/ha/year, most of which couldnot have been regenerated within the

system. Data from household surveyspresented by Ruddle and Zhong (1988)showed that most of the total inputs tothe fish ponds were manures, mainlypig manure but also human manure ornightsoil. With an extremely high localpopulation density in the dike-pond areaof 1,700 persons/square km and only12% of the agricultural land under rice,a considerable amount of pig feed andhuman food must have been importedinto the system. It was also claimed thatthe feed requirements of the pigs weremet by a diet of greens, particularly

water hyacinth, sugar cane tops andvegetable waste. Feeding greens topigs is a traditional Chinese practice

but pigs are monogastrics and requireadditional, more digestible sources offeed for adequate growth. While theponds effectively treated human andpig manure and the nutrients wererecycled in the dike-pond system, it wascharacterized by considerable nutrientflows from outside the system ratherthan being a closed system.

An examplefor sustainable

development

Another myth in view of the demise ofthe dike-pond system is that it provideda model for sustainable aquacultureelsewhere. According to Chan (1993),the dike-pond system should serveas a model for economic as well asecological development for the restof China and many other parts of the

world; and many countries in theregion would benefit from adaptation ofthe Chinese DFS model (Korn, 1996).

Cultivating vegetables on a fish pond dike. Shunde District, 2007.


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This page: Fish ponds are interspersed with urban and industrial developments. Shunde District, 2007.


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7April-June 2008


The dike-pond system provided benefitsfor centuries but could not compete withindustry in terms of social developmentor sustainability even though it mayhave been environmentally sustainable.

There has been widespread delinkingof crops and livestock from fish pondsin the major fish farming areas of China.

According to Zhou En Hua, my inter-preter as well as teacher in China over25 years ago, who now runs feedingdemonstrations in various provincesof the country, it is really difficult tolocate any large-scale fish farms withintegrated farming practice as we saw inthe early 80s in most of the aquacultureproduction areas of China. However,I did see large numbers of integratedduck/fish farms on the outskirts of

Guangzhou, simplified two componentfeedlot livestock/fish systems, presum-ably because fish culture is still aprofitable way to treat and reuse duckmanure where there is high marketdemand for ducks as in southern China.

Towards sustainable

intensive aquaculture

The intensification of inland aquacultureis causing environmental concerns in

China because of pond eutrophicationand the absence to date of treatmentof pond effluents. A farmer of a large

pellet-fed tilapia farm I visited in Hua DuDistrict told me that his major problem isvery green water from excess residualnutrients. Zhou En Hua recently told methat he never recommends monoculture

in pellet-fed ponds to farmers as pondwater readily becomes eutrophic whichstresses the fish. He recommendsan 80:20 system of stocking fishwith 80% of the biomass at harvestcomprising the target species, and theremaining 20% of the biomass, servicefish such as silver carp to feed onthe phytoplankton produced by fishmetabolic wastes. Although silver carphas a relatively low value comparedto target fish such as crucian carp andtilapia, the improvement in water qualityleads to a better food conversion ratio,

less disease, reduction or eliminationof the need for chemicals and drugs,safer fish and therefore a highereconomic return for the farmer. Thus,some of the principles of traditionalChinese aquaculture practice are beingintroduced to help to make pellet-fedmonoculture environmentally as well associally sustainable.

References

Chan, G.L. 1993. Aquaculture, ecological

engineering lessons from China. Ambio

22(7):491-494.

Edwards, P. 1993. Environmental issues in

integrated agriculture-aquaculture and

wastewater-fed fish culture systems. In: R.S.V.

Pullin, H. Rosenthal and J.L. Maclean (eds.).

Environment and Aquaculture in Developing

Countries. ICLARM Conf. Proc. 31: 139-170.Jin, H.K. 2007. Aspects of Guangdong Provinces.

Cartographic Publishing House of Guangdong,

China. 241 pp.

Korn, M. 1996. The dike-pond concept: sustainable

agriculture and nutrient recycling in China.

Ambio 25(1):6-13.

Lo, C.P. 1990. People and environment in the

Zhu Jiang Delta of South China. National

Geographic Research 6: 400-417.

Ruddle, K. and G. Zhong. 1988. Integrated

Agriculture-Aquaculture in South China: the

Dike-Pond System of the Zhujiang Delta.

Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

Yee, A.W.C. 1999. New developments in integrateddike-pond agriculture in the Zhujiang Delta,

China: ecological implications. Ambio 28:

529-533.

Zhong, G.F. 1989. The structural characteristics

and effects of the dike-pond system in China.

Outlook on Agriculture 18(3):117-123.

Integrated duck-fish culture. Sanshui District, 2007.


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Feeding time in a growout pond.

The phenomenal growth of the catfishfarming industry in Vietnam is attracting

the attention of the world, and withgood reason. In 2007 the industry isestimated to have produced at least 1.2million tonnes of catfish, a staggeringincrease considering that in 2000 theindustry was only producing 100,000tonnes. The spectacular success of theindustry is due to a unique combina-tion of factors that include marketopportunity, the robust nature of thecatfish, the abundance of high qualitywater resources available in the MekongDelta, and the sheer determination andentrepreneurial nature of Vietnamese

farmers.

In January we were privileged to travelto Vietnam to discuss implementationof a new project on Developmentof Better Management Practices forCatfish Aquaculture in the MekongDelta, funded by AusAIDs Collaborative

Agriculture Research and DevelopmentProgramme. The project team consistsof a collaborative partnership betweenthe Research Institute for AquacultureNo. 2, Can Tho University, the VictorianDepartment of Primary Industries

(Australia) and NACA, with DPI andRIA2 taking the lead roles in the respec-tive partner countries. The purpose

of the project is to help the industryimprove its environmental performance

and profitability through more ef

ficientuse of resources and improved farming

practices. During our visit we had theopportunity to get out into the delta todiscuss emerging issues with smalland medium-scale catfish farmers andsome of the major processing/exportcompanies.

Development of the

industryCatfish farming has been farmed inthe Mekong Delta of Vietnam for morethan 50 years. However, the exportof basa and tra catfish began in themid-1980s primarily as fillet to Australia(Tuan 2003). Increasing interest from

Asian markets fueled development of

Better management practices for Vietnamese catfish

Simon Wilkinson, NACA

Vietnam catfish production (tonnes)

0

200,000

400,000

600,000

800,000

1,000,000

1,200,000

1,400,000

1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007


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9April-June 2008


the industry from 1990 onwards, withexports later expanding to Europeanmarkets and the United States.

It wasnt long before the successof catfish as an export commoditybegan to attract the ire of producersin importing countries. In 2001 the

Catfish Farmers of America and relatedinterests formed a lobby to campaign fora ban on the import of catfish productsfrom Vietnam. This culminated in thefiling of an antidumping complaint withthe US International Trade Commission.Faced with the reality of lower labourand input costs in Vietnam, the commis-sion was forced to declare Vietnam anon-market economy in order to applypenalty tariffs on imported Vietnamesecatfish products, a move that was widelyseen as trade protectionism on the partof the US government.

Although attempts to block the import ofcatfish into the US were frustrating forVietnam at the time, they may actuallyhave been a blessing in disguise.Exporters were forced to look for othermarkets and they found one: The restof the world. Catfish once destined forthe US started to find its way into othercountries where it quickly found a nicheas a cheap, white, tasty fish suitablefor staple consumption. With wild catchfisheries no longer able to service the

growing demand forfish, this nichequickly grew into a gaping chasm, one

that even 1.2 million tonnes of catfishhas not yet filled.

Culture practices and

emerging issues

The catfish aquaculture industry inVietnam presently consists of about60% small-scale producers, typicallywith ponds in the range of 2,000 squaremetres to several hectares. Catfish aretypically grown in ponds around 4.5metres deep with a high level of waterexchange on the order of 20-30% per

day required to maintain the health ofthe stock and keep the flesh colourwhite; if exchange is insufficient theflesh takes on a yellow cast which isregarded as undesirable by processors.

Tra is an extraordinarily robust fishwith air breathing capability and a widetolerance of environmental conditions,

enabling it to be cultured at extremelyhigh densities. Farmers in the deltaare commonly harvesting 300-400tonnes/ha per crop, with some reports ofyields of up to 700 tonnes/ha. Tra growsrapidly, reaching a marketable size of1 kg within six months, allowing farmsin the delta to produce two crops or anincredible 600+ tonnes/ha productionper year. Even though the profit marginis small typically around US$ 0.1- 0.15/kg the total return to the farmer

(US$ 60,000 90,000+ per hectare) ismassively superior to any other crop,and represents a huge improvement tothe standard of living of farmers, manyof whom were formerly growing rice.

Like other growth industries beforeit, catfish farming is beginning toexperience some growing pains as

This farm has constructed their own pellet machine which dumps food directly onto

a conveyor belt for express delivery to the pond.

View of a catfish pond, a boom to confine floating feed pellets is visible to eitherside of the feeding shed.

Raceway inlet for water from the river.


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farmers explore the limits of the systemand importing countries start raisingrequirements for products to accesstheir markets:

Seed quality is the number one issueof concern to farmers as there hasbeen a marked deterioration. Seedsupply is currently insufficient tomeet demand and there are sugges-tions that private hatcheries may

have resorted to forced spawningof broodstock that are not in goodcondition or fully ripe. Losses in thenursery stage of culture are veryhigh.

Not surprisingly, health at all stagesof production was also an issue ofsignificant concern. Mortality rates,although widely variable from farmto farm, are generally felt to be onthe increase, possibly due to seedquality and to increasingly highstocking densities.

Feed costs are a major issue andthere is currently no auditing systemin place to ensure that feed manu-facturers are meeting the advertisedspecifications of their feeds. Somefarms are manufacturing their ownfeeds in order to gain control andflexibility over feed composition, inaddition to reducing costs.

Farmers are also concerned with thebalance between stocking density,water exchange and flesh colour,

seeking to minimise losses due todisease and pumping costs while

achieving a high yield and qualitynecessary to get a good price fromprocessors.

Short production chains are anunusual feature of the industry.There are no middlemen; farmerssell their crops directly to largeprocessing/export companies. Priorto purchase, processors collectsamples of the crop to assess fleshquality and conduct laboratory tests

for chemical residues. If the productpasses inspection the farmer isoffered a price based on its quality;if the farmer accepts the price acontract is signed and the cropharvested. Processors meet the costof laboratory testing and transporta-tion, farmers pay their own labourcosts for the harvest.

Fillet quality is a major issue forprocessing plants, although preferencesvary according to market, with filletcolour more important in WesternEuropean markets while EasternEurope is mainly concerned with price.Trimming fillets of red muscle and fatis a major component of processingoperations, with end products carefullysorted and graded before being frozenindividually by blast or in blocks.

It was apparent during our visit that feedmanufacturers and processing plantsare also undergoing a dramatic expan-sion of the delta, with new facilitiesbeing constructed and existing facilitiesadding capacity to cater to growinginternational trade in catfish. This isgenerating significant employmentopportunities; one processing plant

The growth of the catfish industry is fueling expansion of feed manufacturing plants.Catfish processing facilities enforce

strict hygiene standards to comply with

the requirements of export markets.

Processors are experimenting with value-added products such as this smokedcatfish sausage.


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11April-June 2008


we visited (Vin Hoan Corp.) employesaround 3,500 workers alone. The labourrequirements are such that the companyis presently constructing accommoda-tion facilities to house its workforce.

Proliferation of

standards: A headachefor farmers

The rapid growth of the catfishfarming has not gone unnoticed byenvironmental NGOs. Several haveor are attempting to establish variouscertification standards for catfishaquaculture, including Eurepgap, GTZ,WWF (Pangasius Aquaculture Dialogue)and Naturland (Naturland Standards forOrganic Aquaculture).

During our discussions with farmers andprocessors it was apparent that they areonly too keen to improve the perform-ance of their farms and the quality oftheir products. Due to the high intensityof catfish farming small improvementscan deliver big gains to producers, andprocessors are very much concernedto ensure their products meet therequirements of importing nations. Itwas clear that the industry will gladlyaccept guidance that helps them toaddress such issues but the proliferationof standards is a source of concern.

As one farmer said at our planningmeeting: Producers are being caughtamongst a proliferation of standards.

I just want one standard I cant followthem all. Similarly, major retail buyershave made it clear that the proliferationof standards is also a source of confu-sion to consumers.

Ironically, even though proliferation isrecognized as an issue, proliferation

continues. It seems that the proponentsof different standards find it difficult tobridge the ideological and political gapsthat exist between them. Everyonewants their standard adopted as thestandard; and this fragmentation is inturn a barrier to any particular standard-in-principle gaining the widespreadacceptance that is required for it tobecome a standard in fact.

Towards better

management practices

The goal of the BMP project is not todevelop certification standards per se.Instead, the project aims to improvemanagement practices, simultaneouslydelivering increased profitability to thefarmer and improved environmentalperformance through more efficient useof resources. As BMPs are implementedvoluntarily, the incentive to adoptthem is provided simply by their directeconomic benefit to the farmer.

In our discussions farmers emphasizedthat BMPs should focus on simple,practical measures that they can easilyimplement. Some certification stand-ards, for example, were considereddifficult or impossible for farmers tofollow. They emphasized the need tostart the process of developing BMPs byworking with them to see what changes

were required and also what changeswere feasible for them to make, in abottom up approach. Demonstratingthe practical value of BMPs to farmerswas also seen as a critical issue for theiradoption. The development of standardsby foreign consultants with token inputby farmers was not greeted with much

enthusiasm; such paper standardswere at best viewed as being imprac-tical, or as one participant exclaimedJust theory!.

As a starting point, the Vietnameseproject partners (RIA 2 and Can ThoUniversity) will conduct a detailedsurvey of catfish hatcheries, productionand processing in the delta in the firsthalf of 2008, which will identify keyissues where the development of bettermanagement practices may benefitthe industry. The project will run fortwo years, and further updates willbe published in Aquaculture Asia, theNACA Newsletter and on the NACAwebsite, where a dedicated page hasbeen established to track the progressof the project, please visit the link below:

http://www.enaca.org/modules/inland_projects/index.php?content_id=1

References and further reading

Tuan, L.Q. (2003). Country case study: Trade in

fi

sheries and human development, Vietnam.Asia-Pacific Regional Initiative on Trade,

Economic Governance and Human Develop-

ment. Download from: http://library.enaca.

org/AquaMarkets/presentations/OtherPapers/

VietnamCaseStudy.pdf.

From rice farming to riches: Catfish

farming has dramatically improved the

quality of life for many farmers. The

pond with the feed conveyor belt is inthe back yard!

Project team after enjoying the hospitality at a catfish farm.


14/6012 Aquaculture Asia Magazine


Ipomoea aquatica an aquaculture friendly macrophyte

R. N. Mandal1, G. S. Saha1, P. Kalita2, and P.K. Mukhopadhyay1

1. Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture, P.O. Kausalyaganga, Bhubaneswar- 751 002, Orissa, India; 2. Department of

Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Tezpur University, Assam, India.

Water spinach or morning glory,

Ipomoea aquatica(Forssk) is a common

emergent aquatic plant that can grow

freely over the water surface or overmarshy ground. Named for its beautiful

flowers, a single stem can grow up

to 20 meters in length with profuse

branching, and its apical shoot may

advance 10cm per day under suitable

conditions. Morning glory is basicallya vine, which may form dense masses

of tangled vegetation, thus developing

impenetrable canopies over the water

surface, restricting light penetrationinto the depths. It is found growing

wildly in tropical and subtropicalcountries and is cultivated widely in

China, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam,

Myanmar, Philippines, Bangladesh, and

in India (Naskar, 1990). Morning glory

has probably been cultivated for more

than 2000 years. It is sold in tightlypacked bunches in Asian markets and

considered as one of the most cheap

as well as delicious leafy vegetables

preferred by all groups of consumers

rich and poor.

Morning glory an

ideal substratum for

periphyton growth

Morning glory can play a significant

role in providing a natural substratum

for periphyton, which is an ideal food

for many species of fish. Investigations

have shown that a number of periphyton

species, mostlyfilamentous algae,grow around the periphery of the stem.

Older stems develop a thick mat of

periphyton upon which fish graze.

The roots developing from each node,also harbour periphyton. In our local

investigations, we have periphyton to

be principally composed of species from

two distinct families viz., Cyanophyceae

and Chlorophyceae, along with a variety

of zooplankton including Brachionussp.All the algae listed below are filamen-

tous and some of them have holdfasts,

a characteristic feature of periphyton.

List of periphyton categorized by family:

Cyanophyceae

Phormidium sp.

Oscillatoria sp.

Rivularia sp.

Cholorophyceae

Ulothrix sp.

Oedogonium sp.

Characium sp.

Microspora sp.

Cladophora sp.

Amphithrix sp.

Chaetophora sp.

Morning glory - a

support for organic

farming

Periphyton-based organic farming is

now widely recognised as a sourceof contaminant-free products in tune

with social aspirations and consumer

preference. Organic aquafarming is

being promoted widely as a safer

alternative to the use of chemicals in

aquaculture (van Dam, 2002, Azim,2003). In this connection, morning glory-

based substratum may be developed

to increase natural productivity of water

bodies by producing a large amountof periphyton. The present study has

determined that an older stem usuallyprovides a periphyton-covered surface

area of about 28 cm2. In organic farmingsystems, morning glory may act as

a suitable substratum to allow the

growing of autotrophs around which

heterotrophs congregate. This practice

gradually helps to enhance the natural

productivity of water body by producinga considerable amount of natural food

organisms essential for fish culture and

production with minimum exogenous

input.

Morning glory a

nutritious aquatic plant

Morning glory has long been cultivated

in order to harvest its leaves and stems

as leafy vegetables, which are one ofthe most preferred foods found in the

major meal of rural India, particularly

in Bengal during the summer months.

Nutrients analysis of I. aquaticahasshown that it contains a remarkably high

amount of crude protein and organic

matter, along with low of crude fibre,

making it potentially suitable as a fish

feed component. A critical analysis

carried out to investigate the nutritionalqualities of I. aquaticadetermined

its composition to be 32.2% crude

protein, 10.8% crude fiber, 6% crude

lipid, 6.0% and 30.0% ash. The totalcarbohydrate (NFE +crude fibre), was

31.8%. Micronutrient content (per g):vitamin B1 (thiamin), 87g; nicotinic

Morning glory is widely consumed throughout the region.


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16/60



A status overview of fisheries and

aquaculture development in Pakistan

with context to other Asian countries

A.M. Aslam Jarwar

The fisheries sector plays an importantrole in the alleviation of poverty and theachievement of food security in manyparts of the world. In many economies,fisheries exports generate more foreignexchange than the revenues earnedfrom any other traded food commoditysuch as rice, cocoa, coffee or tea (FAO2004). According to the EconomicSurvey of Pakistan 2006-2007 (ESP2006-2007), fisheries are the principalsource of livelihoods for many ruralcommunities inhabiting the long coast-line of Sindh and Balochistan, as well asinland along the major rivers, and in thevicinity of lakes and dams. In 2006 thetotal fish production was 604,900 metrictons (Table 1). The fisheries sector isestimated to provide direct employ-ment to about 379,000 fishermen and400,000 people in ancillary industries(State Bank of Pakistan).

In Pakistan the domestic consumptionof fish at 1.9 kg per capita is amongst

the lowest in the world. However,fishare also an important source of nutrition

for many people, particularly in ruralareas, containing 15-20% protein withhigh levels of vitamin A, phosphorousand many other useful dietary supple-ments, in addition to low cholesterolcontent (Mazid 2002).

During 2006-2007 the fisheries sectorwitnessed a growth of 4.2 percent (ESP2006-2007). Although the fisheriessector represents only a small amountof Pakistans total GDP it contributes

substantially to the national incomethrough export earnings. Figures fromthe Trade Development Authority ofPakistan (TDAP) 2007 indicate that fishand fish preparations are among thetop 16 export items and second amongprimary commodity category exportsafter rice (Figure 1). During 2006-07,a total of 123,615 metric tons of fishand fisheries products were exported,earning US$ 188 million (TDAP 2007).The top 10 countries to which fish wereexported fish include China, U.A.E,Thailand, Belgium, Malaysia, Korea,

Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia, Japan andSri Lanka (TDAP 2007). The bulk of

the captured fisheries from the marineareas go into low value usages (ESP2006-07).

Pakistan has a considerable extentof resources i.e. 0.29 million sqkm of marine (National Institute ofOceanography, 2007) with 1120 kmlong coastline and approximately 8.6million ha of inland waters with detailsas mentioned in table 2 below.

Although aquaculture has been growingat a good pace in Pakistan, an in-depthanalysis clearly indicates that it utilisesonly around 1% of the availablewater resources while others such aswaterlogged areas (56%) and floodwater areas (18%) return a haphazardfisheries production (Figure 2). Of themillions of hectares of waterloggedareas created due to massive irrigationsystems, practically no attempt hasbeen made to use these water bodiesfor fish culture (FAO 2003a). Careful

planning is needed for judicious use ofthese underutilized areas for productivefish farming.

The situation is further aggravated bythe fact that the average growth ofaquaculture area and production aredivergent to each other as far as theSindh province (which hosts aroundtwo thirds of fisheries resources) isconcerned (Figure 3).

Another impediment to the sector isits data deficiency. Either the data is

lacking or its reliability is questionable.This can be gauged from the fact thatthe data of fish farms and the fishproduction both seem on lower sidebecause there may be hundreds of fishfarms which are not reported or couldnot be surveyed by the fisheries depart-ments due to their meager manpowerresources, non availability of sufficientoperational funds, vehicles and otherdifficulties including the law and ordersituation. This can be supported bythe fact that only in one district i.e.Shikarpur a difference of more than

500% was found in data available(1994) and the survey conducted in1996. According to the survey 8008

acres were recorded as compared to1436 previously recorded in DistrictFisheries Office. The difference isplotted in Figure 3.

Keeping in view the above, up to 40%of fish ponds seem to be missing fromthe record. This situation demandsextensive surveys to be carried out inthe country, especially in far flung inland

areas, to bring out the actualfigures.The matter is similarly true for the data

pertaining to the fish production in thecountry specifically of the inland areasbecause the fish catches that culminateat small inland markets and subsistencefish catches also need to be accountedfor a complete picture of fish productionin the country.

Pakistans commercially importantmarine fish fauna comprise of some250 demersal fish, 50 small pelagic,15 medium-sized pelagic and 20 large

pelagic fish. In addition, there are 15commercial species of shrimp, 12 ofsquid/cuttlefish/octopus, and five oflobster. The freshwater fauna comprisesmore than 200 fish species and 35 ofshellfish including prawns and crabs.

Around 20 fish species are commer-cially important.

According to various partial surveyscarried out in the continental shelf areato explore fisheries resources, Pakistaniwaters provide a fishing potential of upto 1.0 million tonnes per annum from

marine sources alone (Table 3) whichcan be increased through sea ranchingand conservation measures such

A.M. Aslam Jarwar is the Manager

of the Programme ImplementationUnit, Indus For All Programme, World

Wide Fund for Nature Pakistan. He

was formerly the Deputy Director

Fisheries, Fisheries Department Sindh

Province. Please direct correspondence

and inquiries to B/112, HashimabadSociety, Makli, Thatta, Pakistan; phone

+92-298-772319, fax +92-298-772318,

mobile +92-333-7509396 or email :

[email protected] / ajarwar@

wwf.org.pk or visit www.wwfpak.org /

www.foreverindus.org.


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15April-June 2008


Fish Production (2006) Quantity (000 tons)Marine 425.0Inland 179.9Total 604.9Source: MINFAL

Table 1: Total fisheries production in Pakistan 2006

Resources AreaMarine (sq km)

Continental Shelf 50,270Exclusive Economic Zone 240,000Total Marine 290,270Freshwater (ha)

Rivers/ streams 3,102,408Canals, Drains & Abandoned canals 346,803Lakes 127,109Dams/ reservoirs 195,670Waterlogged areas 3,031,600

Deltaic Area 700,000Flood Water Area 1,000,000Fish farms 60,230Total Freshwater 8,563,820Source: DOF Sindh Province 2004, * WWF Pakistan.

Table 2: Pakistans water resources

Makran Coast Sonmiani Bay/ Sindh Coast Total (000 tonnes)Small pelagic 140-240 320-520 450-750Demersal 120-200 170-290 300-500Total 260-440 490-810 750-1250Source: Surveys of Pakistan Fishery Resources, September 1983 to June 1984 -Summary of Findings Dr. Fridtjof Nansen (UNDP/FAO Programme GLO/82/001).

Table 3: Fisheries resources potential

Country Freshwaterarea (ha)

Aquacultureproduction(tonnes)

Aquaculturegrowth rate

Per capita fishconsumption (kg)

Total (culture+capture)production (tonnes)

Exports (value in000 US$)

India 5700000 2 837 751 6.3 5.0 6 318 887 1591851Bangladesh 4,560,900 882 091 7.8 15.0 2 215 957 359472Sri Lanka n.a. 1 724 n.a. 25.0 163 684 3137Indonesia 1165000 1 197 109 6.9 23.6 5 578 369 1802961

Malaysia n.a. 175 834 7.8 60.0 1 390 017 634370Philippine n.a. 557 251 -0.4 n.a. 2 803 603 347830Viet Nam 1700000 1 437 300 30.6 30.0 3 367 200 2741127Myanmar n.a. 474 510 45.1 n.a. 2 217 466 460057Nepal n.a. 22 480 n.a. 1.6 42 463 15Iran n.a. 117 354 16.5 6.1 527 912 34,107Thailand 8,563,820 1 144 011 10.8 32.0 3 743 398 4465767Pakistan n.a. 80 622 4.2 2.2 515 095 194

Table 4: Fisheries and aquaculture production of selected Asian countries

Area Production (000 tonnes)Marine (km2) *** Freshwater (ha) Marine Freshwater Total In million tonnes

Pakistan* (2006) 290,270 8,563820 425.0 179.9 604.9 0.60Bangladesh** (2003-2004) 207,163 4,560,900 455,207 1,646,819 2,102,026 2.1Source: *MINFAL PK **Fishery Statistical Yearbook of Bangladesh 2003-2004, ***FAO

Table 5: Comparison of water resources and production in Pakistan and Bangladesh

as declaring marine protected areasand alternate fishing zones to sustainyields. Whereas the Extensive RiverineIrrigation System which is one of theworlds largest contiguous irrigationsystems, covering around 63,000+km(FAO 2003a) provide a wide networkof canals, lakes, ponds, marshes,

waterlogged areas, natural depressions,dams etc; covering more than 8 millionhectares; has an immense potential toproduce high stocks of fish.

FAOs State of World Fisheries andAquaculture 2004 (FAO 2004) statesthat in 12 of the 16 FAO statisticalregions at least 70 percent of stocks arealready fully exploited or overexploited,suggesting that that the maximumfishing potential has been reachedand that more cautious and restrictivemanagement measures are needed.The report further indicates thatworld marine fish production fromcapture was 87 million tonnes in 2000,which decreased to about 84 milliontonnes in 2001 and was constant in2002. The next issue of the samepublication, SOFIA 2006 (FAO 2007),concludes that the marine capturefisheries when summed togetherworldwide seem to have reached aceiling. The same situation seems tobe prevailing in Pakistan too, the fishproduction from marine as well as inland

capturefishery has been decreasing oris stagnant except for a little rise during

1999 (Figure 4).


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According to FAO statistics, thecontribution of aquaculture to globalsupplies of fish, crustaceans, molluscsand other aquatic animals continuesto grow, increasing from 3.9 percent oftotal production by weight in 1970 to27.1 percent in 2000 and 32.4 percentin 2004. Aquaculture continues to

grow more rapidly than all other animalfood-producing sectors. Worldwide,the sector has grown at an averagerate of 8.8 percent per year since1970, compared with only 1.2 percentfor capture fisheries and 2.8 percentfor terrestrial farmed meat produc-tion systems over the same period.Production from aquaculture hasgreatly outpaced population growth,with per capita supply from aquacultureincreasing from 0.7 kg in 1970 to 7.1kg in 2004, representing an averageglobal annual growth rate of 7.1 percent.In 2004, countries in Asia and Pacificaccounted for 91.5 percent of theproduction quantity and 80.5 percentof the value in the world aquacultureproduction, with China, India, Viet Nam,Thailand, Indonesia and Bangladeshamong the top 10 producers in aquacul-ture production. Further, the majority ofaquaculture production of fish, crusta-ceans and molluscs continues to derivefrom the freshwater environment (56.6percent by quantity and 50.1 percentby value). Mariculture contributes 36.0

percent of production quantity and 33.6percent of the total value (FAO 2007).

This situation requires taking necessarysteps to enhance fish production fromthe existing resources on one hand andto explore new ways to get additionalproduction through aquaculture, onthe other. Although Pakistan has bettergrowth in fisheries sector, an eye onsome selected Asian countries (table4) will help to compare ourselves in anoverall scenario (data correspond to theyear 2005 except where indicated).

Viet Nam and Thailand are the highestforeign exchange earners in theregion mainly as a result of the exportoriented growth in their aquacultureproduction (FAO 2007). On the otherhand, Bangladesh which seems to bea natural role model in fisheries sectorfor Pakistan due to many aspectsincluding similarity in fish fauna, climaticconditions, socio-economic behaviour,socio-demographic characteristics offarmers etc, has almost half the Inlandfisheries resources to Pakistan but 7-8

times more production, only from inlandsector, 53 % of which comes from aqua-culture (Mazid 2002). According to FAO,

Bangladesh was the sixth top countryin aquaculture production with 914,752tonnes and third top in inland capturefisheries with a catch of 732,000 tones(FAO 2006). The obvious reason behindthis extraordinary performance beingthe higher development investmentsfrom government as well as donorsides. In Bangladesh, 54% of all theinvestments in the fisheries sector have

been spent on aquaculture development(Mazid 2002). A comparison of Pakistanand Bangladesh has been given in table5 to readily assess the above situation.

The fisheries sector needs prompt atten-tion with regards to planning vigorousefforts to enhance production from allresources including marine, brackishand freshwater, which have tremendouspotential for fish and shellfish productionespecially through aquaculture develop-ment. While planning, it is necessaryto consider global trends which clearly

show that more than 60% (28.9 milliontonnes) of aquaculture productioncomes from inland areas. In the local

scenario inland areas offer considerableopportunity for aquaculture growthowing to the extensive irrigation systemand water logged areas that could bemade available to aquaculture with littlemodification. In contrast, the coastalareas are sparsely populated and wouldrequire relatively huge investments mostprobably by corporate culture. As suchthe inland aquaculture sector needs to

be addressed on priority basis.

It is essential to divert the aquaculturesector towards export orientationby changing culture practices andadopting species suitable for exportmarkets. This will also boost the ruraleconomy and play in poverty alleviationamong farming communities. Overall,aquaculture development can boost theeconomy of the country through exportearnings. It is thought that the fisherieshave the potential to bring in US$ 1billion annually (EC Prep report June

2005).

Figure 1: Source: Economic Survey of Pakistan 2002-2003

Figure 2: Source: DOF Sindh Province

6 0 %

3 %

1 7 %

1 2 % 8 %

Contribution of primary commodities to exports

Rice Ra w Co tto n F is h & F is h Pre p arat ions F ru its W h e at


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17April-June 2008


Recommendations

In this context following recommenda-tions are put forth for the steady growthof fisheries and aquaculture sector inPakistan. These measures include:

Shrimp are an important source of

export earnings and as such shrimpculture needs due consideration,but this should not ignore theenvironmental impacts and shouldadhere to the International Principlesfor Responsible Shrimp Farming2006 and FAOs Code of Conductfor Responsible Fisheries.

There is potential for enhancingfish production from irrigation andmultipurpose reservoirs throughstocking and conservation programs.

Pen and cage culture need tobe developed on priority basis inirrigation canals, lakes/ reservoirsand coastal areas to improvefish production from these hugeresources which at present areunderexploited.

Pond culture needs to be improvedon intensive lines; more importantlycatfish and tilapia culture needimmediate attention.

As indicated by the global trends,new vistas in aquaculture maybe explored which include prawnand crab culture, oyster culture,seaweeds culture etc.

Integrated Fish Farming (IFF) is anarea that has a tremendous potentialfor producing additional fish ifpromoted. Poultry farming and cattleraising is well developed and can beintegrated with fish culture; rice-fishculture has a high potential.

Improvements in post harvesttechnology and value additions forbetter export earnings need to betaken into consideration.

It is essential to divert culture trendstowards export markets by changingthe culture practices and selectingspecies of demand in exportmarkets.

Food safety measures must beensured as per the principles ofHACCP, SPS and CODEX in order

to capture higher portion of foreignmarkets and enter the competitiveenvironment under WTO. These

Figure 4. Source: Jarwar AMA, 2004

0

50,000

100,000

150,000

200,000

250,000

300,000

350,000

400,000

450,000

500,000

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

Inland Marine

Figure 5. Source: MINFAL

need implementation at all levelsfrom production to consumption andcapture to culture.

Soft small and medium loans(microfinance programmes) witheasy accessibility to aquaculturistsand fishermen need to be made

available.

Cluster development of aquaculturealong the coast with provision of allthe basic amenities can bring abouta major breakthrough in coastalaquaculture production. Allotmentof land in these clusters should bemade only to solid investors withtime-bound terms of reference.

Figure 3: Growth of aquaculture

0

00

00

00

00

00

00

00

1980-81 1988-89 1999-2000 2003-04

No. of FishFarms

Area of FishFarms(Acres)

FishProduction(m. tons)throughCulture


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Tax holiday for aquaculture industryand processing zones is a must forrapid growth of sector including dutyfree imports of latest machinery.

Effective extension services areneeded to be established with qualityassurance for steady growth of the

sector. The private sector may alsobe involved in this area.

Fisheries and Aquaculture should bebrought under a code of practiceto be devised in line with FAOsCode of Conduct for ResponsibleFisheries.

Protected areas (PAs) should bedeclared and enforced and alternatefishing zones may be introduced toprovide relief to fish and shellfishstocks.

Sea ranching should be investigatedas a means to reduce pressure onnatural stocks.

Fine mesh nets used for trappingfish meal species catch significantamounts of juvenile fish of largerspecies and small edible fishes aswell as endangered, associated ordependent species, without anyconsideration of target or non-targetspecies. These need to be strictly

stopped from such practices andsuch nets removed from creeksareas to protect the fisheriesresources.

Community Based FisheriesManagement should be encouragedfor sustainable management offisheries resources.

The annual fishing-ban be imple-mented in its nature and spirit andalternate means of livelihood shouldbe provided, along with incentives,

to the fishing communities to sustaintraditional fishing grounds.

All this cannot be achieved withoutcapacity building of concernedinstitutions for which following stepscan be taken:

The organizational structure offisheries institutions needs to bestrengthened and widened and thenature of posts/skill staff adjustedto allow specialized work to beconducted.

A better remuneration packages foremployees needs to be adopted toassist in recruitment and retention ofspecialist staff, improve productivityand eradicate corruption.

The R and D wings in the fisheriesdepartments are not commensurate

with the needs of the sector thereforethey need to be upgraded andstreamlined.

There are many organizationsinvolved in research on fisheries andaquaculture on federal and provinciallevel. These efforts need to bemonitored and coordinated as wellas streamlined as per the appliedrequirements of the sector.

Infrastructure development isrequired to make available sufficienthatcheries, nurseries, soil and watertesting and disease diagnosticlaboratories, extension/supportcenters and vehicles for extensionstaff to support the industry.

To cater the post harvest improve-ments small jetties and processingplants need to be establishedalong the coast, rivers and inlandlakes along with allied facilities ofcold storage, fish carrying boxes,insulated transportation vehicles etc.

Intensive training programmesshould launched for human resourcedevelopment in the sector for whichoverseas trainings need to bearranged for fisheries managersand trainers. The fisheries trainingfacilities must be functionalized to themaximum capacity and multifacetedworking for training of farmers andfishermen.

Aquaculture development authoritiesmay be established with clear

mandate to develop inland andcoastal areas and full support shouldbe extended to these bodies. Suchauthorities should be equippedwith effective extension tools anda committed team with chalked outtargets and strategy to achieve theset targets in stipulated time frame.

As the nature of fisheries resourcesand the problems of the fisheriessector are different from livestockor agriculture, it is necessary toseparate and strengthen the fisheries

administration at both federal andprovincial levels.

Selected references

FAO (2002). FAO Expert consultation on the use of

irrigation systems for sustainable fish produc-

tion in arid countries of Asia. FAO Fisheries

Report No. 679, Rome, 22p.

FAO (2003a). Fisheries in irrigation systems of

arid Asia. FAO Fisheries Technical Paper 430,

Rome, 150pp.

FAO (2003b). Selected Indicators of Food and

Agriculture Development in Asia-Pacific Region

1992-2002. RAP Publication 2003/10, Bangkok,

207pp.

FAO (20047). The State of World Fisheries and

Aquaculture 2004. Rome, Italy 153pp.

FAO (2007). The State of World Fisheries and

Aquaculture 2006. Rome, Italy 162pp.

International Trade Centre website: http://www.

intracen.org/tradstat.htm.

Jarwar, A.M.A. (2006). Water-logged areas for fish

farming. In Daily Dawn Karachi, January 16,

2006.

Marine Fisheries Department website: http://www.

pakistan.gov.pk/divisions/ContentListing.

jsp?DivID=10andcPath=91_97_357.

Mazid, M.A. (2002). Development of Fisheries in

Bangladesh: Plans and Strategies for Income

Generation and Poverty Alleviation. Momin

Offset Press, Dhaka, 176pp.

Ministry of Food Agriculture and Livestock Pakistan

website http://www.minfal.gov.pk/.

Trade Development Authority of Pakistan website:

http://www.epb.gov.pk/v1/index.php.

Hundreds offree aquaculture

publications

Download themnow...

www.enaca.org


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19April-June 2008


The changing face of post-grad education in aquaculture:

contributing to soaring production and sustainable

practices

David C. Little, Andrew P. Shinn and Corinne Critchlow Watton

Insitute of Aquaculture,University of Stirling, Stirling, FK9 4LA ([email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected])

The range and type of post-graduateeducation and training available in Asiaand further afield continues to developand increase to meet the needs of thesector. As the production and valueof aquaculture has soared over thelast two decades new opportunities togain the right qualification has becomeever more important to open the rightdoor and, in time, the career of choice.Typical profiles and expectations ofstudents have changed significantlyover this period as has the rangeof study options. Twenty years agothe overwhelming proportion of MScstudents enrolled on programmes at

AIT, Stirling or Auburn, who were majorestablished providers at the time, weregovernment officers typically supportedby overseas development assistance.Increasingly, applicants work fornon-government and the commercialsector or have aspirations to do so.The growing diversity of employment

also means that the type of skillsrequired in graduates is changing. Manyemployers now require new recruitsto have a broad range of problemsolving skills in addition to technicalknowledge including capacities formanagement, information handlingand communication. Understandingof how institutions function and thesocial and economic implications ofaquatic resource management are nowconsidered mainstream skills. On theother hand specialised skills are alsoincreasingly required in fish health,

genetics, environmental managementand nutrition as production systemsbecome more technology driven.

The old adage that the qualificationallows the learning to begin on the

job is less acceptable as employersseek to recruit those best preparedfor specific roles and this has led toincreasing demand for graduates withemployment experience. Rapid changesin aquaculture practice have also led toan urgent need for upgrading/retrainingof those already within the sector and

related sectors.

These trends occur at a time when theseparation of study and employmentis becoming less practical due mainlyto the high costs of full-time dedicatedstudy. Not only are programmesincreasingly expensive but loss ofearnings and career opportunities needto be considered, quite apart fromconsequences for family life.

Engagement in a work situation inparallel to study can also make learningmore effective as the application ofknowledge within work situations canhelp to deepen the learning process.There are several approaches to thisincluding making post-graduate educa-tion more flexible and managed aroundwork as short intensive modules, usinginternships as part of full-time studyoptions and part-time distance learningwhilst remaining in employment.

Flexible study options are becoming

increasingly popular with employerswho may wish to support staff develop-ment without losing key employees forlong periods of time. Sandwich coursesare not new but there is a trend towardsmodularising programmes, thus makingthem more flexible, among aquacultureprogramme providers such as the

Asian Institute of Technology1andUniversity of Stirling2. This flexibility canbe particularly important to employerswith limited numbers of employees; lossof a key member of staff for prolongedperiods of time to overseas study can

have significant costs and extendedperiods of time spent away tend tomean longer periods for readjustmentand return to normality on their return.Ideally, shorter periods of study are lessdisruptive to work and family life.

Credit sharing is also a trend thatshould allow greater mobility of studentsbut is dependent on harmonisation ofprogramme structures and assess-ment. Universities such as Ghent andWageningen have long shared creditbut now a larger range of institutions

are involved through various EUprogrammes encouraging such trends.Patrick Sorgeloos3from Ghent is

working to extend these arrangementsto Vietnam and allowing more flexiblestudy between Belgium and Vietnamto the benefit of students registeredfor study in both countries. The rapidgrowth of aquaculture in Asia hasencouraged interest among Europeansin studying in the region. Ad hocplacement for research projects andstudy tours have become establishedfeatures of European programmes butthese are now developing into moreformalised internship arrangementssuch as that supported under theEC-funded Asia Link programme4between AIT, Universities in Vietnam,Cambodia and Nepal and Stirling, UKand Alveiro in Portugal. This programmeincludes opportunities for both Asianand European students to engage inplacements with private and publicsector partners. Ideally such internshipsprovide benefits to both parties, withthe student or new graduate gaining

work experience and opportunities formentoring from professionals and theemployer gets the enthusiasm, energyand fresh ideas of working with anindividual beginning their career. Otherbenefits include those associated withcultural exchange and friendships thatform with such short-term but intensiveinternships. Mutual benefit is the keyfeature of internships and their designand the management of participantsand local mentors is taking variousforms to ensure this. Nick Innes-Taylor5of Wetland Alliance, a SIDA-funded

programme working in SE Asia, insiststhat potential interns develop workprogrammes based on problems identi-fied by the local host organisations. Ashort accessible report of the internskey findings is a required output beforeleaving the site.

An innovative approach to combiningpostgraduate training and employmentis on-going in Bangladesh whereStirling and the Bangladesh AgriculturalUniversity are delivering a blendeddistance learning programme in Aquatic

Resource Development to over 60students living and working throughoutthe country. Funded by the Common-


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netics & biodiversity

wealth Scholarships Commission, theprogramme allows people to study whileworking, primarily targeting studentsfor whom a conventional face-to-facecourse, locally or overseas, is not anoption. Studying at distance has itsown challenges and students needhigh levels of motivation to complete

the certificate (yr 1), diploma (yr 2) andfull masters (yr 3). The programme isdesigned around successive modulesover the first two years followed bya project year based on a part-timecommitment of 10-15 hours/week.Regular contact with local tutors bymobile phone and with UK-based tutorsthrough the internet helps to support

students self-learning. Continuousassessment of participation in discus-sion boards and electronically submittedassignments are key features of theprogramme. The relationship with theworkplace is critical; potential partici-pants require letters of support fromtheir employers and the project year is

designed around an issue identified bythe student and his/her employer.

The education and training session ofthe WAS meeting at Busan, Korea willbe reflecting on the changing face ofeducation with representatives from

Asia, Australia and Europe. Flexible

learning, the role of internships andcombining work with study throughDistance Learning will be featured.

Contacts

Amararatne Yakipitiyage([email protected]).

Trevor Telfer ([email protected]).Patrick Sorgeloos([email protected]).Corinne Critchlow-Watton([email protected]).Nick Innes-Taylor ([email protected]).

1.

2.3.

4.

5.

Hatchery management in Bangladesh*Abdus Salam Bhiyan, A. S. M. Musa and M. K. Islam

Department of Zoology, University of Rajshahi, Rajshahi-6205, Bangladesh

To meet the increasing demand foranimal protein in Bangladesh, adoptionof intensive and extensive culturepractices on certain selective speciesof fishes is very important. Inducedspawning has opened the door of newera in the production of fish throughout

the world.

For intensive and extensive fish cultureit is necessary to ensure the supply ofsuitable sized good quality fish seed insufficient quantities. The main sourcefish seeds in Bangladesh are spawnproduced in government and privatehatcheries, and some collected fromrivers.

The seed collected from naturalbreeding grounds have many problemssuch as the inclusion of seed of

predatory fishes or disease. Wild seedis collected and handled in crudeand unscientific methods that canpotentially lead to large scale mortalityduring transportation from collectioncentres to nursery ponds and alsoin the nursery ponds after release.Therefore, emphasis should be placedon expansion of hatchery facilities tosupply high-quality fish seed required tosupport aquaculture development.

For proper planning, management andsustainable development of hatcheries

it is necessary to identify the specificproblems and requirements of anarea. We conducted a survey to collect

information on hatchery managementthat we hope will be helpful to fishculturists, farm managers, productionspecialists, policy makers and extensionworkers. The results of the presentstudy will also provide valuable informa-tion to researchers who are interested

to conduct similar type of study in future.

Materials and methods

Production season of fish seed gener-ally starts in March and ends by late

August every year. However the surveyfor collection of data was conductedduring March to September. The studyarea was Kotwali Thana under Jessordistrict. Data was collected by directinterviews with individual respondents.Questions were asked systematically in

a very simple manner with explanationwherever it was felt necessary and theinformation recorded.

Results and observations

Establishment of

hatcheries

The establishment year of the surveyedhatcheries ranged from 1981 to1985. The maximum hatcheries in

the surveyed area were established

in 986-91. Table 1 shows the year ofestablishment of the hatcheries in thestudied areas.

Occupation of the

hatchery ownersOn the basis of occupation thehatchery owners have been dividedinto two types. The first type is hatcherybusiness only and the other type ishatchery business and others. Amongthe surveyed 21 hatcheries owners,nine earn their livelihood from only thehatchery business and 12 had otherbusiness interests such as service,agriculture etc.

Educational statusThe educational status of hatcheryowners of the surveyed areas arepresented in table 3. Out of 21 privatehatcheries owners 9.52% were illiteratebut had the ability of signature. About14.29% and 23.81% of hatchery ownershad primary and high school educationrespectively. 23.81% and 19.02%hatchery owners had SSC and HSClevel education respectively. Only 9.52%owners had graduation level education.


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21April-June 2008

Genetics & biodiversity

Training status of

hatchery owners

The training status of the privatehatchery owners are presented in thetable 4. Out of 21 private hatcheryowners 14.29% had no training while

19.05% had received short term trainingfrom the District Fisheries Office. 55%owners received training from othersowners / farm managers. The restgained their knowledge on hatcheryoperation through personal contact withthe Upazilla Fisheries Office.

Source of funds for

hatchery operation

About 47.62% of owners had funds forseed production from their own sources.

About 33.33% and 14.29% of ownersgot their funds as a loan from relativesand friends and from banks respectively.Only 4.76% hatchery owners got theirloan from NGOs. It was observedduring investigation that there was lesscontribution of NGOs and there wasno contribution of the money lenders(mohazon) in the survey areas.

Transportation facilities

During investigation it was observedthat the hatchery owners had notransportation facilities of their own. Thebuyers hired truck or pick up vans evenmanually operated vans for hatchlingstransportation.

Communication

facilities of hatcheries

The communication facilities of

surveyed fish hatcheries are shownin table 6. About 52.38% ownersmentioned the facility as excellent i.e.they are satisfied for existing communi-cation facility while 37.08% and 9.52%owners mentioned the facility as goodand not good respectively.

Status of employees of

hatcheries

Status of the staff of hatcheries is

presented in table 7. From the table itis found that the surveyed hatchery hadno specialist but they employed skilled

Year of establishment No. of hatcheries Percentage1980-85 7 33.331986-91 11 52.381992-97 211 14.29

Table 1: Year of establishment of the hatcheries in the region under

investigation

Type of occupation No. PercentageOnly hatchery business 9 42.86Hatchery+service 5 23.81Hatchery+agriculture 6 28.57Hatchery+others 1 4.76

Table 2: Occupation status of the hatchery owners of surveyed area

Educational status No. of hatcheries PercentageIlliterate but having ability signature 2 9.52%

Primary education 3 14.29%High School Education 5 23.81%S.S.C Education 5 23.81%H.S.C Education 4 19.02%Graduate Education 2 9.52%

Table 3: Educational status of the hatchery owners of the studied area

Source of training in fish seed production No. ofhatcheries

Percentage ofhatcheries with trained

personnelNo training 3 14.29Short term training 4 19.05Consulting with UFO 14 66.67Others 1 0

Table 4: Showing the training status of hatchery owners

Source of funds No. of hatcheries PercentageSelf 10 47.62Self + relatives + friends 7 33.33Bank 3 14.29Self + NGOs 1 4.76Mohazons 0 0

Table 5: Funding source of the hatchery owners of the surveyed area

Type of communication facilities No. of hatcheries PercentageExcellent 11 52.38Good 8 37.08Not good 2 9.52

Table 6: Communication facilities of the hatcheries

Type of employee

Temporaryemployee

Permanentemployee

Mean monthlysalary

Mean dailysalary

Officer 0 0 0

Specialist 0 0 0Skilled 12 9 3895.24332.38 87.143.73Unskilled (labours) 119

Table 7: Status of staff of fish hatcheries in the surveyed area.


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netics & biodiversity

and unskilled labourers. Labourers workas permanent and temporary basis. Theean monthly salary of skilled labourerswas Tk. 3895.24 332.38 and meandaily salary of unskilled labours was Tk,87.14 3.73.

Area of hatcheriesIt was observed that the maximum areaof hatcheries in the surveyed area was24.75 decimals and minimum was 5.78decimal with an average of 11.12 5.19decimal. Hatchery sizes of the studyarea are shown in table 8.

Number of ponds in

hatcheries

The present investigation deals with theonly fish seed producing hatcheries.This type of hatchery cannot rear fry orfingerlings as they do not have nurseryor rearing ponds, only producing spawn.They had only stocking ponds for broodstock management. The maximumnumber of stocking ponds was six andthe minimum was two with an average41.05. During investigation it wasobserved that every fish hatchery ownerhad their own brood stock pond. Asregard to ownership it was observed

that the ponds were their own or leased.

Water and soil quality

of ponds

Table 10 shows the water and soilquality conditions of the ponds.

Answering the question about water andsoil quality about 80.95% and 19.05%owners claimed that water qualities oftheir hatcheries were satisfactory andmoderately satisfactory.

In terms of soil quality of the pondsabout 90.40% and 9.52% owners of thehatchery mentioned as satisfactory andas moderately satisfactory respectively.

Occurrence of fish

disease in hatcheries

About 95.24% owners reported thatthere were no fish disease problems intheir farms, while the rest of the owners

reported that there were occasionalattack of fish disease. It was a remark-

Area (ac) No. of hatcheries Percentage0.05-0.110 13 61.900.1-0.15 3 14.290.15-0.2 3 14.290.2-0.25 2 9.52

Table 8: Area of hatchery in the surveyed area

Number of ponds No. of hatcheries Percentage2 2 9.523 4 19.054 8 38.105 6 28.576 1 4.76

Table 9: Shows the number of ponds in the hatcheries

Characteristic % of hatcherySatisfactory Moderate Unsatisfactory

Water quality 80.95 19.05 0Soil quality 90.48 9.92 0

Table 10: Water and soil quality of the surveyed fish hatcheries

Table 11: Occurrence of fish disease in private hatcheries

Category of occurrence of fish disease No. of hatcheries Percentage ofoccurrence

No disease 20 95.24Seldom attack 1 4.76Every year attack 0 0

Category of land No. of hatcheries PercentageOwn 7 33.33Own + leased 11 52.38Only leased 3 14.29

Table 12: Category of land ownership of surveyed hatchery

Name of feeds Minimum Maximum Mean SDFish meal 10% 25% 18.14 5.33Oilcake 15% 38% 25.10 5.39Rice bran 20% 50% 38.9 11.93Wheat bran 6% 22% 12.67 4.74Flour 2% 6% 4.38 1.16

Table 13: Data showing the supplementary feeding used in different

hatcheries

Name of fertilizer Minimum Maximum MeanSDUrea 4% 12% 7.432.45

TSP 3% 10% 6.123.14MP 1% 3% 2.11.32Cow dung 10% 15% 7.82.15

Table 14: Showing the use of fertilizers in different hatcheries


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23April-June 2008

Genetics & biodiversity

Kinds of problems No. of hatcheries Percentage of total farmsA. Technical

1. Lack of technical knowledge 6 28.572. Lack of chemicals and fertilizers 0 03. Non availability of food 0 0

4. Insufficient water in dry season 2 9.525. Diseases 1 4.76B. Economic

1. Lack of credit 6 28.572. Lack of marketing facility 2 9.52C. Social

1. Theft of fish 5 23.812. Poisoning in pond as enmity 2 9.523. Toll collection by terrorist 5 23.814. Joint partnership 3 14.295. Problem of taking lease of pond 4 19.05D. Natural calamity

1. Flood (caused by heavy rain) 5 23.812. Other natural calamity 0 0

Table 15: Problems of the owners of private fish hatcheries in the surveyed

area

able observation that in no farms wasthere any serious fish disease problemin the survey period.

Category of land

ownership

61.90% owners reported that the landused for hatchery purposes was theirown land and the rest 38.10% reportedhaving both leased and own land. Butno owner had only leased land forhatchery purposes. Table-12 showsthe category of land ownership percentdistribution.

Supplementary feeds

used for brood fishes

During the present investigation it wasfound that the use of feed for brood fishwas comparatively common. These typeof feeds were used for better growth ofbrood fish. Both inorganic and organicfertilizers were used to increase thepond vegetation and productivity. Thetypes of feed, fertilizer, lime used by theprivate hatcheries are shown in table13.

FertilizerThe types of fertilizers used in privatehatcheries in this region are urea, TSP,MP and cowdung:

Urea: Fertilizer urea used in thesehatcheries ranged from 4% to 12%.TSP: Fertilizer TSP used in thesehatcheries ranged from 3 to 10%.

MP: Fertilizer MP used in thesehatcheries ranged from 1% to 3%with an average 2.1 1.32%.

Cowdung: The use of cowdung inthese hatcheries ranged from 10%to 15%.

Problems and

constraints faced by

private fish hatchery

owners

The problems and constraints faced bythe private fish hatchery owners in thestudy area have been categorized under

four general types, such as technical,economic, social and natural. Fishseed farm owners responded to theseproblems regarding operation of theirfarms are presented in table 15. About28.57% and 9.52% owners claimedthat the production of farms hampereddue to lack of technical knowledge andinsufficient water in the dry season.

Among economic problems it was

reported that the lack of credit andlack of marketing system were crucialconstraints. Among social problemsthe theft of fish and toll collection byterrorists were main constraints thenthe problems related to leasing. Only23.81% of hatchery owners faced theproblem of flood.

Recommendations

The following policy and recommenda-tions are suggested depending on the

findings of the present study:

Credit for fisheries is not easilyavailable or institutionalized. Anappropriate system to provide creditwith low interest rate from institu-tional sources should be established.

For overcoming the problems ofinbreeding as suggested by hatcheryowners (i) government hatcheriesshould have brood banks to supplyquality broodstock to the privatehatchery owners, (ii) collecting

wild, non domesticated fish speciesfrom rivers or natural habitats, (iii)purchase cultivated, genetically

improved species from other fishfarms or hatcheries with well knownorigin.

Government should take positivesteps to train up interested peopleon modern methods of hatcherymanagement.

For induced breeding, supply of

various types of inputs should beensured at low cost and governmentshould control and check the qualityof inputs.

For better seed production appro-priate dosage for hormone should beadministered.

The problem of poor quality fishseeds due to inbreeding depressionin the private hatcheries must beaddressed.

Conclusion

Apart from some adverse socio-economic and other impacts, fish farmspresent in this region contribute aremarkable amount to inland fishproduction in Bangladesh. As thefisheries sector plays a vital role in thesocioeconomic development, opportu-nity for employment, poverty alleviationof large number of population, we haveto reduce all the adverse impacts ofaquaculture for sustainable growth in

the future. The NGOs and government


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esearch & farming techniques

Project team inspecting one of the project study sites in Bolikhamxay Province.

Production of Cirrhinus molitorellaand Labeo

chrysophekadionfor culture based fisheries development

in Lao PDR Part I: Captive spawning

The Government of Lao PDR istargeting an increase in fish consump-tion to 23 kg caput/year by the year2020, almost a doubling of the currentlevel of consumption. In view of theunlikely increase in capture fisheries,the envisaged increase in per caputconsumption can only be realizedthrough increasing aquaculture relatedproduction. A substantial increasein fish production could be obtained

through effective and optimal utilisationof seasonal water bodies, such asflood plain depressions and reservoircoves for culture-based fisheries (CBF),a practice that requires little or nocapital inputs and harnesses naturalproductivity of these water bodies foraugmenting fish production (De Silva etal. 2006). The practice also is environ-mentally non-perturbing, comparedto conventional aquaculture. Throughvillage community participation, CBFaugment current food fish availability,particularly in the lean period of the

traditional wild capture fisheries (Marchto August), and raise the income ofvillage communities.

Brett A. Ingram1and Oulaytham Lasasimma2

1. Marine and Freshwater Fisheries Research Institute (MAFFRI), Private Bag 20, Alexandra, Victoria, 3714, Australia;

2. Living Aquatic Resources Research Center, National Agriculture and Forestry Research Institute,

PO Box 9108, Vientiane, Lao PDR.

The Australian Centre for InternationalAgricultural Research (ACIAR) hasrecently instigated a project, Culture-Based Fisheries Development in LaoPDR (Project No. FIS/2005/078),which aims to develop best practiceapproaches and production models forCBF in Lao PDR that will improve theyields and economic benefits to villagecommunities (Figure 1). This projectinvolves collaboration amongst six insti-

tutions, two each in Australia (DeakinUniversity and DPI, Victoria), two inLao PDR (Department of Livestock andFisheries - DoLF and Living AquaticResources Research Center - LARReC)and Thailand (Network of AquacultureCenters in Asia-Pacific - NACA andFisheries Faculty, Kasetsart University).

An important aspect of CBF is theproduction and provision of sufficientnumbers of juvenile fish of selectedspecies for stocking purposes. However,in Lao PDR fry/ fingerling production is

low even though demand for stockinginto both pond and rice-fish systemsis high. Most fry produced in Lao PDR

originate from the Provincial govern-ment hatcheries that have an overallproduction level of less than 15 million(Meenakarn and Funge-Smith 1998),which is insufficient to meet the needsof CBF.

The emphasis on aquaculture and CBFdevelopment calls for an increase in thequantity and quality of seedstock of avariety of species suitable for different

forms of aquaculture practices. TheCulture-Based Fisheries Developmentin Lao PDR project has identifiedtwo popular indigenous fish species,Cirrhinus molitorella (mud carp, PaKeng) and Labeo(syn Morulius)chrysophekadion(black sharkminnow,Pa Phia) for use in CBF, based ontheir popularity and existing on-goingculture. Their selection was also inaccordance with the increasing trendin the region to lay emphasis on theculture of indigenous species in prefer-ence to exotics and or alien species.


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25April-June 2008

Research & farming techniques

This article is the first part of a twopart series that aim to review current,readily available, information on thesetwo indigenous species which will beused to improve and refine artificialpropagation and culture techniquesto support CBF development in LaoPDR. In particular, the review focuses

on information within Lao PDR, aswell information from the Mekong FishDatabase (MRC 2003). See the nextedition of Aquaculture Asia for Part 2 ofthis series.

Cirrhinus molitorella

and Labeo

chrysophekadion

Cirrhinus molitorellais a freshwatercyprinid native to Asia that inhabitslakes, rivers and reservoirs from theMekong (Thailand, Cambodia andVietnam) and Chao Phraya (Thailand)basins, to the Pearl River deltas (China)(MRC 2003, FishBase 2007)C. molitorella, which has fine meattexture, good meat quality and highnutritional value, is mainly sold live orfresh locally (Figure 2), but some is alsocanned, dried and salted, or minced toform a fish cakes or dumplings (FAO

2007a). C. molitorellahas a long historyin aquaculture being first undertaken inthe Pearl River region of southern Chinaduring the Tang Dynasty (618-904

A.D.), and today is a well-establishedaquaculture species particularly in thisregion (FAO 2007b). Between 1990and 2001, aquaculture production of

C. molitorellawas between 80,000and 220,000 tonnes per year, the vastmajority (>99%) was produced in China(FAO 2007b). C. molitorellais a popularaquaculture species in the LuangProbang Province of Lao PDR where ithas been propagated and farmed since1991 (Pinthip et al. 2001, Souksavath2001, Somboon et al. 2

Documents

Aquaculture Asia April 08