A planning meeting for the Regional Project on Reservoir Fisheries Development and Management was held from 14th to 16th January in the NACA Secretariat, Bangkok. This three year project is funded by the Icelandic Development Agency (ICEIDA). The meeting brought together 17 representatives of the five participating countries (China, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand),and from the South East Asian Fisheries Development Centre, who also expect to support the future participation of Lao PDR and Cambodia in the project activities.
Opening the meeting, ICEIDA representative Mr Arni Helgason noted that fisheries resources were of great importance both to Iceland and to Asia, and that ICEIDA had supported this project as a contribution towards the development of alternative ways to meet the increasing demand for fisheries product within the global scenario of stagnating wild fisheries production. He advised that ICEIDA had been similarly providing support in Sri Lanka since 2005, and hoped that the project would be the starting point of a long term partnership between NACA member countries and Iceland in this field.
The meeting reviewed the current status of reservoir fisheries in participating countries. The needs for improving the reservoir fishery yields and the livelihoods of fisher communities in each country were discussed along with opportunities for regional collaboration, leading to development of a number of concept proposals for implementation of the project both within and between participating countries.
Project activities
Ten activities have been selected for implementation over the next 18 months to two years. Activities were decided on the basis of past experience, the availability of data and their relevance to each country as well as to the region as whole. Each of the activities is funded by the project and it is expected that these outcomes will be discussed further at a forthcoming consultation, with recommendations to be placed before the relevant authorities to improve fish production in reservoirs and improve the livelihood of the local fishers and the rural communities. The ten activities are:
- Country: China
- Institution: Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
- Lead institution: Freshwater Fisheries Research Centre, CAFS
- Principal Investigator: Liu Jiashou
Icefish, Neosalanx taihuensis (Family: Salangidae; Order: Osmeriformes), indigenous to Tahiu Lake, is possibly one of the most translocated species within China. However, the translocations have had mixed results and these events have not been documented and the reasons for successes and failures have not been evaluated. There is also a regional interest to introduce icefish into some larger reservoirs, with a view to fulfill a vacant niche in the pelagic zone. For example it has been introduced into Thac Ba reservoir in northern Vietnam recently. The proposed study aims to provide basic information on environmental parameters and management strategies relevant to icefish production in target reservoirs (lakes) from the south to the north of China and guide introduction and management practices for this species. The results will also provide technical references for other countries in Asia.
2: Investigation to Successful Practices of Culture Based Reservoir Fisheries in China
- Country: China
- Lead institution: Freshwater Fisheries Research Centre (FFRC) of Chinese, Academy of Fisheries Sciences (CAFS)
- Participating institution: Institute of Hydrobiology (IHB) of Chinese Academy of Science (CAS)
- Principal Investigator: Miao Weimin
Reservoir fisheries in China are very well developed and are based on a stock-recapture strategy that has been developed over many years. The proposed study aims to provide other country governments with a convincing example on how reservoir fisheries, properly managed and practiced, can provide a significant contribution to the food fish supply, rural employment and income generation. The study will document in detail stock and recapture strategies practiced in reservoirs in China and provide a cost-benefit analysis of the practice and the reasons for its sustainability and overall success. The study will also provide a good technical reference for other countries in the region in the development of stock and recapture strategies to maximize returns and sustainability.
- Country: Sri Lanka
- Institutions: University of Kelaniya & National Aquaculture Development
- Authority of Sri Lanka and Aquatic Resources and Quality Improvement Project
- Principal Investigator: Upali S. Amarasinghe (Coordinator)
During the past few decades, there has been a great accumulation of scientific information on inland fisheries development through various foreign funded and locally funded projects. However, there is an information gap between scientific research and the field extension staff of National Aquaculture Development Authority of Sri Lanka (NAQDA) due to lack of a suitable mechanism to disseminate this knowledge particularly to the field staff. Realizing this fact, the project is formulated to conduct three workshops for the field officers of NAQDA.
4: Exploitation of untapped fishery resources in reservoirs through proper management
- Country: Sri Lanka
- Institutions: University of Kelaniya, National Aquaculture Development Authority of Sri Lanka and National Aquatic Resources Research & Development Agency
- Principal Investigator: Upali S. Amarasinghe (coordinator)
In the reservoirs of Sri Lanka, as in most countries of the region, small indigenous fish species are found in high abundance. However, they remain unexploited in Sri Lankan reservoirs due to poor consumer acceptability as well as due to mesh regulations imposed by the government. Recent studies have shown that these small indigenous fish species can be differentially exploited without harming juveniles of exotic cichlids which form the backbone of the inland fisheries production. However, no attempts have been made to introduce a subsidiary gillnet fishery (mesh sizes of 15 to 37 mm) for small indigenous fish species that can co-exist with the existing large mesh (>8.5 cm mesh) gillnet fishery in Sri Lankan reservoirs. Accordingly, an awareness programme will be conducted for fishing communities in selected perennial reservoirs in four districts using participatory rural appraisal and rapid rural appraisal methods. Fishing with small mesh gillnets (15 to 37 mm) will be conducted in a few selected reservoirs on an experimental basis to enable fishers to catch small indigenous fish species. These activities will be closely monitored in order to quantify the fishery potential of these small sized fish species, and recommendations made to the authorities on how to extend this activity, if it is proven that small sized fish constitute an exploitable resource in reservoirs.
- Country: Sri Lanka
- Institutions: University of Kelaniya
- National Aquaculture Development Authority of Sri Lanka and National Aquatic Resources Research & Development Agency
- Principal Investigator: Upali S. Amarasinghe (Coordinator)
It is known that the yields of culture-based fisheries (CBF) can be significantly increased if the stocking size of fingerlings is increased. Use of larger fingerlings increases the recovery rates of stocked fish. However, such an assessment cannot be done from the existing CBF practices in Sri Lanka because all CBF practices rely on small-sized (5 cm) stocking material. Furthermore, such a strategy will lead to imbalance in the economic aspects of mini-nurseries established under the ADB-funded ARDQIP project of NAQDA. T The proposed project will address this issue and explore the possibility of engaging rural communities in fry to fingerling rearing in perennial reservoirs. This will remove the bottle neck on the availability of suitably sized fingerlings for further popularization of CBF practices in small, non-perennial reservoirs.
- Country: Nepal
- Institutions: Nepal Agricultural Research Council
- Principal Investigator: Tek B. Gurung and Gagan Pradhan
Indrasarrobar Reservoir in Nepal is a case of supporting livelihoods for displaced persons from reservoir impoundment through the introduction of cage aquaculture culture without external feed inputs. This activity has been sustained over a 25 year period and has grown from strength to strength. It is also a unique instance where cage culture, without feed inputs, provides farmers with sufficiently good livelihoods with much improved and or better socio-economic status than comparable agricultural activities.
7: Trend analysis in catches of reservoir fisheries in Thailand
- Country: Thailand
- Institutions: Ubon Ratchathani University/ Royal Thai Department of Fisheries
- Principal Investigators: Tuantong Jutagate/ Boonsong Srichareondham
In Thailand, inland fisheries are an important activity with a long tradition as a livelihood of people living in rural areas. However, the trends of the fisheries have never been analyzed properly and it is quite difficult to understand the changes that have occurred in the resources. Fortunately, the Department of Fisheries has some long term time series data are available on the fisheries of some large reservoirs from its monitoring program, which provide a very good base for trend analysis. The data can also be further analyzed in relation reservoir morphometry, trophic levels and other parameters, potentially allowing the development of generic models for use in reservoir fisheries management in the region. The project will investigate the temporal and spatial change in the total catches from reservoir fisheries in terms of catch composition, catch rate and trophic level and the relationship to the control factors such as hydrology, geomorphology and land use.
- Country: Thailand
- Institutions: Ubon Ratchathani University/ Royal Thai Department of Fisheries
- Principal Investigators: Tuantong Jutagate/ Boonsong Srichareondham
Tilapia are not as dominant in Thai reservoir fisheries as they are in other countries. There is a large database available for Thai reservoirs in this regard and analysis of this database may reveal the reasons for the relative lack of success of tilapias in Thailand. Equally, there is much data on the stocking of giant freshwater prawn in reservoirs and the returns thereof and detailed analysis of these data will provide useful guidelines to other nations on the use of this strategy to enhance the monetary returns from reservoir fisheries. The project will investigate the return rate, contribution in catches, performance (potential in self-recruiting to the system, trophic level, growth and mortality) and biological overlap with native species such as feeding competition and predator-prey relationships, as well as relationship to control factors such as primary productivity, proportion of other catches, hydrology, geomorphology and land use.
9: An evaluation and critique of tilapia fisheries outside Africa
- Country: Regional
- Institutions: NACA, University of Kelaniya ; Department of Fisheries, Thailand
- University of Ubon Rachathani, Thailand
- Principal Investigator: Sena S De Silva (Coordinator)
Tilapias, exotic to Asia, have made a major impact on aquaculture production and are a common catch in most reservoir fisheries in Asia. However, their role in reservoir fisheries in Asia varies from reservoir to reservoir and between Asian countries, and the reasons associated with these differences are not fully understood. In tropical reservoirs, fish fauna essentially consist of those drawn from associated waterways such as rivers and introduced/ translocated species. It has been suggested that indigenous fish species in tropical reservoirs, which are primarily riverine, are unable to produce high yields as they are not well-adapted to colonize lacustrine conditions in reservoirs. It has been suggested that high fish yields in reservoirs in most Asian countries such as Sri Lanka, Indonesia and the Philippines are due to introduced cichlids, which are pre-adapted to lacustrine conditions. The project will attempt to evaluate the fisheries of tropical lakes and reservoirs outside Africa with a view to understanding the role of exotic cichlids in terms of biogeographic resemblance of fish communities, and their impacts on indigenous species.
Further information
For more information, please refer to the main project page.
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