This practical manual "Guide to establishment of community-based aquaculture management groups" was prepared by the national team of Vietnam under the ASEAN Foundation supported project "“Strengthening capacity of small holder ASEAN aquaculture farmers for competitive and sustainable aquaculture” implemented by NACA in five ASEAN countries. The long-term objective of the project was to assist ASEAN small- scale aquaculture farmers improve their livelihoods by being competitive in markets and improving farm management practices to deliver quality and sustainably produced aquaculture products.

The manual has been prepared in cartoon format.

This practical manual "Better management practices for seaweed farming" is produced by the Philippines national team under the ASEAN Foundation supported project "Strengthening capacity of small holder ASEAN aquaculture farmers for competitive and sustainable aquaculture" implemented by NACA in five ASEAN countries. The long-term objective of the project was to assist ASEAN small- scale aquaculture farmers improve their livelihoods by being competitive in markets and improving farm management practices to deliver quality and sustainably produced aquaculture products.

This practical manual "Better management practices for grouper culture in Indonesia" is produced by the Indonesian national team under the ASEAN Foundation supported project "“Strengthening capacity of small holder ASEAN aquaculture farmers for competitive and sustainable aquaculture” implemented by NACA in five ASEAN countries. The long-term objective of the project was to assist ASEAN small- scale aquaculture farmers improve their livelihoods by being competitive in markets and improving farm management practices to deliver quality and sustainably produced aquaculture products.

Responding to the emergent stakeholder concerns such as environmental sustainability, social equity, animal health and welfare, food quality and safety has become an immense challenge to the aqua-farmers. Certification acts as a tool of communication between the primary producer and the interest groups that assures them of a quality and safe market produce originated in an environmentally and socially accountable production system, however, aquaculture mostly being an enterprise of small and marginal farmers, obtaining certification as individuals is financially prohibitive and impractical. An innovative solution for this is ‘group certification’, which divides the cost and responsibility among the partners, enabling them to attain accreditation for their production process and remain in the industry.

This manual is expected to assist small scale aqua-farmers in the region by providing guidelines to implement BMPs through a cluster/group management approach and access markets through participating in group certification programs of their choice. This can also be used by the field extension officers and certifiers who are directly involved in the process and other parties who are interested in being informed about the concepts and practice of aqua-farmer group formation, group functioning and certification.

* Message from the Chair
* The Executive Committee 2012-2014
* Overview of DAAs past and present
* Announcements

This report entails the activities undertaken through the project Strategies for Development of Asian Reservoir and Lake Fisheries Management coordinated by NACA, under the auspices of the Icelandic International Development Agency (ICEIDA) from its inception in January 2008 until September 2011. The project included four participating countries, China PR, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand, each country undertaking components of work that had some degree of relevance to the region as a whole.

This report incorporates the work that has been accomplished in a regional context as well as the work completed by each of the countries, and the details of each of these are included in relevant annexes in this document. Major project activities are reported on a dedicated web page in the NACA web site, which averages around 15,000 visits per month, and thereby gained extensive public scrutiny and attention.

The project enabled the development of useful networks among reservoir fishery researchers in the four participating countries, and indeed from other countries such as Vietnam, enabling exchange of knowledge and expertise relevant to reservoir fisheries development and management. The project also accomplished the task of synthesising the knowledge base on reservoir fisheries management of the participating countries, through the publication Status of Reservoir Fisheries in Five Asian Countries, which is now available to others in all parts of the world.

All in all, expected outputs of the project were achieved with slight shifts in Output 2 and 6 due to some unforeseen difficulties encountered while carrying out the project, however overall objectives were achieved successfully.

The project resulted in bringing other additional outcomes, directly and or indirectly, in the region with regard to inland fisheries management and development, of which reservoir fisheries is a major and significant component. These outcomes are beginning to have an impact on the overall food fish supplies to rural communities in countries in the region, and elevated the science of management through increasing capacity building of technical personnel.

The project has also enhanced the general interest in inland fisheries management and development in the region, and is thought to have resulted in a number of expert consultations under the auspices of international (e.g. FAO) and regional organisation. In all these consultations the project personnel have played a key role, indicative of the increased capacity in this area generated through the project.

Peter Edwards writes on rural aquaculture: Visit to the
AwF funded small-scale aquaculture project in Nepal

Success story of the Barakhandapat Ornamental Fish
Breeding Unit, at Patna cluster of Keonjhar, Odisha, India
Swain, S.K., Ikmal, S.S., Parida, S., Patro, B., Sahoo, S.K.,
Rajesh, N., Meher, P.K., Jena, J.K. and Jayasankar, P.

From Kyoto 1976 to Bangkok 2000 and Phuket 2010:
Aquaculture Development and Personal Transitions
Davy, F.B. and De Silva, S.S.

Embryonic and larval development of Waigieu seaperch (Psammoperca waigiensis)
Hung, P.Q. and Nam, D.X.

Culture feasibility of freshwater mullet Rhinomugil corsula
in ponds in India
Radheyshyam, Chattopadhyay, D.N. and Sarkar, S.K.

Management in seed production of an endangered catfish, Horabagrus brachysoma during its hatchery phase
Sahoo, S.K., Giri, S.S., Chandra, S. and Paramanik, M.

Newsletter

This study is a continuation of “Evaluation of the impact of the Indian Ocean tsunami and US anti-dumping duties on the shrimp farming sector of South and South-East Asia”, a study conducted by Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia-Pacific (NACA) in 2006, with the aim of assessing the impact of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and of the introduction of anti-dumping duties on the shrimp farming sectors of countries in the Asian region, with special focus on the effect that these unforeseen events had on shrimp prices and livelihoods of the stakeholders. The project was conducted in three countries selected as representatives for countries affected by the anti-dumping duties, the tsunami, and neither event respectively.

The first-round study, while giving an insight on the impact of the Indian Ocean tsunami and US anti-dumping, also highlighted the need for continuous collection of price data from a wider range of stakeholders in the supply chain in order to do a thorough evaluation of the health of the industry and to identify the interventions to be made to increase the sustainability of the sector. Phase II (January 2008 to June 2009) and Phase III (Current study) are follow-up studies based on the recommendations derived from the initial study. The present study is the 3rd phase of this extended study and aims to update the social and economic trends in the shrimp farming sector investigated during the previous phases.

This report is based on the data collected from the 3 representative countries, Vietnam, Indonesia and Bangladesh from July 2009 - November 2010.

The regional Quarterly Aquatic Animal Disease (QAAD) reporting system has been implemented since the second quarter of 1998 and continues to provide a useful mechanism for aquatic animal disease information sharing amongst 21 participating governments in the Asia-Pacific region. The QAAD reporting system is a joint activity between NACA, FAO and OIE Regional Representation (Tokyo). The 2011/2 QAAD report, 52nd in the series, includes disease information from 13 countries. The foreword addresses transboundary disease issues.

* First ever Ministerial Meeting on aquaculture.
* Keynote address delivered by His Excellency, Mahinda Rajapaksa, President of Sri Lanka.
* Farewell Sena and welcome Eknath!
* 2nd Regional Training Course on Application of Business Management Principles in Small Scale Aquaculture.
* Consultation on Lake and Reservoir Fisheries and Aquaculture Development in Asia.
* Asia Regional Seminar on Certification for Small Scale Aquaculture in Thailand.
* Special issue of the AFS Journal: Integrated technologies for advanced shrimp production.
* Farmers as Stakeholders in Commercial Aquaculture: Free download.
* Marker for banned antibiotic naturally occurs in freshwater prawns and other crustaceans.