Pompano

ISSN 0859-600X

Volume XIII No. 2 April-June 2008

Vietnamese catfish
Culture-based fisheries in Lao Changing face of carp culture

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Aquaculture Asia is an autonomous publication that 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 Ng M.C. Nandeesha Editor Simon Wilkinson simon@enaca.org Editorial Assistant Phinyada Sompuech Editorial Consultant Pedro Bueno NACA An intergovernmental organization that promotes rural development through sustainable aquaculture. NACA seeks 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 rural communities. Contact The Editor, Aquaculture Asia PO Box 1040 Kasetsart Post Ofﬁce Bangkok 10903, Thailand Tel +66-2 561 1728 Fax +66-2 561 1727 Email: magazine@enaca.org Website http://www.enaca.org Printed by Scand-Media Co., Ltd.

Volume XIII No. 2 April-June 2008 Standards for catﬁsh aquaculture

ISSN 0859-600X

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 tonnes per 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 proposed or are in development by EurepGAP, GTZ, WWF (the Pangasius Aquaculture Dialogue) and Naturland (Naturland Standards for Organic Aquaculture). These groups 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 word ‘standard’ 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 real standard!) 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 recent meeting 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 sheep’s clothing. Lastly, Vietnamese interests, particularly those of farmers, are not necessarily well represented on the various committees that have been established in the name of consultation. There is a substantial gap that exists between the people that are 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 aren’t necessarily an appropriate form of consultation in the local context; 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 establishing 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 appropriate for small scale catﬁsh producers to implement? Has it been ﬁeld tested? Is any guidance is offered 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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In this issue
Sustainable aquaculture
Peter Edwards writes on rural aquaculture: From integrated carp polyculture to intensive monoculture in the Pearl River Delta, South China Better management practices for Vietnamese catﬁsh Ipomoea aquatica – an aquaculture friendly macrophyte A status overview of ﬁsheries and aquaculture development in Pakistan with context to other Asian countries The changing face of post-grad education in aquaculture: contributing to soaring production and sustainable practices 3 8 12 14 19 Page 8. 20 Page 3.

Genetics and biodiversity
Hatchery management in Bangladesh

Research and farming techniques
Production of Cirrhinus molitorella and Labeo chrysophekadion for culture based ﬁsheries development in Lao PDR Part I: Captive spawning Application of ipil-ipil leaf meal as feed Ingredient for monosex tilapia fry (Oreochromis niloticus) in terms of growth and economics Fermented feed ingredients as ﬁsh meal replacer in aquafeed production Aquaculture and ﬁshing management in coastal zone demarcation: the case of Thailand Reservoir ﬁsheries of freshwater prawn – success story of an emerging culture-based giant freshwater prawn ﬁshery at Malampuzha Dam in Kerala, India 35 40 24 31 Page 24.

Asia-Paciﬁc Marine Finﬁsh Aquaculture Network Magazine
Determining and locating sea cage production area for sustainable tropical aquaculture SPC Paciﬁc-Asia marine ﬁsh mariculture technical workshop: “Farming Marine Fishes for our Future” Developing Better Management Practices for Marine Finﬁsh Aquaculture Breeding and seed production of silver pompano (Trachinotus blochii, Lacepede) at the Mariculture Development Center of Batam Potential of silver pomfret (Pampus argenteus) as a new candidate species for aquaculture 42 44 45 46 49 51 Page 46. Page 40.

NACA Newsletter

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Sustainable aquaculture

From integrated carp polyculture to intensive monoculture in the Pearl River Delta, South China
Dramatic changes have taken place over the last 20 years in inland Chinese aquaculture with a decline in traditional integrated Chinese carp polyculture. I was fortunate to witness the peak development of the former as a consultant for UNDP/FAO at the Integrated Fish Farming Center, Freshwater Fisheries Research Center, Wuxi, in 1981, which included ﬁeld visits and interviews of farmers of the dike-pond system (DPS) in the Pearl River (Zhujiang) Delta. On a visit to southern China last November I spent a day revisiting ﬁsh farms around Quangzhou and in Shunde County (now a district), Quangdong Province and saw at ﬁrst hand these remarkable changes.

Traditional dike-pond system
The integrated agriculture-aquaculture DPS system dates back to the 14th century (Lo, 1990). Wetlands in the Pearl River Delta were reclaimed by digging ponds and using the excavated soil to raise elevated dikes on which fruit and vegetables were raised, including mulberry bushes to provide leaves to feed silk worms which supported the silk industry of southern China. It was also characterized by integration with other local human activity systems besides plant crops and used inputs, both onand off-farm, from animal husbandry, sanitation and cottage-level industries such as silk and soybean processing wastes. It used the well known Chinese practice of carp polyculture which consists 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 and development in the Asian region. Email: pedwards@inet.co.th. species of ﬁsh, with various feeding and spatial niches leading to efﬁcient utilization of nutritional and spatial niches or resources in the pond. The major species in the dike-pond system were the herbivorous grass carp, the ﬁlter feeding bighead and silver carps, the detritus feeding mud carp, and the omnivorous common and crucian carps. It reached its most complex stage of development in the 1980s during the era of collective ownership of agriculture.

Cultivation of mulberry (foreground) adjacent to a ﬁsh pond. Le Liu People’s Commine, Shunde County, 1981.

Watering vegetables with ﬁsh pond water. Shunde District, 2007. April-June 2008

Watering vegetables with pond water, foreground, sugar cane background. Shajiao People’s Commune, Shunde County, 1981. 3

Sustainable aquaculture The most comprehensive description of the system is the book by Ruddle and Zhong (1988).

Demise of the dikepond system
As I witnessed late last year, the dike-pond system has changed beyond recognition since the Government introduced a market-driven economy in the mid 1980s. The Pearl River Delta now has the most expensive land in southern China as it has been the powerhouse of Guangdong’s economic reform of the last 25 years (Jin, 2007). Guangdong Province took the lead in China in setting up special economic zones (SEZs) starting in 1979. Township enterprises are booming in the former rural area. By the early 1990s, Shunde County at the centre of the former DPS had already become one of the four richest counties in China. It is the largest productive base of electric appliances in China; it is the “capital of home appliances of the world” and it hosts annually China’s International Fair of Home Appliances. The largest bicycle production base and the largest producer of microwave ovens in the world are also located in Shunde District as well as factories for manufacture of air conditioners, refrigerators, electronics, telecommunication appliances, garments and animal feed. The cultivation of mulberry was one of the deﬁning features of the pond-dike system but it has disappeared from most of Shunde District. Polyculture of Chinese carps has been mostly replaced by monoculture of high-value species such as eel, freshwater prawn and soft-shell turtle over the past decade (Yee, 1999). The farmer I interviewed during my recent visit, was culturing channel catﬁsh in 100 mu (6.7 ha) area of ponds in Xin Long village in Longjiang, Shunde District. The village had 1,000 mu (67 ha) of privately owned ponds in which many species were being cultured, including tilapia. Although the ﬁsh farming village was surrounded by urban/industrial development, it was not going to be converted into factories as it was a special area for aquaculture as decided by the village ﬁsh farmers according to the farmer I interviewed. While considerable areas of land and ponds occupied previously by dike-pond systems have been converted into 4

Most ﬁsh ponds have aerators. Shunde District, 2007.

Feeding channel catﬁsh with pellets. Shunde District, 2007. urban and industrial development, there may be a larger pond area today than in the 1980s as previously reported by Yee (1999). Many farmers continue to be involved in aquaculture although mainly intensive culture of high-value species with off-farm feed within aerated ponds. There is a ready market for ﬁsh in the relatively afﬂuent area and intensive ﬁsh culture is more proﬁtable for farmers than the traditional DPS dominated by lower value ﬁlter feeding species. Dikes are now much narrower to maximize pond surface area as aquaculture is more proﬁtable than dike cropping and many are in poor shape through neglect as well as erosion by aerated pond water. Crops are still being cultivated on the dikes of some ponds but are mainly integrated with aquaculture through use of the pond for watering crops. I saw no livestock in Shunde District as manuring of ponds is no longer required; today the major concern is pond eutrophication from residual fertilizer effects of uneaten ﬁsh feed and faeces rather than use of livestock and human manures to fertilize the pond as in the past.

Aquaculture Asia Magazine

Sustainable aquaculture

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

Nutrient relationships of the dike-pond system
A widely held misconception is that the dike-pond system was a more or less closed system in terms of nutrient ﬂows. Ruddle and Zhong (1988) in their detailed study of the traditional dike-pond system claimed that it was a relatively closed ecological cycle “based almost entirely on the tightly managed recycling of materials” and the “bulk of the inputs have always been generated from the within the system itself”. Similar claims were often repeated: “the Chinese dyke-pond system…is unique in integrating agriculture and aquaculture within a single selfcontained system…requiring minimal input of energy and materials” (Zhong, 1989); “without any external input of fuel, fertilizer or feed in an ecologicallybalanced system” (Chan, 1993); and, “the DPS itself supplied most of the nutrients for effective functioning of the system” (Yee, 1999).

However, it was difﬁcult to reconcile the production and export of large amounts of nutrients in commercial crops such as ﬁsh, pigs, silk, sugar and vegetables with a “relatively closed ecological cycle” (Edwards, 1993). It was estimated that the mean yield of ﬁsh alone would require an absolute minimum of 180 kg of consumable nitrogen/ha/year, most of which could not have been regenerated within the system. Data from household surveys presented by Ruddle and Zhong (1988) showed that most of the total inputs to the ﬁsh ponds were manures, mainly pig manure but also human manure or nightsoil. With an extremely high local population density in the dike-pond area of 1,700 persons/square km and only 12% of the agricultural land under rice, a considerable amount of pig feed and human food must have been imported into the system. It was also claimed that the feed requirements of the pigs were met by a “diet of greens, particularly water hyacinth, sugar cane tops and vegetable waste”. Feeding greens to pigs is a traditional Chinese practice

but pigs are monogastrics and require additional, more digestible sources of feed for adequate growth. While the ponds effectively treated human and pig manure and the nutrients were recycled in the dike-pond system, it was characterized by considerable nutrient ﬂows from outside the system rather than being a closed system.

An example for sustainable development
Another myth in view of the demise of the dike-pond system is that it provided a model for sustainable aquaculture elsewhere. According to Chan (1993), the dike-pond system “should serve as a model for economic as well as ecological development for the rest of China and many other parts of the world”; and “many countries in the region would beneﬁt from adaptation of the Chinese DFS model” (Korn, 1996). 5

April-June 2008

Sustainable aquaculture

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

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Sustainable aquaculture

Integrated duck-ﬁsh culture. Sanshui District, 2007. The dike-pond system provided beneﬁts for centuries but could not compete with industry in terms of social development or sustainability even though it may have been environmentally sustainable. There has been widespread delinking of crops and livestock from ﬁsh ponds in the major ﬁsh farming areas of China. According to Zhou En Hua, my interpreter as well as teacher in China over 25 years ago, who now runs feeding demonstrations in various provinces of the country, “it is really difﬁcult to locate any large-scale ﬁsh farms with integrated farming practice as we saw in the early 80s in most of the aquaculture production areas of China”. However, I did see large numbers of integrated duck/ﬁsh farms on the outskirts of Guangzhou, simpliﬁed two component feedlot livestock/ﬁsh systems, presumably because ﬁsh culture is still a proﬁtable way to treat and reuse duck manure where there is high market demand for ducks as in southern China. pellet-fed tilapia farm I visited in Hua Du District told me that his major problem is very green water from excess residual nutrients. Zhou En Hua recently told me that he never recommends monoculture in pellet-fed ponds to farmers as pond water readily becomes eutrophic which stresses the ﬁsh. He recommends an 80:20 system of stocking ﬁsh with 80% of the biomass at harvest comprising the target species, and the remaining 20% of the biomass, “service ﬁsh” such as silver carp to feed on the phytoplankton produced by ﬁsh metabolic wastes. Although silver carp has a relatively low value compared to target ﬁsh such as crucian carp and tilapia, the improvement in water quality leads to a better food conversion ratio, less disease, reduction or elimination of the need for chemicals and drugs, safer ﬁsh and therefore a higher economic return for the farmer. Thus, some of the principles of traditional Chinese aquaculture practice are being introduced to help to make pellet-fed monoculture environmentally as well as socially 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 integrated dike-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.

Towards sustainable intensive aquaculture
The intensiﬁcation of inland aquaculture is causing environmental concerns in China because of pond eutrophication and the absence to date of treatment of pond efﬂuents. A farmer of a large April-June 2008

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Sustainable aquaculture

Better management practices for Vietnamese catﬁsh
Simon Wilkinson, NACA Feeding time in a growout pond. The phenomenal growth of the catﬁsh farming industry in Vietnam is attracting the attention of the world, and with good reason. In 2007 the industry is estimated to have produced at least 1.2 million tonnes of catﬁsh, a staggering increase considering that in 2000 the industry was only producing 100,000 tonnes. The spectacular success of the industry is due to a unique combination of factors that include market opportunity, the robust nature of the catﬁsh, the abundance of high quality water resources available in the Mekong Delta, and the sheer determination and entrepreneurial nature of Vietnamese farmers. In January we were privileged to travel to Vietnam to discuss implementation of a new project on Development of Better Management Practices for Catﬁsh Aquaculture in the Mekong Delta, funded by AusAID’s Collaborative Agriculture Research and Development Programme. The project team consists of a collaborative partnership between the Research Institute for Aquaculture No. 2, Can Tho University, the Victorian Department of Primary Industries (Australia) and NACA, with DPI and RIA2 taking the lead roles in the respective partner countries. The purpose 8 of the project is to help the industry improve its environmental performance and proﬁtability through more efﬁcient use of resources and improved farming practices. During our visit we had the opportunity to get out into the delta to discuss emerging issues with small and medium-scale catﬁsh farmers and some of the major processing/export companies.

Development of the industry
Catﬁsh farming has been farmed in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam for more than 50 years. However, the export of basa and tra catﬁsh began in the mid-1980s primarily as ﬁllet to Australia (Tuan 2003). Increasing interest from Asian markets fueled development of

Vietnam catfish production (tonnes)
1,400,000 1,200,000 1,000,000 800,000 600,000 400,000 200,000 0 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

Aquaculture Asia Magazine

Sustainable aquaculture the industry from 1990 onwards, with exports later expanding to European markets and the United States. It wasn’t long before the success of catﬁsh as an export commodity began to attract the ire of producers in importing countries. In 2001 the Catﬁsh Farmers of America and related interests formed a lobby to campaign for a ban on the import of catﬁsh products from Vietnam. This culminated in the ﬁling of an antidumping complaint with the US International Trade Commission. Faced with the reality of lower labour and input costs in Vietnam, the commission was forced to declare Vietnam a ‘non-market economy’ in order to apply penalty tariffs on imported Vietnamese catﬁsh products, a move that was widely seen as trade protectionism on the part of the US government. Although attempts to block the import of catﬁsh into the US were frustrating for Vietnam at the time, they may actually have been a blessing in disguise. Exporters were forced to look for other markets and they found one: The rest of the world. Catﬁsh once destined for the US started to ﬁnd its way into other countries where it quickly found a niche as a cheap, white, tasty ﬁsh suitable for staple consumption. With wild catch ﬁsheries no longer able to service the growing demand for ﬁsh, this niche quickly grew into a gaping chasm, one that even 1.2 million tonnes of catﬁsh has not yet ﬁlled.

This farm has constructed their own pellet machine which dumps food directly onto a conveyor belt for express delivery to the pond.

Culture practices and emerging issues
The catﬁsh aquaculture industry in Vietnam presently consists of about 60% small-scale producers, typically with ponds in the range of 2,000 square metres to several hectares. Catﬁsh are typically grown in ponds around 4.5 metres deep with a high level of water exchange on the order of 20-30% per day required to maintain the health of the stock and keep the ﬂesh colour white; if exchange is insufﬁcient the ﬂesh takes on a yellow cast which is regarded as undesirable by processors. Tra is an extraordinarily robust ﬁsh with air breathing capability and a wide tolerance of environmental conditions,

enabling it to be cultured at extremely high densities. Farmers in the delta are commonly harvesting 300-400 tonnes/ha per crop, with some reports of yields of up to 700 tonnes/ha. Tra grows rapidly, reaching a marketable size of 1 kg within six months, allowing farms in the delta to produce two crops or an incredible 600+ tonnes/ha production per year. Even though the proﬁt margin is small – typically around US$ 0.1 - 0.15/kg – the total return to the farmer (US$ 60,000 – 90,000+ per hectare) is massively superior to any other crop, and represents a huge improvement to the standard of living of farmers, many of whom were formerly growing rice. Like other growth industries before it, catﬁsh farming is beginning to experience some growing pains as

View of a catﬁsh pond, a boom to conﬁne ﬂoating feed pellets is visible to either side of the feeding shed. April-June 2008

Raceway inlet for water from the river.

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Sustainable aquaculture

Catﬁsh processing facilities enforce strict hygiene standards to comply with the requirements of export markets. farmers explore the limits of the system and importing countries start raising requirements for products to access their markets: • Seed quality is the number one issue of concern to farmers as there has been a marked deterioration. Seed supply is currently insufﬁcient to meet demand and there are suggestions that private hatcheries may have resorted to forced spawning of broodstock that are not in good condition or fully ripe. Losses in the nursery stage of culture are very high. • Not surprisingly, health at all stages of production was also an issue of signiﬁcant concern. Mortality rates, although widely variable from farm to farm, are generally felt to be on the increase, possibly due to seed quality and to increasingly high stocking densities. • Feed costs are a major issue and there is currently no auditing system in place to ensure that feed manufacturers are meeting the advertised speciﬁcations of their feeds. Some farms are manufacturing their own feeds in order to gain control and ﬂexibility over feed composition, in addition to reducing costs. • Farmers are also concerned with the balance between stocking density, water exchange and ﬂesh colour, seeking to minimise losses due to disease and pumping costs while

The growth of the catﬁsh industry is fueling expansion of feed manufacturing plants. achieving a high yield and quality necessary to get a good price from processors. • Short production chains are an unusual feature of the industry. There are no middlemen; farmers sell their crops directly to large processing/export companies. Prior to purchase, processors collect samples of the crop to assess ﬂesh quality and conduct laboratory tests for chemical residues. If the product passes inspection the farmer is offered a price based on its quality; if the farmer accepts the price a contract is signed and the crop harvested. Processors meet the cost of laboratory testing and transportation, farmers pay their own labour costs for the harvest. Fillet quality is a major issue for processing plants, although preferences vary according to market, with ﬁllet colour more important in Western European markets while Eastern Europe is mainly concerned with price. Trimming ﬁllets of red muscle and fat is a major component of processing operations, with end products carefully sorted and graded before being frozen individually by blast or in blocks. It was apparent during our visit that feed manufacturers and processing plants are also undergoing a dramatic expansion of the delta, with new facilities being constructed and existing facilities adding capacity to cater to growing international trade in catﬁsh. This is generating signiﬁcant employment opportunities; one processing plant

Processors are experimenting with value-added products such as this smoked catﬁsh sausage. Aquaculture Asia Magazine

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Sustainable aquaculture I just want one standard I can’t follow them all”. Similarly, major retail buyers have made it clear that the proliferation of standards is also a source of confusion to consumers. Ironically, even though proliferation is recognized as an issue, proliferation continues. It seems that the proponents of different standards ﬁnd it difﬁcult to bridge the ideological and political gaps that exist between them. Everyone wants ‘their’ standard adopted as ‘the’ standard; and this fragmentation is in turn a barrier to any particular ‘standardin-principle’ gaining the widespread acceptance that is required for it to become a standard in fact. 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 in the back yard! we visited (Vin Hoan Corp.) employes around 3,500 workers alone. The labour requirements are such that the company is presently constructing accommodation facilities to house its workforce. were required and also what changes were feasible for them to make, in a ‘bottom up’ approach. Demonstrating the practical value of BMPs to farmers was also seen as a critical issue for their adoption. The development of standards by foreign consultants with token input by farmers was not greeted with much enthusiasm; such ‘paper standards’ were at best viewed as being ‘impractical’, or as one participant exclaimed ‘Just theory!’. As a starting point, the Vietnamese project partners (RIA 2 and Can Tho University) will conduct a detailed survey of catﬁsh hatcheries, production and processing in the delta in the ﬁrst half of 2008, which will identify key issues where the development of better management practices may beneﬁt the industry. The project will run for two years, and further updates will be published in Aquaculture Asia, the NACA Newsletter and on the NACA website, where a dedicated page has been established to track the progress of 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 ﬁsheries and human development, Vietnam. Asia-Paciﬁc Regional Initiative on Trade, Economic Governance and Human Development. Download from: http://library.enaca. org/AquaMarkets/presentations/OtherPapers/ VietnamCaseStudy.pdf.

Towards better management practices
The goal of the BMP project is not to develop certiﬁcation standards per se. Instead, the project aims to improve management practices, simultaneously delivering increased proﬁtability to the farmer and improved environmental performance through more efﬁcient use of resources. As BMPs are implemented voluntarily, the incentive to adopt them is provided simply by their direct economic beneﬁt to the farmer. In our discussions farmers emphasized that BMPs should focus on simple, practical measures that they can easily implement. Some certiﬁcation standards, for example, were considered difﬁcult or impossible for farmers to follow. They emphasized the need to start the process of developing BMPs by working with them to see what changes

Proliferation of ‘standards’: A headache for farmers
The rapid growth of the catﬁsh farming has not gone unnoticed by environmental NGOs. Several have or are attempting to establish various certiﬁcation ‘standards’ for catﬁsh aquaculture, including Eurepgap, GTZ, WWF (Pangasius Aquaculture Dialogue) and Naturland (Naturland Standards for Organic Aquaculture). During our discussions with farmers and processors it was apparent that they are only too keen to improve the performance of their farms and the quality of their products. Due to the high intensity of catﬁsh farming small improvements can deliver big gains to producers, and processors are very much concerned to ensure their products meet the requirements of importing nations. It was clear that the industry will gladly accept guidance that helps them to address such issues but the proliferation of standards is a source of concern. As one farmer said at our planning meeting: “Producers are being caught amongst a proliferation of standards. April-June 2008

Project team after enjoying the hospitality at a catﬁsh farm. 11

Sustainable aquaculture

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 over marshy 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 basically a vine, which may form dense masses of tangled vegetation, thus developing impenetrable canopies over the water surface, restricting light penetration into the depths. It is found growing wildly in tropical and subtropical countries 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 tightly packed 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 is widely consumed throughout the region.

Cyanophyceae
• Phormidium sp. • Oscillatoria sp. • Rivularia sp.

Cholorophyceae
• • • • • • • Ulothrix sp. Oedogonium sp. Characium sp. Microspora sp. Cladophora sp. Amphithrix sp. Chaetophora sp.

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, mostly ﬁlamentous 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 Brachionus sp. All the algae listed below are ﬁlamentous and some of them have holdfasts, a characteristic feature of periphyton. List of periphyton categorized by family:

area of about 28 cm2. In organic farming systems, 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 producing a 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 of the most preferred foods found in the major meal of rural India, particularly in Bengal during the summer months. Nutrients analysis of I. aquatica has shown 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 nutritional qualities of I. aquatica determined its composition to be 32.2% crude protein, 10.8% crude ﬁber, 6% crude lipid, 6.0% and 30.0% ash. The total carbohydrate (NFE +crude ﬁbre), was 31.8%. Micronutrient content (per g): vitamin B1 (thiamin), 87μg; nicotinic Aquaculture Asia Magazine

Morning glory - a support for organic farming
Periphyton-based organic farming is now widely recognised as a source of 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 glorybased substratum may be developed to increase natural productivity of water bodies by producing a large amount of periphyton. The present study has determined that an older stem usually provides a periphyton-covered surface

12

Sustainable aquaculture acid, 0.6 mg; riboﬂavin, 120 μg; vitamin C (ascorbic acid), 1.37 mg; along with substantial carotenoids: β−carotene, xanthophylls and taraxanthin. Mineral content included K, 41.4 mg; Mg, 31.0 mg; Zn, 1.7 mg; Cu, 0.1 mg; Ca, 2.0 mg; Na, 5.0 mg; P, 1.0 mg; along with gross energy content, 337.9 kcal per 100g; and protein/energy value was 95.3 mg protein/ kcal. When formulated feed prepared using I. aquatica was given for 60 days to the ﬁngerlings of three carp species viz., Labeo rohita, Catla catla, and Cyprinus mrigala to evaluate its efﬁcacy as a ﬁsh feed, feed conversion efﬁciency (FCR) ranged from 1.8 – 2.5, gain in body weight ranged from 18.2 – 33.3g, protein efﬁciency ratio ranged from 0.7 – 1.0, and protein retention and speciﬁc growth rate were in the range 0.7– 1.0% per day. Signiﬁcantly, I. aquatica has been found to contain a very low amount of antinutrients as trypsin inhibitor, calcium oxalate, tannin, and phytate, compared to other leafy vegetables. A critical biochemical analysis of ﬁsh tissues (liver, muscle + blood) in the post-feeding efﬁcacy of formulated diet containing I. aquatica plant has also supported it as a potential ﬁsh feed and have been able to enhance in maintaining the ﬁsh growth up to optimum level. the former eat morning glory vegetation, while later graze over periphyton assembled around the morning glory stem. It is also used as a fodder given to cattle, pig and goats, which prefer to relish it. Chopped and boiled, it is given to the pregnant cow to improve the health of the young. costs increase up to the ﬁfth harvest and then gradually decline, while the production increases.

Conclusion
Morning glory cultivation may bring several advantages at a time in the scenario of south Asian perspective. There are vast areas of low lying lands in the region, which remain inundated during post monsoon period and remain exposed as marshy ground till late winter. As morning glory has characteristics of both seasonal crops and perennial vegetation, it may be utilized as circumstance permits: In seasonal wetlands it can be cultivated by sowing seeds in late winter, and yields may be harvested till the early summer when farms can no longer sustain the crop. In full course water bodies, it may be kept and maintained around the periphery of the ponds. In such case, harvesting may be difﬁcult, but it may be used for ﬁsh feed, especially for grass carp. In organic farming the young shoots may be harvested for leafy vegetables; simultaneously older stems may continue to provide a periphyton support system for grazing ﬁsh like carp. When it is found covering the pond proliﬁcally, it must be thinned out periodically to maintain a suitable density and permit light to penetrate the water. Through these practices low lying inundated areas and wetlands to be used cultivating morning glory to serve the dual purposes – one as a delicious leafy vegetables of high nutritive value and the other as an ideal substratum for carp culture in particular.
References
Naskar, K. R., 1990. Aquatic & semi aquatic plants of lower Ganga delta, Daya publishing house, Delhi-6. p. 173&174. van Dam, A.A., Beveridge, M.C.M., Azim, M.E., and Verdegam, M.C.J., 2002. The potential of ﬁsh production based on periphyton. Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries 12; 1-31. Azim, M.E., Milstein, M.A., Wahab, M.A., and Verdegam, M.C.J., 2003. Periphyton- water quality relationships in fertilized ﬁshponds with artiﬁcial substrates. Aquaculture 228: 169-187. Anonymous, 1959. The Wealth of India, CSIR, New Delhi, reprinted 2001, p. 237-238. Chopra, R.N., Nayar, S. L., and Chopra, I. C., 1986. Glossary of Indian medicinal plants, CSIR, New Delhi, P. 142.

Cultivation
Pre-cultivation practice
Morning glory grows easily in marshy places or even in full course water bodies. It is propagated by seeds, or by stem cuttings. Packed viable seeds are now available in market. These seeds are sown over marshy places during peak winter period. Farmers collect stem fragments by chopping them into several pieces, each of which must have at least single node from which roots initiate. In case of full course water bodies, long stems can be put at the edge of the ponds, and then ﬁxed in place with bamboo poles.

Land preparation and plantation
The ground where seeds/ stem cuttings are to be sown/planted should be hydric soil or saturated. There is no need to take any special care to prepare the ground before sowing/planting of seeds/stem cuttings unlike other conventional crops. Seeds are simply sown over the ground, taking one month to reach a harvestable stage.

Fish food and fodder
This species can play a signiﬁcant role directly as a food for ﬁsh, especially for grass carp, Ctenopharyngodon idella, a voracious grass eater, which can consume every day an amount of grass equal to its body weight. In such condition, morning glory vegetation may be put and maintained in the periphery of water bodies where grass carp are cultured. In view of nutrient conversion efﬁciency, maintenance of morning glory vegetation in any water body may also fetch two beneﬁts at a time: Morning glory eating grass carp are to be treated as an organic product that will have more consumer preference, and thus may generate proﬁtable revenue. 2. Morning glory eating grass carp indirectly beneﬁts the health of consumers, as it is a source of rich nutrients that ultimately reach to grass carp eaters. Grass carp along with other ﬁsh like rohu (Labeo rohita) may be cultured in the same water bodies for organic farming as a part of integration: April-June 2008

Harvest and production
The ﬁrst harvest may take place one month after seed sowing and then can be done at weekly intervals. During the ﬁrst harvest, stem cuttings can be prepared for transplantation elsewhere and once established cuttings may be made at any time. It has been estimated that about 60 kg can be harvested per 100 m2 during ﬁrst cutting, which then induces crop to sprout a number of branches which increase the biomass production even more. Consequently the second harvest may be double that of the ﬁrst, gradually increasing to four times before beginning to decline.

Economy
One bundle of morning glory typically weighing around 200 g costs about Rupees 1.50 (1US$=Rs. 45.00). Market surveys have shown that harvesting

13

Sustainable aquaculture

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 important role in the alleviation of poverty and the achievement of food security in many parts of the world. In many economies, ﬁsheries exports generate more foreign exchange than the revenues earned from any other traded food commodity such as rice, cocoa, coffee or tea (FAO 2004). According to the Economic Survey of Pakistan 2006-2007 (ESP 2006-2007), ﬁsheries are the principal source of livelihoods for many rural communities inhabiting the long coastline of Sindh and Balochistan, as well as inland along the major rivers, and in the vicinity of lakes and dams. In 2006 the total ﬁsh production was 604,900 metric tons (Table 1). The ﬁsheries sector is estimated to provide direct employment to about 379,000 ﬁshermen and 400,000 people in ancillary industries (State Bank of Pakistan). In Pakistan the domestic consumption of ﬁsh at 1.9 kg per capita is amongst the lowest in the world. However, ﬁsh are also an important source of nutrition for many people, particularly in rural areas, containing 15-20% protein with high levels of vitamin A, phosphorous and many other useful dietary supplements, in addition to low cholesterol content (Mazid 2002). During 2006-2007 the ﬁsheries sector witnessed a growth of 4.2 percent (ESP 2006-2007). Although the ﬁsheries sector represents only a small amount of Pakistan’s total GDP it contributes substantially to the national income through export earnings. Figures from the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) 2007 indicate that ﬁsh and ﬁsh preparations are among the top 16 export items and second among primary commodity category exports after rice (Figure 1). During 2006-07, a total of 123,615 metric tons of ﬁsh and ﬁsheries products were exported, earning US$ 188 million (TDAP 2007). The top 10 countries to which ﬁsh were exported ﬁsh include China, U.A.E, Thailand, Belgium, Malaysia, Korea, Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia, Japan and Sri Lanka (TDAP 2007). The bulk of the captured ﬁsheries from the marine areas go into low value usages (ESP 2006-07). Pakistan has a considerable extent of resources i.e. 0.29 million sq km of marine (National Institute of Oceanography, 2007) with 1120 km long coastline and approximately 8.6 million ha of inland waters with details as mentioned in table 2 below. Although aquaculture has been growing at a good pace in Pakistan, an in-depth analysis clearly indicates that it utilises only around 1% of the available water resources while others such as waterlogged areas (56%) and ﬂood water areas (18%) return a haphazard ﬁsheries production (Figure 2). Of the millions of hectares of waterlogged areas created due to massive irrigation systems, practically no attempt has been made to use these water bodies for ﬁsh culture (FAO 2003a). Careful planning is needed for judicious use of these underutilized areas for productive ﬁsh farming. The situation is further aggravated by the fact that the average growth of aquaculture area and production are divergent to each other as far as the Sindh province (which hosts around two thirds of ﬁsheries resources) is concerned (Figure 3). Another impediment to the sector is its data deﬁciency. Either the data is lacking or its reliability is questionable. This can be gauged from the fact that the data of ﬁsh farms and the ﬁsh production both seem on lower side because there may be hundreds of ﬁsh farms which are not reported or could not be surveyed by the ﬁsheries departments due to their meager manpower resources, non availability of sufﬁcient operational funds, vehicles and other difﬁculties including the law and order situation. This can be supported by the 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 in 1996. According to the survey 8008 A.M. Aslam Jarwar is the Manager of the Programme Implementation Unit, 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, Hashimabad Society, Makli, Thatta, Pakistan; phone +92-298-772319, fax +92-298-772318, mobile +92-333-7509396 or email : aslamjarwar@yahoo.com / ajarwar@ wwf.org.pk or visit www.wwfpak.org / www.foreverindus.org. acres were recorded as compared to 1436 previously recorded in District Fisheries Ofﬁce. The difference is plotted in Figure 3. Keeping in view the above, up to 40% of ﬁsh ponds seem to be missing from the record. This situation demands extensive surveys to be carried out in the country, especially in far ﬂung inland areas, to bring out the actual ﬁgures. The matter is similarly true for the data pertaining to the ﬁsh production in the country speciﬁcally of the inland areas because the ﬁsh catches that culminate at small inland markets and subsistence ﬁsh catches also need to be accounted for a complete picture of ﬁsh production in the country. Pakistan’s commercially important marine ﬁsh fauna comprise of some 250 demersal ﬁsh, 50 small pelagic, 15 medium-sized pelagic and 20 large pelagic ﬁsh. In addition, there are 15 commercial species of shrimp, 12 of squid/cuttleﬁsh/octopus, and ﬁve of lobster. The freshwater fauna comprises more than 200 ﬁsh species and 35 of shellﬁsh including prawns and crabs. Around 20 ﬁsh species are commercially important. According to various partial surveys carried out in the continental shelf area to explore ﬁsheries resources, Pakistani waters provide a ﬁshing potential of up to 1.0 million tonnes per annum from marine sources alone (Table 3) which can be increased through sea ranching and conservation measures such Aquaculture Asia Magazine

14

Sustainable aquaculture Table 1: Total ﬁsheries production in Pakistan 2006 Fish Production (2006) Marine Inland Total Source: MINFAL Quantity (‘000’ tons) 425.0 179.9 604.9 as declaring marine protected areas and alternate ﬁshing zones to sustain yields. Whereas the Extensive Riverine Irrigation System which is one of the world’s largest contiguous irrigation systems, covering around 63,000+km (FAO 2003a) provide a wide network of canals, lakes, ponds, marshes, waterlogged areas, natural depressions, dams etc; covering more than 8 million hectares; has an immense potential to produce high stocks of ﬁsh. FAO’s “State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2004” (FAO 2004) states that in 12 of the 16 FAO statistical regions at least 70 percent of stocks are already fully exploited or overexploited, suggesting that that the maximum ﬁshing potential has been reached and that more cautious and restrictive management measures are needed. The report further indicates that “…world marine ﬁsh production from capture was 87 million tonnes in 2000, which decreased to about 84 million tonnes in 2001 and was constant in 2002”. The next issue of the same publication, SOFIA 2006 (FAO 2007), concludes that the “marine capture ﬁsheries – when summed together worldwide – seem to have reached a ceiling”. The same situation seems to be prevailing in Pakistan too, the ﬁsh production from marine as well as inland capture ﬁshery has been decreasing or is stagnant except for a little rise during 1999 (Figure 4).

Table 2: Pakistan’s water resources Resources Marine (sq km) Continental Shelf Exclusive Economic Zone Total Marine Freshwater (ha) Rivers/ streams Canals, Drains & Abandoned canals Lakes Dams/ reservoirs Waterlogged areas Deltaic Area Flood Water Area Fish farms Total Freshwater Source: DOF Sindh Province 2004, * WWF Pakistan. Area 50,270 240,000 290,270 3,102,408 346,803 127,109 195,670 3,031,600 700,000 1,000,000 60,230 8,563,820

Table 3: Fisheries resources potential Makran Coast Sonmiani Bay/ Sindh Coast Total (‘000 tonnes) Small pelagic 140-240 320-520 450-750 Demersal 120-200 170-290 300-500 Total 260-440 490-810 750-1250 Source: Surveys of Pakistan Fishery Resources, September 1983 to June 1984 Summary of Findings Dr. Fridtjof Nansen (UNDP/FAO Programme GLO/82/001).

Table 4: Fisheries and aquaculture production of selected Asian countries Country India Bangladesh Sri Lanka Indonesia Malaysia Philippine Viet Nam Myanmar Nepal Iran Thailand Pakistan Freshwater area (ha) 5700000 4,560,900 n.a. 1165000 n.a. n.a. 1700000 n.a. n.a. n.a. 8,563,820 n.a. Aquaculture production (tonnes) 2 837 751 882 091 1 724 1 197 109 175 834 557 251 1 437 300 474 510 22 480 117 354 1 144 011 80 622 Aquaculture growth rate 6.3 7.8 n.a. 6.9 7.8 -0.4 30.6 45.1 n.a. 16.5 10.8 4.2 Per capita ﬁsh consumption (kg) 5.0 15.0 25.0 23.6 60.0 n.a. 30.0 n.a. 1.6 6.1 32.0 2.2 Total (culture+capture) Exports (value in production (tonnes) ‘000’ US$) 6 318 887 2 215 957 163 684 5 578 369 1 390 017 2 803 603 3 367 200 2 217 466 42 463 527 912 3 743 398 515 095 1591851 359472 3137 1802961 634370 347830 2741127 460057 15 34,107 4465767 194

Table 5: Comparison of water resources and production in Pakistan and Bangladesh 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 0.60 Bangladesh** (2003-2004) 207,163 4,560,900 455,207 1,646,819 2,102,026 2.1 Source: *MINFAL PK **Fishery Statistical Yearbook of Bangladesh 2003-2004, ***FAO

April-June 2008

15

Sustainable aquaculture According to FAO statistics, the contribution of aquaculture to global supplies of ﬁsh, crustaceans, molluscs and other aquatic animals continues to grow, increasing from 3.9 percent of total production by weight in 1970 to 27.1 percent in 2000 and 32.4 percent in 2004. Aquaculture continues to grow more rapidly than all other animal food-producing sectors. Worldwide, the sector has grown at an average rate of 8.8 percent per year since 1970, compared with only 1.2 percent for capture ﬁsheries and 2.8 percent for terrestrial farmed meat production systems over the same period. Production from aquaculture has greatly outpaced population growth, with per capita supply from aquaculture increasing from 0.7 kg in 1970 to 7.1 kg in 2004, representing an average global annual growth rate of 7.1 percent. In 2004, countries in Asia and Paciﬁc accounted for 91.5 percent of the production quantity and 80.5 percent of the value in the world aquaculture production, with China, India, Viet Nam, Thailand, Indonesia and Bangladesh among the top 10 producers in aquaculture production. Further, the majority of aquaculture production of ﬁsh, crustaceans and molluscs continues to derive from the freshwater environment (56.6 percent by quantity and 50.1 percent by value). Mariculture contributes 36.0 percent of production quantity and 33.6 percent of the total value (FAO 2007). This situation requires taking necessary steps to enhance ﬁsh production from the existing resources on one hand and to explore new ways to get additional production through aquaculture, on the other. Although Pakistan has better growth in ﬁsheries sector, an eye on some selected Asian countries (table 4) will help to compare ourselves in an overall scenario (data correspond to the year 2005 except where indicated). Viet Nam and Thailand are the highest foreign exchange earners in the region mainly as a result of the export oriented growth in their aquaculture production (FAO 2007). On the other hand, Bangladesh which seems to be a natural role model in ﬁsheries sector for Pakistan due to many aspects including similarity in ﬁsh fauna, climatic conditions, socio-economic behaviour, socio-demographic characteristics of farmers etc, has almost half the Inland ﬁsheries resources to Pakistan but 7-8 times more production, only from inland sector, 53 % of which comes from aquaculture (Mazid 2002). According to FAO, 16 Figure 1: Source: Economic Survey of Pakistan 2002-2003

C ontribution of prim ary com m odities to exports

12% 17% 3%

8% 60%

R ic e

R a w C o tto n

F is h & F is h Pre p a ra tions

F ru its

W heat

Figure 2: Source: DOF Sindh Province

Bangladesh was the sixth top country in aquaculture production with 914,752 tonnes and third top in inland capture ﬁsheries with a catch of 732,000 tones (FAO 2006). The obvious reason behind this extraordinary performance being the higher development investments from government as well as donor sides. In Bangladesh, 54% of all the investments in the ﬁsheries sector have been spent on aquaculture development (Mazid 2002). A comparison of Pakistan and Bangladesh has been given in table 5 to readily assess the above situation. The ﬁsheries sector needs prompt attention with regards to planning vigorous efforts to enhance production from all resources including marine, brackish and freshwater, which have tremendous potential for ﬁsh and shellﬁsh production especially through aquaculture development. While planning, it is necessary to consider global trends which clearly show that more than 60% (28.9 million tonnes) of aquaculture production comes from inland areas. In the local

scenario inland areas offer considerable opportunity for aquaculture growth owing to the extensive irrigation system and water logged areas that could be made available to aquaculture with little modiﬁcation. In contrast, the coastal areas are sparsely populated and would require relatively huge investments most probably by corporate culture. As such the inland aquaculture sector needs to be addressed on priority basis. It is essential to divert the aquaculture sector towards export orientation by changing culture practices and adopting species suitable for export markets. This will also boost the rural economy and play in poverty alleviation among farming communities. Overall, aquaculture development can boost the economy of the country through export earnings. It is thought that the ﬁsheries have the potential to bring in US$ 1 billion annually (EC Prep report June 2005).

Aquaculture Asia Magazine

Sustainable aquaculture

Recommendations
In this context following recommendations are put forth for the steady growth of ﬁsheries and aquaculture sector in Pakistan. These measures include: • Shrimp are an important source of export earnings and as such shrimp culture needs due consideration, but this should not ignore the environmental impacts and should adhere to the International Principles for Responsible Shrimp Farming 2006 and FAO’s “Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries”.

need implementation at all levels from production to consumption and capture to culture. • Soft small and medium loans (microﬁnance programmes) with easy accessibility to aquaculturists and ﬁshermen need to be made available.

• Cluster development of aquaculture along the coast with provision of all the basic amenities can bring about a major breakthrough in coastal aquaculture production. Allotment of land in these clusters should be made only to solid investors with time-bound terms of reference.

q Figure 3: Growth of aquaculture
000 000
No. of Fish Farms

000 • There is potential for enhancing ﬁsh production from irrigation and 000 multipurpose reservoirs through stocking and conservation programs. 000 000 000 0 1980-81 1988-89 1999-2000 2003-04

Area of Fish Farms (Acres)

• Pen and cage culture need to be developed on priority basis in irrigation canals, lakes/ reservoirs and coastal areas to improve ﬁsh production from these huge resources which at present are underexploited. • Pond culture needs to be improved on intensive lines; more importantly catﬁsh and tilapia culture need immediate attention. • As indicated by the global trends, new vistas in aquaculture may be explored which include prawn and crab culture, oyster culture, seaweeds culture etc. • Integrated Fish Farming (IFF) is an area that has a tremendous potential for producing additional ﬁsh if promoted. Poultry farming and cattle raising is well developed and can be integrated with ﬁsh culture; rice-ﬁsh culture has a high potential. • Improvements in post harvest technology and value additions for better export earnings need to be taken into consideration. • It is essential to divert culture trends towards export markets by changing the culture practices and selecting species of demand in export markets. • Food safety measures must be ensured as per the principles of HACCP, SPS and CODEX in order to capture higher portion of foreign markets and enter the competitive environment under WTO. These April-June 2008

Fish Production (m. tons) through Culture

Figure 4. Source: Jarwar AMA, 2004

Figure 5. Source: MINFAL
500,000 450,000 400,000 350,000 300,000 250,000 200,000 150,000 100,000 50,000 0 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

Inland

Marine

17

Sustainable aquaculture • Tax holiday for aquaculture industry and processing zones is a must for rapid growth of sector including duty free imports of latest machinery. • Effective extension services are needed to be established with quality assurance for steady growth of the sector. The private sector may also be involved in this area. • Fisheries and Aquaculture should be brought under a “code of practice” to be devised in line with FAO’s “Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries”. • Protected areas (PAs) should be declared and enforced and alternate ﬁshing zones may be introduced to provide relief to ﬁsh and shellﬁsh stocks. • Sea ranching should be investigated as a means to reduce pressure on natural stocks. • Fine mesh nets used for trapping ﬁsh meal species catch signiﬁcant amounts of juvenile ﬁsh of larger species and small edible ﬁshes as well as endangered, associated or dependent species, without any consideration of target or non-target species. These need to be strictly stopped from such practices and such nets removed from creeks areas to protect the ﬁsheries resources. • Community Based Fisheries Management should be encouraged for sustainable management of ﬁsheries resources. • The annual ﬁshing-ban be implemented in its nature and spirit and alternate means of livelihood should be provided, along with incentives, to the ﬁshing communities to sustain traditional ﬁshing grounds. • All this cannot be achieved without capacity building of concerned institutions for which following steps can be taken: • The organizational structure of ﬁsheries institutions needs to be strengthened and widened and the nature of posts/skill staff adjusted to allow specialized work to be conducted. • A better remuneration packages for employees needs to be adopted to assist in recruitment and retention of specialist staff, improve productivity and eradicate corruption. • The R and D wings in the ﬁsheries departments are not commensurate with the needs of the sector therefore they need to be upgraded and streamlined. • There are many organizations involved in research on ﬁsheries and aquaculture on federal and provincial level. These efforts need to be monitored and coordinated as well as streamlined as per the applied requirements of the sector. • Infrastructure development is required to make available sufﬁcient hatcheries, nurseries, soil and water testing and disease diagnostic laboratories, extension/support centers and vehicles for extension staff to support the industry. • To cater the post harvest improvements small jetties and processing plants need to be established along the coast, rivers and inland lakes along with allied facilities of cold storage, ﬁsh carrying boxes, insulated transportation vehicles etc. • Intensive training programmes should launched for human resource development in the sector for which overseas trainings need to be arranged for ﬁsheries managers and trainers. The ﬁsheries training facilities must be functionalized to the maximum capacity and multifaceted working for training of farmers and ﬁshermen. • Aquaculture development authorities may be established with clear mandate to develop inland and coastal areas and full support should be extended to these bodies. Such authorities should be equipped with effective extension tools and a committed team with chalked out targets and strategy to achieve the set targets in stipulated time frame. • As the nature of ﬁsheries resources and the problems of the ﬁsheries sector are different from livestock or agriculture, it is necessary to separate and strengthen the ﬁsheries administration at both federal and provincial levels.
Selected references
FAO (2002). FAO Expert consultation on the use of irrigation systems for sustainable ﬁsh production 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.

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Aquaculture Asia Magazine

18

Sustainable aquaculture

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 (dcl1@stir.ac.uk; aps1@stir.ac.uk; cac3@stir.ac.uk) The range and type of post-graduate education and training available in Asia and further aﬁeld continues to develop and increase to meet the needs of the sector. As the production and value of aquaculture has soared over the last two decades new opportunities to gain the right qualiﬁcation has become ever more important to open the right door and, in time, the career of choice. Typical proﬁles and expectations of students have changed signiﬁcantly over this period as has the range of study options. Twenty years ago the overwhelming proportion of MSc students enrolled on programmes at AIT, Stirling or Auburn, who were major established providers at the time, were government ofﬁcers typically supported by overseas development assistance. Increasingly, applicants work for non-government and the commercial sector or have aspirations to do so. The growing diversity of employment also means that the type of skills required in graduates is changing. Many employers now require new recruits to have a broad range of problem solving skills in addition to technical knowledge including capacities for management, information handling and communication. Understanding of how institutions function and the social and economic implications of aquatic resource management are now considered mainstream skills. On the other hand specialised skills are also increasingly required in ﬁsh health, genetics, environmental management and nutrition as production systems become more technology driven. The old adage that the qualiﬁcation allows the learning to begin ‘on the job’ is less acceptable as employers seek to recruit those best prepared for speciﬁc roles and this has led to increasing demand for graduates with employment experience. Rapid changes in aquaculture practice have also led to an urgent need for upgrading/retraining of those already within the sector and related sectors. These trends occur at a time when the separation of study and employment is becoming less practical due mainly to the high costs of full-time dedicated study. Not only are programmes increasingly expensive but loss of earnings and career opportunities need to be considered, quite apart from consequences for family life. Engagement in a work situation in parallel to study can also make learning more effective as the application of knowledge within work situations can help to deepen the learning process. There are several approaches to this including making post-graduate education more ﬂexible and managed around work as short intensive modules, using internships as part of full-time study options and part-time distance learning whilst remaining in employment. Flexible study options are becoming increasingly popular with employers who may wish to support staff development without losing key employees for long periods of time. ‘Sandwich’ courses are not new but there is a trend towards modularising programmes, thus making them more ﬂexible, among aquaculture programme providers such as the Asian Institute of Technology1 and University of Stirling2. This ﬂexibility can be particularly important to employers with limited numbers of employees; loss of a key member of staff for prolonged periods of time to overseas study can have signiﬁcant costs and extended periods of time spent away tend to mean longer periods for readjustment and return to normality on their return. Ideally, shorter periods of study are less disruptive to work and family life. Credit sharing is also a trend that should allow greater mobility of students but is dependent on harmonisation of programme structures and assessment. Universities such as Ghent and Wageningen have long shared credit but now a larger range of institutions are involved through various EU programmes encouraging such trends. Patrick Sorgeloos3 from Ghent is working to extend these arrangements to Vietnam and allowing more ﬂexible study between Belgium and Vietnam to the beneﬁt of students registered for study in both countries. The rapid growth of aquaculture in Asia has encouraged interest among Europeans in studying in the region. Ad hoc placement for research projects and study tours have become established features of European programmes but these are now developing into more formalised internship arrangements such as that supported under the EC-funded Asia Link programme4 between AIT, Universities in Vietnam, Cambodia and Nepal and Stirling, UK and Alveiro in Portugal. This programme includes opportunities for both Asian and European students to engage in placements with private and public sector partners. Ideally such internships provide beneﬁts to both parties, with the student or new graduate gaining work experience and opportunities for mentoring from professionals and the employer gets the enthusiasm, energy and fresh ideas of working with an individual beginning their career. Other beneﬁts include those associated with cultural exchange and friendships that form with such short-term but intensive internships. Mutual beneﬁt is the key feature of internships and their design and the management of participants and local mentors is taking various forms to ensure this. Nick Innes-Taylor5 of Wetland Alliance, a SIDA-funded programme working in SE Asia, insists that potential interns develop work programmes based on problems identiﬁed by the local host organisations. A short accessible report of the intern’s key ﬁndings is a required output before leaving the site. An innovative approach to combining postgraduate training and employment is on-going in Bangladesh where Stirling and the Bangladesh Agricultural University are delivering a blended distance learning programme in Aquatic Resource Development to over 60 students living and working throughout the country. Funded by the Common19

April-June 2008

Genetics & biodiversity wealth Scholarships Commission, the programme allows people to study while working, primarily targeting students for whom a conventional face-to-face course, locally or overseas, is not an option. Studying at distance has its own challenges and students need high levels of motivation to complete the certiﬁcate (yr 1), diploma (yr 2) and full masters (yr 3). The programme is designed around successive modules over the ﬁrst two years followed by a project year based on a part-time commitment of 10-15 hours/week. Regular contact with local tutors by mobile phone and with UK-based tutors through the internet helps to support students self-learning. Continuous assessment of participation in discussion boards and electronically submitted assignments are key features of the programme. The relationship with the workplace is critical; potential participants require letters of support from their employers and the project year is designed around an issue identiﬁed by the student and his/her employer. The education and training session of the WAS meeting at Busan, Korea will be reﬂecting on the changing face of education with representatives from Asia, Australia and Europe. Flexible learning, the role of internships and combining work with study through Distance Learning will be featured.

Contacts
1. Amararatne Yakipitiyage (amara@ait.ac.th). 2. Trevor Telfer (tct1@stir.ac.uk). 3. Patrick Sorgeloos (patrick.sorgeloos@ugent.be). 4. Corinne Critchlow-Watton (cac3@stir.ac.uk). 5. Nick Innes-Taylor (nickIT@ait.sc.th).

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 for animal protein in Bangladesh, adoption of intensive and extensive culture practices on certain selective species of ﬁshes is very important. Induced spawning has opened the door of new era in the production of ﬁsh throughout the world. For intensive and extensive ﬁsh culture it is necessary to ensure the supply of suitable sized good quality ﬁsh seed in sufﬁcient quantities. The main source ﬁsh seeds in Bangladesh are spawn produced in government and private hatcheries, and some collected from rivers. The seed collected from natural breeding grounds have many problems such as the inclusion of seed of predatory ﬁshes or disease. Wild seed is collected and handled in crude and unscientiﬁc methods that can potentially lead to large scale mortality during transportation from collection centres to nursery ponds and also in the nursery ponds after release. Therefore, emphasis should be placed on expansion of hatchery facilities to supply high-quality ﬁsh seed required to support aquaculture development. For proper planning, management and sustainable development of hatcheries it is necessary to identify the speciﬁc problems and requirements of an area. We conducted a survey to collect 20

information on hatchery management that we hope will be helpful to ﬁsh culturists, farm managers, production specialists, policy makers and extension workers. The results of the present study will also provide valuable information to researchers who are interested to conduct similar type of study in future.

in 986-91. Table 1 shows the year of establishment of the hatcheries in the studied areas.

Occupation of the hatchery owners
On the basis of occupation the hatchery owners have been divided into two types. The ﬁrst type is hatchery business only and the other type is hatchery business and others. Among the surveyed 21 hatcheries owners, nine earn their livelihood from only the hatchery business and 12 had other business interests such as service, agriculture etc.

Materials and methods
Production season of ﬁsh seed generally starts in March and ends by late August every year. However the survey for collection of data was conducted during March to September. The study area was Kotwali Thana under Jessor district. Data was collected by direct interviews with individual respondents. Questions were asked systematically in a very simple manner with explanation wherever it was felt necessary and the information recorded. Results and observations

Educational status
The educational status of hatchery owners of the surveyed areas are presented in table 3. Out of 21 private hatcheries owners 9.52% were illiterate but had the ability of signature. About 14.29% and 23.81% of hatchery owners had primary and high school education respectively. 23.81% and 19.02% hatchery owners had SSC and HSC level education respectively. Only 9.52% owners had graduation level education.

Establishment of hatcheries
The establishment year of the surveyed hatcheries ranged from 1981 to 1985. The maximum hatcheries in the surveyed area were established

Aquaculture Asia Magazine

Genetics & biodiversity

Training status of hatchery owners
The training status of the private hatchery owners are presented in the table 4. Out of 21 private hatchery owners 14.29% had no training while 19.05% had received short term training from the District Fisheries Ofﬁce. 55% owners received training from others owners / farm managers. The rest gained their knowledge on hatchery operation through personal contact with the Upazilla Fisheries Ofﬁce.

Table 1: Year of establishment of the hatcheries in the region under investigation Year of establishment 1980-85 1986-91 1992-97 No. of hatcheries 7 11 211 Percentage 33.33 52.38 14.29

Table 2: Occupation status of the hatchery owners of surveyed area Type of occupation Only hatchery business Hatchery+service Hatchery+agriculture Hatchery+others No. 9 5 6 1 Percentage 42.86 23.81 28.57 4.76

Source of funds for hatchery operation
About 47.62% of owners had funds for seed production from their own sources. About 33.33% and 14.29% of owners got their funds as a loan from relatives and friends and from banks respectively. Only 4.76% hatchery owners got their loan from NGOs. It was observed during investigation that there was less contribution of NGOs and there was no contribution of the money lenders (mohazon) in the survey areas.

Table 3: Educational status of the hatchery owners of the studied area Educational status Illiterate but having ability signature Primary education High School Education S.S.C Education H.S.C Education Graduate Education No. of hatcheries 2 3 5 5 4 2 Percentage 9.52% 14.29% 23.81% 23.81% 19.02% 9.52%

Table 4: Showing the training status of hatchery owners Source of training in ﬁsh seed production No training Short term training Consulting with UFO Others No. of hatcheries 3 4 14 1 Percentage of hatcheries with trained personnel 14.29 19.05 66.67 0

Transportation facilities
During investigation it was observed that the hatchery owners had no transportation facilities of their own. The buyers hired truck or pick up vans even manually operated vans for hatchlings transportation.

Table 5: Funding source of the hatchery owners of the surveyed area Source of funds Self Self + relatives + friends Bank Self + NGOs Mohazons No. of hatcheries 10 7 3 1 0 Percentage 47.62 33.33 14.29 4.76 0

Communication facilities of hatcheries
The communication facilities of surveyed ﬁsh hatcheries are shown in table 6. About 52.38% owners mentioned the facility as excellent i.e. they are satisﬁed for existing communication facility while 37.08% and 9.52% owners mentioned the facility as good and not good respectively.

Table 6: Communication facilities of the hatcheries Type of communication facilities Excellent Good Not good No. of hatcheries 11 8 2 Percentage 52.38 37.08 9.52

Status of employees of hatcheries
Status of the staff of hatcheries is presented in table 7. From the table it is found that the surveyed hatchery had no specialist but they employed skilled April-June 2008

Table 7: Status of staff of ﬁsh hatcheries in the surveyed area. Type of employee Ofﬁcer Specialist Skilled Unskilled (labours) Temporary employee 0 0 12 119 Permanent employee 0 0 9 Mean monthly salary 0 0 3895.24±332.38 Mean daily salary 87.14±3.73

21

Genetics & biodiversity and unskilled labourers. Labourers work as permanent and temporary basis. The ean monthly salary of skilled labourers was Tk. 3895.24 ± 332.38 and mean daily salary of unskilled labours was Tk, 87.14 ± 3.73. Table 8: Area of hatchery in the surveyed area Area (ac) 0.05-0.110 0.1-0.15 0.15-0.2 0.2-0.25 No. of hatcheries 13 3 3 2 Percentage 61.90 14.29 14.29 9.52

Area of hatcheries
It was observed that the maximum area of hatcheries in the surveyed area was 24.75 decimals and minimum was 5.78 decimal with an average of 11.12 ± 5.19 decimal. Hatchery sizes of the study area are shown in table 8. Table 9: Shows the number of ponds in the hatcheries Number of ponds 2 3 4 5 6 No. of hatcheries 2 4 8 6 1 Percentage 9.52 19.05 38.10 28.57 4.76

Number of ponds in hatcheries
The present investigation deals with the only ﬁsh seed producing hatcheries. This type of hatchery cannot rear fry or ﬁngerlings as they do not have nursery or rearing ponds, only producing spawn. They had only stocking ponds for brood stock management. The maximum number of stocking ponds was six and the minimum was two with an average 4±1.05. During investigation it was observed that every ﬁsh hatchery owner had their own brood stock pond. As regard to ownership it was observed that the ponds were their own or leased.

Table 10: Water and soil quality of the surveyed ﬁsh hatcheries Characteristic Water quality Soil quality Satisfactory 80.95 90.48 % of hatchery Moderate 19.05 9.92 Unsatisfactory 0 0

Table 11: Occurrence of ﬁsh disease in private hatcheries Category of occurrence of ﬁsh disease No disease Seldom attack Every year attack No. of hatcheries 20 1 0 Percentage of occurrence 95.24 4.76 0

Water and soil quality of ponds
Table 10 shows the water and soil quality conditions of the ponds. Answering the question about water and soil quality about 80.95% and 19.05% owners claimed that water qualities of their hatcheries were satisfactory and moderately satisfactory. In terms of soil quality of the ponds about 90.40% and 9.52% owners of the hatchery mentioned as satisfactory and as moderately satisfactory respectively. Table 12: Category of land ownership of surveyed hatchery Category of land Own Own + leased Only leased No. of hatcheries 7 11 3 Percentage 33.33 52.38 14.29

Table 13: Data showing the supplementary feeding used in different hatcheries Name of feeds Fish meal Oilcake Rice bran Wheat bran Flour Minimum 10% 15% 20% 6% 2% Maximum 25% 38% 50% 22% 6% Mean ± SD 18.14 ± 5.33 25.10 ± 5.39 38.9 ± 11.93 12.67 ± 4.74 4.38 ± 1.16

Occurrence of ﬁsh disease in hatcheries
About 95.24% owners reported that there were no ﬁsh disease problems in their farms, while the rest of the owners reported that there were occasional attack of ﬁsh disease. It was a remark-

Table 14: Showing the use of fertilizers in different hatcheries Name of fertilizer Urea TSP MP Cow dung Minimum 4% 3% 1% 10% Maximum 12% 10% 3% 15% Mean±SD 7.43±2.45 6.12±3.14 2.1±1.32 7.8±2.15

22

Aquaculture Asia Magazine

Genetics & biodiversity able observation that in no farms was there any serious ﬁsh disease problem in the survey period. Table 15: Problems of the owners of private ﬁsh hatcheries in the surveyed area Kinds of problems No. of hatcheries A. Technical 1. Lack of technical knowledge 6 2. Lack of chemicals and fertilizers 0 3. Non availability of food 0 4. Insufﬁcient water in dry season 2 5. Diseases 1 B. Economic 1. Lack of credit 6 2. Lack of marketing facility 2 C. Social 1. Theft of ﬁsh 5 2. Poisoning in pond as enmity 2 3. Toll collection by terrorist 5 4. Joint partnership 3 5. Problem of taking lease of pond 4 D. Natural calamity 1. Flood (caused by heavy rain) 5 2. Other natural calamity 0 Percentage of total farms 28.57 0 0 9.52 4.76 28.57 9.52 23.81 9.52 23.81 14.29 19.05 23.81 0

Category of land ownership
61.90% owners reported that the land used for hatchery purposes was their own land and the rest 38.10% reported having both leased and own land. But no owner had only leased land for hatchery purposes. Table-12 shows the category of land ownership percent distribution.

Supplementary feeds used for brood ﬁshes
During the present investigation it was found that the use of feed for brood ﬁsh was comparatively common. These type of feeds were used for better growth of brood ﬁsh. Both inorganic and organic fertilizers were used to increase the pond vegetation and productivity. The types of feed, fertilizer, lime used by the private hatcheries are shown in table 13.

Fertilizer
The types of fertilizers used in private hatcheries in this region are urea, TSP, MP and cowdung: • Urea: Fertilizer urea used in these hatcheries ranged from 4% to 12%. TSP: Fertilizer TSP used in these hatcheries ranged from 3 to 10%. • MP: Fertilizer MP used in these hatcheries ranged from 1% to 3% with an average 2.1 ± 1.32%. • Cowdung: The use of cowdung in these hatcheries ranged from 10% to 15%.

four general types, such as technical, economic, social and natural. Fish seed farm owners responded to these problems regarding operation of their farms are presented in table 15. About 28.57% and 9.52% owners claimed that the production of farms hampered due to lack of technical knowledge and insufﬁcient water in the dry season. Among economic problems it was reported that the lack of credit and lack of marketing system were crucial constraints. Among social problems the theft of ﬁsh and toll collection by terrorists were main constraints then the problems related to leasing. Only 23.81% of hatchery owners faced the problem of ﬂood.

improved species from other ﬁsh farms or hatcheries with well known origin. • Government should take positive steps to train up interested people on modern methods of hatchery management. • For induced breeding, supply of various types of inputs should be ensured at low cost and government should control and check the quality of inputs. • For better seed production appropriate dosage for hormone should be administered. • The problem of poor quality ﬁsh seeds due to inbreeding depression in the private hatcheries must be addressed.

Recommendations
The following policy and recommendations are suggested depending on the ﬁndings of the present study: • Credit for ﬁsheries is not easily available or institutionalized. An appropriate system to provide credit with low interest rate from institutional sources should be established. • For overcoming the problems of inbreeding as suggested by hatchery owners (i) government hatcheries should have “brood banks” to supply quality broodstock to the private hatchery owners, (ii) collecting wild, non domesticated ﬁsh species from rivers or natural habitats, (iii) purchase cultivated, genetically

Conclusion
Apart from some adverse socioeconomic and other impacts, ﬁsh farms present in this region contribute a remarkable amount to inland ﬁsh production in Bangladesh. As the ﬁsheries sector plays a vital role in the socioeconomic development, opportunity for employment, poverty alleviation of large number of population, we have to reduce all the adverse impacts of aquaculture for sustainable growth in the future. The NGOs and government

Problems and constraints faced by private ﬁsh hatchery owners
The problems and constraints faced by the private ﬁsh hatchery owners in the study area have been categorized under April-June 2008

23

Research & farming techniques

Production of Cirrhinus molitorella and Labeo chrysophekadion for culture based ﬁsheries development in Lao PDR Part I: Captive spawning

Brett A. Ingram1 and 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. Project team inspecting one of the project study sites in Bolikhamxay Province. The Government of Lao PDR is targeting an increase in ﬁsh consumption to 23 kg caput/year by the year 2020, almost a doubling of the current level of consumption. In view of the unlikely increase in capture ﬁsheries, the envisaged increase in per caput consumption can only be realized through increasing aquaculture related production. A substantial increase in ﬁsh production could be obtained through effective and optimal utilisation of seasonal water bodies, such as ﬂood plain depressions and reservoir coves for culture-based ﬁsheries (CBF), a practice that requires little or no capital inputs and harnesses natural productivity of these water bodies for augmenting ﬁsh production (De Silva et al. 2006). The practice also is environmentally non-perturbing, compared to conventional aquaculture. Through village community participation, CBF augment current food ﬁsh availability, particularly in the lean period of the traditional wild capture ﬁsheries (March to August), and raise the income of village communities. 24 The Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) has recently instigated a project, CultureBased Fisheries Development in Lao PDR (Project No. FIS/2005/078), which aims to develop best practice approaches and production models for CBF in Lao PDR that will improve the yields and economic beneﬁts to village communities (Figure 1). This project involves collaboration amongst six institutions, two each in Australia (Deakin University and DPI, Victoria), two in Lao PDR (Department of Livestock and Fisheries - DoLF and Living Aquatic Resources Research Center - LARReC) and Thailand (Network of Aquaculture Centers in Asia-Paciﬁc - NACA and Fisheries Faculty, Kasetsart University). An important aspect of CBF is the production and provision of sufﬁcient numbers of juvenile ﬁsh of selected species for stocking purposes. However, in Lao PDR fry/ ﬁngerling production is low even though demand for stocking into both pond and rice-ﬁsh systems is high. Most fry produced in Lao PDR originate from the Provincial government hatcheries that have an overall production level of less than 15 million (Meenakarn and Funge-Smith 1998), which is insufﬁcient to meet the needs of CBF. The emphasis on aquaculture and CBF development calls for an increase in the quantity and quality of seedstock of a variety of species suitable for different forms of aquaculture practices. The Culture-Based Fisheries Development in Lao PDR project has identiﬁed two popular indigenous ﬁsh species, Cirrhinus molitorella (mud carp, “Pa Keng”) and Labeo (syn Morulius) chrysophekadion (black sharkminnow, “Pa Phia”) for use in CBF, based on their popularity and existing on-going culture. Their selection was also in accordance with the increasing trend in the region to lay emphasis on the culture of indigenous species in preference to exotics and or alien species.

Aquaculture Asia Magazine

Research & farming techniques This article is the ﬁrst part of a two part series that aim to review current, readily available, information on these two indigenous species which will be used to improve and reﬁne artiﬁcial propagation and culture techniques to support CBF development in Lao PDR. In particular, the review focuses on information within Lao PDR, as well information from the Mekong Fish Database (MRC 2003). See the next edition of Aquaculture Asia for Part 2 of this series. 2007a). C. molitorella has a long history in aquaculture being ﬁrst undertaken in the Pearl River region of southern China during the Tang Dynasty (618-904 A.D.), and today is a well-established aquaculture species particularly in this region (FAO 2007b). Between 1990 and 2001, aquaculture production of C. molitorella was between 80,000 and 220,000 tonnes per year, the vast majority (>99%) was produced in China (FAO 2007b). C. molitorella is a popular aquaculture species in the Luang Probang Province of Lao PDR where it has been propagated and farmed since 1991 (Pinthip et al. 2001, Souksavath 2001, Somboon et al. 2003). In 2005 the Lao PDR produced just 3,100 tonnes (FAO 2007b). Labeo chrysophekadion is one of the larger Asian cyprinids that is widely distributed throughout the Mekong (Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam) and Chao Phraya (Thailand) basins, as well as the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Java and Borneo (Malaysia and Indonesia) (FishBase 2007). L. chrysophekadion is a very important commercial species in the Mekong River basin and in southern Lao PDR is one of the more expensive ﬁsh at the market (Singhanouvong and Phouthavong 2002). The species is caught with small to large scale ﬁshing

Cirrhinus molitorella and Labeo chrysophekadion
Cirrhinus molitorella is a freshwater cyprinid native to Asia that inhabits lakes, rivers and reservoirs from the Mekong (Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam) and Chao Phraya (Thailand) basins, to the Pearl River deltas (China) (MRC 2003, FishBase 2007) C. molitorella, which has ﬁne meat texture, good meat quality and high nutritional value, is mainly sold live or fresh locally (Figure 2), but some is also canned, dried and salted, or minced to form a ﬁsh cakes or dumplings (FAO

This article is the ﬁrst part of a two part series that aims to review current, readily available, information on two indigenous species Cirrhinus molitorella (mud carp, “Pa Keng”) and Labeo (syn Morulius) chrysophekadion (black sharkminnow, “Pa Phia”) for use in Culture Based Fisheries (CBF) development in Lao PDR. These two species are consumer preferred and are currently cultured to some extent. In this part the existing knowledge on the artiﬁcial propagation of these two species is reviewed, and these will be further improved and reﬁned to ensure supplies of good quality seed stock to support CBF development in Lao PDR.

gear and sold in markets fresh (Figure 2), dried and salted, used widely in the aquarium trade, and has very good potential for aquaculture (Rainboth 1996, MRC 2003). However, capture ﬁshery and aquaculture production statistics for this species are not readily available (FAO 2007a). Captive breeding and rearing of L. chrysophekadion has been described in both

Fresh Cirrhinus molitorella (left) and L. chrysophekadion (right) at a provincial ﬁsh market in Lao PDR. April-June 2008 25

Research & farming techniques Thailand and Lao PDR (Pennapaporn 1970, Thavonnan and Udomkananat 1979, Thienchareon et al. 1989, Thienchareon et al. 1990, Tienchareon and Oonsrisong 1990, Unsrisong et al. 1990, Leelapatra et al. 2000, Thi et al. 2003).

Spawning seasonality
Most freshwater tropical ﬁsh species spawn during the monsoon season, and this is also the case for C. molitorella and L. chrysophekadion ( 1), thought to be primarily because rainfall increases the available habitats and nutrients for the hatchlings. The water quality of

many water bodies usually improves, with increased oxygen and cooler temperatures. Hardness and pH of the water also change with the inputs of rainwater runoff (Meenakarn and Funge-Smith 1998).

Table 1. Spawning seasons of C. molitorella and L. chrysophekadion Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Country Lao PDR Lao PDR Lao PDR L. chrysophekadion onwards Habitat Pond Pond River Source Nuanthavong and Vilayphone 2005 Gorda 2001 Singhanouvong et al. 1996

C. molitorella

Thailand

Pond

Laoobuth et al. 1993 Bardach 1959, Sokheng et al. 1999 Bardach 1959, Sokheng et al. 1999 Boonmon and Kantejit 1977 Baird et al. 1999

Cambodia River Cambodia River Thailand Lao PDR Thailand Thailand River River

Reservoir Boonmon and Kantejit 1977, Chabjinda et al. 1992 Ponds Thienchareon et al. 1989, Tienchareon and Oonsrisong 1990

Table 2. Summary of hormone treatments for induction of spawning in C. molitorella and L. chrysophekadion Species C. molitorella Treatment First injection Second injection Nil Nil ♀ 1.5-2.0 6 6-8 Hours between injections Source Gorda 2001 Nuanthavong and Vilayphone 2005 Thienchareon et al. 1989, Tienchareon and Oonsrisong 1990 Thi et al. 2003

Suprefact® (ml/kg) ♀ 0.2+one + ♂ 0.1+? Motilium® (tablet) Suprefact® (μg/kg) ♀ 15+ 18+10 Motilium® (mg/kg) ♂ 7-9+5 ♀ 0.5-0.7 L. chrysophekadion PG1 (“dose”)

1. 2.

PG1 (mg/kg) ♀ 2.3+500 ♀ 3.5+2,000 + ♂ 1.2+800 ♂ Nil HCG (IU/kg) PG1 (mg/kg) + ♀ 2.0+0+0 LHRHa (μg/kg) ♀ 4.0+150+15 + DOM2 (mg/kg) Suprefact® (μg/kg) ♀ 5-8+5-10 ♀ 10-15+5-10 + ♂ 3-4+3-5 ♂ Nil Motilium® (mg/kg) PG = pituitary gland of either common carp or mrigal. DOM = Domperidone

Trinh Quoc Trong et al. 2005

6

Tienchareon and Oonsrisong 1990, Leelapatra et al. 2000

26

Aquaculture Asia Magazine

Research & farming techniques effectiveness of LHRHa is further enhanced when used in combination with a dopamine antagonist. Suprefact® is often combined with the domperidone Motilium® (Janssen-Cilag), an antiematic medicine used to relieve nausea and vomiting, and discomfort caused by gastroparesis in humans (Table 2). C. molitorella are induced to spawn with a single injection of Suprefact® (15-18 μg/kg) combined with the Motilium® (10 mg/kg), while a half dose is applied to males (Nuanthavong and Vilayphone 2005) (Table 2). Gorda (2001) injected females with 0.2ml/kg Suprefact® and one Motilium® tablet to induce ovulation, and males with 0.1 ml/kg Suprefact® and Motilium® to promote spermiation. Following injection, one female and two males are placed together in one tank and allowed to spawn naturally (Gorda 2001, Nuanthavong and Vilayphone 2005). Injections are given at 6:00 hours and spawning occurs 6 hours later at 26-27ºC (Nuanthavong and Vilayphone 2005), or at 21-22ºC, (Gorda 2001). C. molitorella often make a low mating call ‘ku ku’, with many bubbles coming up to the surface of water (FAO 2007a). Gorda (2001) reported fertilisation rates of 70-80% following spawning. The fecundity of C. molitorella is 80,000-100,000 eggs/kg (Gorda 2001, Nuanthavong and Vilayphone 2005). There is no information on the sperm of C. molitorella, though Gorda (2001) estimated there were 8-10 million spermatozoa per mL of milt.

C. molitorella
Injecting a L. chrysophekadion broodstock with a hormone to induce spawning. Both C. molitorella and L. chrysophekadion are semi-migratory species that undergo upstream migrations to spawn. C. molitorella migrate upstream from December to March to spawn in the ﬂoodplains of large rivers during the rainy season, before returning downstream from June to August (MRC 2003, Nuanthavong and Vilayphone 2005). Riverine L. chrysophekadion migrate upstream from March to spawn early in the monsoonal ﬂood season (June-July) (Boonmon and Kantejit 1977, Baird et al. 1999), whereas ﬁsh in reservoirs tend to spawn later and over a longer period (July-October) (Boonmon and Kantejit 1977, Chabjinda et al. 1992) (Table 1). C. molitorella production has been limited by dependence on use of wild-caught seed, until success in induced breeding technology for captive broodstock signiﬁcantly promoted its farming (FAO 2007a). At present artiﬁcial propagation is the major source of C. molitorella seedstock, though seedstock may still be collected from the wild and used for grow-out and maintenance of genetic quality of broodstock (FAO 2007a). In Lao PDR, propagation of C. molitorella was initially achieved by collecting mature breeders from the wild, but since 1996 propagation of captive reared broodstock has occurred at the Naluang Station, and two private farms in the Luang Prabang Province (Nuanthavong and Vilayphone 2005). In captivity C. molitorella reach sexual maturity from 300-500 g weight after 2-3 years (Gorda 2001), but will not spawn unless induced by hormone injection and environmental stimuli, such as ﬂowing water (FAO 2007a). Female

L. chrysophekadion
In captivity L. chrysophekadion will reach sexual maturity within a year at a body weight of 600 g weight when cultured in earthen ponds

Captive spawning
The ﬁrst hormone to be widely and successfully used for induction of ﬁsh spawning was carp pituitary gland (PG) extract. But in Lao PDR this method is not suitable due to the shortage of large sized cyprinid broodstock for extracting pituitary glands (Meenakarn and Funge-Smith 1998). Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (HCG) has also been successfully used to induce ﬁsh spawning and this can be obtained commercially as a “ready-to-use” dry hormone. This is more convenient to use than CPG and dosages for ﬁsh can be applied more accurately (De Silva et al. 2007). Luteinizing Hormone Releasing Hormone analogues (LHRHa) are highly effective (and affordable) in stimulating gonadotropin secretion and inducing ovulation in freshwater ﬁsh. One LHRHa in particular, Buserelin Acetate, is widely used to induce spawning in C. molitorella and L. chrysophekadion. Buserelin Acetate is readily available in commercial form, such as Suprefact® (Sanoﬁ-Aventis) which is used primarily to treat humans with hormone-dependent advanced carcinoma of the prostate gland. The April-June 2008

(a)

(b)

Water flow in

(c)
Water flow in Control of level water in tank Net for protection larvae

Water flow out

Egg incubators used for L. chrysophekadion and C. molitorella. (a) Jar for hatching eggs (source: Meenakarn and Funge-Smith 1998). (b) Hapa for hatching eggs (source: Meenakarn and Funge-Smith 1998). (c) Circular tank (Chinese model). 27

Research & farming techniques (Thienchareon et al. 1989), and can be induced to spawn from 800 g (Leelapatra et al. 2000) (Figure 3). L. chrysophekadion have been induced to spawn by hypophysation using PG from either common carp (Cyprinus carpio) or mrigal (Cirrhinus cirrhosus) (Table 2). Thienchareon et al. (1989) and Tienchareon and Oonsrisong (1990) found that two injections of 0.5-0.75 “dose” and 1.5-2.0 “dose” (actual concentration of “dose”, ie active ingredient per kg ﬁsh, unknown) given 6 hours apart resulted in spawning 4-5 hours after injection. Thi et al. (2003) induced spawning in L. chrysophekadion with PG in combination with HCG; females were initially injected with 2.3 mg/kg PG and 500 IU/kg HCG, then re-injected with 3.5 mg/kg PG and 2,000 IU/kg HCG 6-8 hours later. Males required a single injection with 1.2 mg/kg PG with 800 IU HCG applied at the same time as the second injection of females (Table 2). Tienchareon and Oonsrisong (1990) and Leelapatra et al. (2000) induced spawning in female L. chrysophekadion with two injections of Suprefact® in combination with

Small hapas used to incubate the eggs of C. molitorella. Motilium®; 5-8 μg/kg Suprefact® with 5-10 mg/kg Motilium® and 10-15 μg/kg Suprefact® with 5-10 mg/kg Motilium® 6 hours later. These ﬁsh spawned 4-5 hours after the second injection. The gametes are hand-stripped from the broodstock and combined using a dry fertilisation method (Tienchareon and

C. molitorella eggs. 28 Aquaculture Asia Magazine

Research & farming techniques

April-June 2008

29

Research & farming techniques Oonsrisong 1990). Male ﬁsh require a single injection equivalent to half that of females, or are not injected (Thienchareon et al. 1989). The fecundity L. chrysophekadion ranges from 10,000 to 300,000 eggs (Boonmon and Kantejit 1977) to 1.09 million eggs (in a 49 cm ﬁsh) (Kamonrat et al. 1972). L. chrysophekadion maintained in 600 m2 have been reported to spawn twice within two months in the one spawning season (Thienchareon et al. 1990). In contrast, female C. molitorella apparently spawn once per season. 6-7 mm in length (Watanadirokul et al. 1983). The fertilisation and hatching rates of L. chrysophekadion were 35-88% and 35-77%, respectively (Thi et al. 2003).
FAO (2007a). Cirrhinus molitorella (Valenciennes, 1844) Cultured Aquatic Species Information Programme http://www.fao.org/ﬁ/website/FIRetrieveAction.do?dom=culturespecies&xml=Cirrhi nus_molitorella.xml (Acessed November 2007). FAO (2007b). Fisheries and Aquaculture Information and Statistics Service. http://www.fao.org/ﬁ/website/FIRetrieveAction. do?dom=topic&ﬁd=16003 (Acessed November 2007). FishBase (2007). title. http://www.ﬁshbase. org/search.php (Acessed 10 November 2007). Gorda, S. (2001). Fish Propagation and Nursing Techniques. LARReC Research Report No 0012, Vientiane. 56 pp. Kamonrat, P., Sukviboon, S. & Ophassanan, p. (1972). Size at ﬁrst maturity and spawning of ﬁve species of ﬁshes in Ubolratana reservoir, Khon Kaen. Annual Report 1972. Fisheries Research Unit, Northeast Agriculture Center, Inland Fisheries Division, Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives. 15-36 pp. Laoobuth, P., Pooruxkiati & Tienchareon, P. (1993). Annual spawning potential of black shark, Morulius chrysophekadion (Bleeker). Technical Report No. 9/1993, Inland Fisheries Division, Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives. 8 pp. Leelapatra, W.P., Srisakultiew, P. & Sukumasavin, N. (2000). Biology and Breeding of Indigenous Mekong Fish Species in Thailand. Management Baird, I.G., Inthaphaisy, V., Kisouvannalath, P., Phylavanth, B. & Mounsouphom, B. (1999). The Fishes of Southern Lao. Lao Community Fisheries and Dolphin Protection Project. Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Lao PDR. 161 pp. Bardach, J. (1959). Report of Fisheries in Cambodia. USOM, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Boonmon, V. & Kantejit, J. (1977). Life history of black shark. Annual report 1977, Ubonratchathani Inland Fisheries Station, Inland Fisheries Division, Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives. 19-22 pp. Chabjinda, K., Tienchareon, P. & Jittakorn, A. (1992). Monitoring of stocking of black shark, Morulius chrysophekadion (Bleeker) in Mae Ngad Somboonchon Reservoir, Chiang Mai Province. Technical Paper No. 10/1992. Inland Fisheries Division, Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives. 14 pp. De Silva, S.S., Amarasinghe, U.S. & Nguyen, T.T.T. eds. (2006). Better-practice approaches for culture-based ﬁsheries development in Asia, ACIAR, Canberra. 96 pp. De Silva, S.S., Nguyen, T.T.T. & Ingram, B.A. (2007). Fish reproduction in relation to aquaculture. In Fish Reproduction (Rocha, M., Arukwe, A. & Kapoor, B.G. eds.), pp. 535-575. Science Publishers, Enﬁeld, New Hampshire, USA. of Reservoir Fisheries in the Mekong Basin II, Vientiane. Meenakarn, S. & Funge-Smith, S. (1998). SmallScale Fish Hatcheries for Lao PDR. Provincial Aquaculture development Project, Support for technical Services FAO, Bangkok. 35 pp. MRC (2003). Mekong Fish Database version 2003. CD-ROM. Mekong River Commission, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Nuanthavong, T. & Vilayphone, L. (2005). Reproduction and nursing of Cirrhinus molitorella in a small ﬁsh farm in Luang Prabang Province, Lao PDR. In Proceedings of 7th Technical Symposium on Mekong Fisheries, pp. 197-203Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand, 15th-17th November 2005. Pennapaporn, P. (1970). The culture of pla-ka, Morulius chrysophekadion (Bleeker) with common carp, Cyprinus carpio Linn. in ponds. Annual Report 1970. Pond and Experiment Culture section. Aquaculture Unit, Inland Fisheries Division. Department of Fisheries. 133-141 pp. Pinthip, K., Somboon & Kosol, S. (2001). Experiences with the propagation of Cirrhinus molitorella in Lao PDR and Thailand. Technical Report for the MRC Fisheries Technical Symposium, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Rainboth, W.J. (1996). Fishes of the Cambodian Mekong. FAO Species identiﬁcation ﬁeld guide for ﬁshery purposes, Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, Rome.

Acknowledgements
This review has been undertaken as part of the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) Project, Culture-Based Fisheries Development in Lao PDR (Project No. FIS/2005/078). The authors wish to thank the project leader, Prof. Sena S De Silva (Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia-Paciﬁc (NACA), Bangkok, Thailand), as well as Dr. Thuy Nguyen (NACA, Bangkok, Thailand), Mr Lieng Khamsyvilay (Director, Living Aquatic Resources Research Center (LARReC), Vientiane, Lao PDR), Mr Roger Khamphet (Deputy Director, LARReC, Vientiane, Lao PDR) and Mr Bouthong Saphakdy (Department of Livestock and Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Lao PDR) for support and advice during the preparation of this review.
References

Egg incubation
Several methods have been used to incubate pelagic or semi-buoyant eggs of ﬁsh such as those of C. molitorella and L. chrysophekadion in Lao PDR. First, fertilised eggs can be incubated in hatching jars (up to 1million eggs/m3) supplied with a constant ﬂow of water and aerated (Figure 4a). Second, eggs can be incubated in an aerated hapa (Figure 4b) made from plankton netting that is suspended in a tank or pond (Figure 5). Alternatively, large numbers of eggs may be incubated in circular concrete or ﬁberglass tanks (eg. Chinese model) that are aerated and provided with a constant ﬂow of water (Figure 4c) (Meenakarn and FungeSmith 1998). One disadvantage of this latter technique is that a large quantity of fresh, ﬁltered, water is required. The eggs of C. molitorella (Figure 6) swell rapidly after fertilisation and placing in freshwater (Gorda 2001). In Naluang Station (Lao PDR), large circular tanks (Chinese model) are mainly used for incubating C. motitorella eggs. Nuanthavong and Vilayphone (2005) incubated eggs in hapas (100,000-150,000 eggs/hapa) held in a small concrete tank. The incubation period is temperature dependent; eggs hatch 12-14 hours after fertilisation at a water temperature of 23-24ºC (Gorda 2001), to 16-17 hours at 26-28ºC (Nuanthavong and Vilayphone 2005). Hatch rates are 60-90% (Gorda 2001, Nuanthavong and Vilayphone 2005). The semi-buoyant eggs of L. chrysophekadion hatch 14-16 hours after fertilisation at 28ºC (Watanadirokul et al. 1983, Leelapatra et al. 2000), 18-22 hours at 20-30ºC (Tienchareon and Oonsrisong 1990) and approximately 12 hrs at 29-30ºC (Thi et al. 2003). Newly hatched L. chrysophekadion larvae are 30

Aquaculture Asia Magazine

Research & farming techniques
Singhanouvong, D. & Phouthavong, K. (2002). Fisheries Baseline Survey in Champasack Province, Southern Lao PDR. In Proceedings of the Fifth Technical Symposium on Mekong Fisheries, 11-12 December 2002 (Poulsen, A. ed., pp. 6-16. Mekong River Commission, Phnom Penh. Singhanouvong, D., Soulignavong, C., Vonghachak, K., Saadsy, B. & Warren, T.J. (1996). The main dry-season ﬁsh migrations of the Mekong mainstream at Hat Village, Muang Khong District, Hee Village, Muang Mouan District and Hatsalao Village, Paxse. Indigenous Fishery Development Project, Fisheries Ecology Technical Report No. 3., Lao PDR 130 pp. Sokheng, C., Chhea, C.K., Viravong, S., Bouakhamvongsa, K., Suntornratana, U., Yoorong, N., Tung, N.T., Bao, T.Q., Poulsen, A.F. & Jørgensen, J.V. (1999). Fish migrations and spawning habits in the Mekong mainstream: a survey using local knowledge (basin-wide). Assessment of Mekong ﬁsheries: Fish Migrations and Spawning and the Impact of Water Management Project (AMFC) Vientiane, Lao PDR. Somboon, Souksavath, O., Amphone, Soulignamath, P., Khamsivilay, L. & Saphakdy, B. (2003). Nursing Cirrhinus molitorella in the earthen ponds with four different stocking densities. In Proceedings of the Fifth Technical Symposium on Mekong Fisheries, 11-12 December 2002 (Poulsen, A. ed., pp. 155-158. Mekong River Commission Phnom Penh. Souksavath, O. (2001). Report on nursing of Cirrhinus molitorella in ponds and cages, Luang Prabang, Lao PDR. Internal report. LARReC, Vientiane, Lao PDR. Thavonnan, W. & Udomkananat, K. (1979). Culture of black shark in earth ponds for growth rate Annual report 1979. Kanchanaburi Inland Fisheries Division, Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives. 51-57 pp. Thi, T.V., Dang, V.T., Dinh, H., Hoang, Q.B., Pham, D.K. & Nguyen, M.T. (2003). Preliminary artiﬁcial propagation results of greater black carp (Morulius chrysophekadion). In Proceedings of the Fifth Technical Symposium on Mekong Fisheries, 11-12 December 2002 (Poulsen, A. ed., pp. 143-149. Mekong River Commission Phnom Penh. Thienchareon, P., Ounsrisong, G., Jittakorn, A. & Sriwatanawarunyu, S. (1990). A study on production of Morulius chrysophekadion grown in earthy ponds. Annual Report 1990. Chiangmai Inland Fisheries development Center. Inland Fisheries Division, Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives. 100-113 pp. Thienchareon, P., Unsrisong, K. & Jittakorn, A. (1989). Breeding and rearing of Pla Ka Dum. Annual Report 1989. Chiangmai Inland Fisheries Research Centr. Inland Fisheries Division, Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives. 108-115 pp. Tienchareon, P. & Oonsrisong, K. (1990). Breeding of Pla Kar Dum (Morulius chrysophekadion). Thai Fisheries Gazette, 43, 47-50. Trinh Quoc Trong, Dang Van Truong, Thi Thanh Vinh, Dinh Hung, Hoang Quang Bao, Khoi, P.D. & Thanh, N.M. (2005). Artiﬁcial propagation of indigenous ﬁsh Cirrhinus microlepis, Leptobarbus hoevenii, Labeo chrysophekadion and Osteochilus melanopleurus in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam. In World Aquaculture 2005 (9-13 May 2005, Bali, Indonesia), pp. 379. Unsrisong, K., Jittakorn, A., Sriwatanawarunyu, S. & Thienchareon, P. (1990). A culture of Morulius chrysophekadion (Bleeker) spawners in earthy ponds. Annual Report 1990. Chiangmai Inland Fisheries Research Center. Inland Fisheries Division, Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives. 86-99 pp. Watanadirokul, K., Kitisuwan, P. & Boonpeo, L. (1983). Life history of Morulius chrysophekadion (Bleeker) in Ubolratana Reservoir. Annual Report 1983. Ubolratana Reservoir Fisheries Development Station, Inland Fisheries Division, Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives. 14 pp.

Application of ipil-ipil leaf meal as feed Ingredient for monosex tilapia fry (Oreochromis niloticus) in terms of growth and economics
Dr. Hosain Zamal1 , Prabal Barua1 , Belal Uddin1, Khandakar Shaﬁqul Islam2 1. Institute of Marine Sciences and Fisheries, University of Chittagong; 2. Technical Adviser, Allhawalla Hatchery and Fisheries Project, Cox’s Bazar.

Background
By production volume, tilapia (Oreochromis niioticus) culture is one of the largest freshwater aquaculture species worldwide and is mostly produced using semi-intensive systems in developing countries (FAO, 2000). Tilapia was introduced ﬁrst in Bangladesh in 1954 from Thailand (Ahmed, 1956). Legumes such as Ipil-ipil (Leucaena leucocephala) are potentially a valuable feed resource for aquaculture in the tropics because of their widespread distribution in those areas. Most varieties have not been evaluated as feed for ﬁsh. Ipil-ipil and leaf material of Leucaena compares favourably with lucerne in April-June 2008

terms of crude protein (CP), calcium (Ca) and phosphorus (P), and it is also a good source of b-carotene. Under optimum growing conditions, Leucaena can yield large amounts of high quality forage (NAP 1984). Legumes provide high-quality protein and energy, the nutritive value and digestibility of tropical legumes is higher than that of tropical grasses and the quality of herbage from grasses rapidly declines with increasing maturity.

Methodology
As in most ﬁsh culture systems, balanced feed is one the most signiﬁcant inputs in tilapia culture, and accounts for 30 to 60% of production costs (El-Sayed, 1990; Goddard, 1996; Tudor et al., 1996). Tilapia, however, are also able to feed on vegetables, grains, algae, zooplankton, etc., which has been proven in a number of nutrition studies (Belal and Al-Jasser, 1997). Substitution of ﬁsh meal in balanced feed has been vital to reducing feed costs, and overall tilapia production costs. The ipil-ipil tree was cultivated in the dyke and roadside of the research conducted in the Allahwala 31

Research & farming techniques Hatchery and ﬁsheries project of Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. The recently collected ﬂeshy leaves were selected for processing into ipil-ipil leaf meal. The process involves drying the fresh leaves, grinding and screening to produce the ﬁnal meal product. Four ingredients ie. ﬁsh meal, soybean meal, ipil-ipil leaf meal and rice bran were used to formulate four experimental diets as per table 1. The control diet (1) contained no ipil-ipil leaf meal. The experiment was carried out for a period of 21 days from the 21 May to 11 June 2006, in four 3 x 1.5m hapa, installed in a nursery pond with a bamboo frame. Each hapa contained three identical chambers for replication to study the growth of monosex tilapia fry under different experimental diets. Each diet was trialed in a one hapa to allow comparison of their effect on growth. 600 fry graded for approximately uniform size were stocked into each hapa, with each chamber containing 200 fry. The monosex tilapia fry were conditioned to feed at the surface. Experimental diets were fed as a powder spread on centre of each chamber by a small plate to avoid feeding competition with exterior ﬁsh. The amount of feed supplied to reared fry was 25 % of the total biomass per day for ﬁrst 10 days and 20% of total biomass per day for the following 11 days. The growth and survival of the reared specimens in each hapa with three replicates were recorded on three occasions at seven day intervals. Samples were collected from a number of sites within each chamber. 10% of the fry (20 individuals) were sampled from each chamber with total length recorded. The economic feasibility of the experimental diets was studied by analyzing the unit cost and total costs of all ingredients were used in the experiments. Table 1. Experimental feed formulations Feed component Fish meal Soybean meal Rice bran Ipil-ipil leaf meal Diet 1 (control) 33 35 32 0 Diet 2 30 33 17 20 Diet 3 30 30 15 25 Diet 4 35 25 25 15

Table 2. Mean body weight and length of tilapia on different diets after 21 days Diet 1 (control) Diet 2 Diet 3 Diet 4 Mean body weight 2.167±0.35g 2.183±0.34g 2.267±0.35g 2.5±0.38 g Mean body length 5.17±0.30 cm 5.187±0.31cm 5.19±0.31 cm 5.30±0.32 cm Table 3. Tilapia performance on the four experimental diets Absolute growth Average daily growth rate Speciﬁc growth rate Feed conversion ratio Feed conversion efﬁciency Protein efﬁciency ratio Diet 1 (control) 919.26g 11.50 5.86% 2.74 36.43% 1.04 Diet 2 929.26g 11.62 5.90% 2.73 36.67% 1.047 Diet 3 979.26g 12.25 6.05% 2.78 35.99% 1.028 Diet 4 119.26g 14 6.52% 2.42 41.23% 1.178

Table 4. Crude composition and cost of the experimental diets Moisture Fibre Fat Ash NFE Preparation cost/kg (Tk) Unit cost/kg (Tk) Diet 1 (control) 13.31% 16.79% 7.63% 9.31% 18% 20.82 45.6 Diet 2 13.47% 15% 7.41% 9.24% 19.38% 18.33 35.46 Diet 3 13.55% 14.8% 7.4% 9.25% 19.7% 17.85 35.71 Diet 4 13.6% 16% 7.5% 9.3% 18.65% 19.15 34.65

Results of the experiment
At the end of the third week the mean body weight and body length was recorded as per table 2. The length increment of this present study was lower than previous results. Generally the length increment depends on size at stocking with the larger specimens obtain greater length. So, the present experimental results were signiﬁcant. 32

The performance of the different diets were assessed in terms of absolute growth, average daily growth rate, speciﬁc growth rate, feed conversion ratio, feed conversion efﬁciency and protein efﬁcient ratio as per the table 3. Survival was100% in all experimental diets. Overall, a better growth of the reared tilapia was obtained using diet 4 which contained mixed protein of plant and animal origin. The present experiment demonstrated that tilapia show very poor growth when Leauceana constitutes 25% or more of the dietary protein. During the course of the experiment water temperature ranged from 30 to 32°C, water pH ranged from 7.2 to 7.4, and dissolved oxygen from 5.8 to 6.2 mg/L which are well within acceptable limits for tilapia culture. A protein level of 35% was maintained for all diets, while the basic composition and cost of each diet was as follows: The lowest production cost indicates economic viability of the feed. Ekramullah (1989) found preparation cost of pelleted feed ranged from Taka 11.87 to taka 26.14 per kg. In the experimental

study the preparation cost of per kg feed 20.82, 18.33, 17.85 and 19.15 are in the agreement with the report of the researcher. In ﬁsh, partial replacement of ﬁsh meal or marine animal protein and soybean meal by ipil ipil leaf meal resulted in better growth performance, indicating an economical proﬁt.

Discussion
The achievement of the present study was that 24% feed cost were reduced by using experimental diet 4 which contained 15% ipil-ipil leaf meal (a non-conventional feed ingredient) in the diet. Thus from over all discussion of the experimental results, it has been established that ipil-ipil leaf meal at 15%level used in the diets has good nutritive values and has a signiﬁcant effect on the growth, FCR, FCE, and all of the performance measure of O. niloticus. From the overall discussion of the present experimental results it has established that better growth and minimum feed cost of reared species Aquaculture Asia Magazine

Research & farming techniques may also be obtained using the feed with mixed protein of plant and animal origin. To achieve a balance nutritional composition in ﬁsh feed, a more diverse choice should be made in selecting feed ingredients. Products derived from ipil ipil have been shown to be important ingredients for practical feed of tilapia ﬁsh. The ﬁndings in the present study shown that ipil ipil leaf meal could be used as protein substitute up to 25% and optimum level 15% in the diet of growing tilapia. However, further studies are needed to justify the long term effect and beneﬁt of ipil ipil leaf for ﬁsh health and ﬁsh production.
Reference
Ahmed, N. 1956. Transportation of food ﬁsh to East Pakistan. Pakistan Journal of Science 8 (4) 167-170. Agbede, J. O. and Aletor, V. A. 2004. Chemical characterization and protein quality evaluation of leaf protein concentrates from Gliricidia sepium and Leucaena leucocephala. International Journal of Food, Science and Technology, 39: 253-261. Adeparusi1, E.O. and Agbede, J. O. 2005. Evaluation of leucaena and gliricidia leaf protein concentrate as supplements to bambara groundnut (Vignas subterranean (l. verdc) in the diet of Oreochromis niloticus. Aquaculture Nutrition 12(2): 335-342. Belal, I. E. H. and Al–Jasser, M. S. (1997). Pitted date fruit in Nile tilapia feed. El-Saidy, D. M. and Gaber, M. M. (2003). Replacement of ﬁsh meal with a mixture of different plant protein sources in juvenile Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus (L.) diets. Aquaculture Research 34: 1119-1127. Ekramullah, 1989. Study on the nutrition and development of formulated feed for juvenile tiger shrimp, Penaeus monodon Fabricius 1979, in captivity. M. Sc thesis. IMS, CU. 102pp. FAO (2000). Aquaculture production: quantities 1970-2000. Dataset for Fishstat Plus Version 2.3, obtained from http://www.fao.org/ﬁ/statist/ ﬁsoft/ﬁshplus.asp 02/06/2002. NAP 1984. National Academy Press. Innovations in Tropical Reforestation. In Leucaena: Promising forage and tree crop for the tropics. 2nd Edition Washington, pp 1-10; 41-51. Olvera-Novoa, M. A., Campos, S., Sabido, M. and Martínez-Palacios, C. A. (1990). The use of alfalfa leaf protein concentrates as a protein source in diets for tilapia Oreochromis mossambicus. Aquaculture 90: 291–302. Olvera-Novoa, M. A., Pereira-Pacheco, F., Olivera-Castillo, L., Pérez-Flores, V., Navarro, L. and Samano, J. C. (1997). Cowpea Vigna unguiculata protein concentrate as replacement for ﬁsh meal in diets for tilapia Oreochromis niloticus fry. Aquaculture 158: 107–116. Tudor, K. W., Rosati, R. R., O’Rourke, P. D., Wu, Y. V., Sessa, D. and Brown, P. (1996). Technical and economical feasibility of on-farm ﬁsh feed production using ﬁshmeal analogs. Aquaculture Engineering 15 (1): 53–55.

Fermented feed ingredients as ﬁsh meal replacer in aquafeed production
Dr.N. Felix, Associate Professor and R. Alan Brindo, Post Graduate Research Scholar Department of Aquaculture, Fisheries College & Research Institute, Tamilnadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Thoothukudi-628008, India. Email: nathanfelix@yahoo.com Feed is the most signiﬁcant input for most aquaculture systems. Among feed ingredients, ﬁsh meal is a major component of feed costs. This has stimulated the evaluation of a variety of alternative dietary protein sources for partially or totally replacing ﬁsh meal protein in aquaculture feeds. Use of cheap animal protein ingredients like shrimp head meal waste as such is limited by the presence of exoskeletal chitin and ash content though it contains high levels of protein with an excellent amino acid proﬁle. Similarly use of plant based ingredients in ﬁsh feed formulations have certain limitations viz., amino acid imbalance, low protein content and anti-nutritional factors. Utilization of seaweeds and other aquatic plants is also limited due to the presence of high crude ﬁber and low protein content. Fermentation is a unique process which will improve the nutritional value of feed ingredients. Fermentation reduces the presence of exoskeletal chitin in shrimp head meal, anti-nutritional April-June 2008 factors and ﬁbre in plant based feed ingredients thus improves their nutritive value. Further bacterial fermentation hold promise for growth enhancement and immunostimulants in aquaculture. Fermentation also increases the availability of certain vitamins viz., riboﬂavin, cyanogobalamine, thiamine, niacin, B6, B12 and folic acid levels in some feed ingredients. relatively high except for histidine and tryptophan. Biologically ensiled shrimp head silage meal can effectively replace ﬁsh meal up to 30% in the diet of African catﬁsh Clarias gariepinus ﬁngerlings (Nwanna, 2003). Chitinoclastic and proteolytic bacterial strains could also be used to ferment prawn shell waste in order to improve the nutrient content; an increase in nutrient content was noted in terms of protein, lipid and total sugar in fermented product. Fermented shell waste has been used in both hatchery and grow out diets of Penaeus indicus (Amar, et al., 2006)

Fermented shrimp head meal
Fermentation is an important tool to reduce the chitin and ash content in shrimp head meal. Fermentation increases the total available protein, calcium and phosphorus. Lactic acid bacterial fermentation has been used successfully in ﬁsh insolation (Hall and Silva, 1994). Lactobacillus plantarum is used for fermentation of shrimp head meal. The amino acid proﬁle of fermented shrimp head meal is

33

Research & farming techniques

Nutritive value of fermented sesame seed meal, linseed meal, black gram seed meal and grass pea meal
Anti-nutritional factors such as phytic acid, tannin and crude ﬁber from raw seed meal viz., sesame seed meal, linseed meal, black gram meal can be reduced by fermentation with lactic acid bacteria. Soaking of raw seed meal in water at 28-30°C for 30 minutes followed by fermentation results in an increase in protein and lipid content and elimination of phytic acid and tannin. Fermented sesame seed meal incorporated at 400g kg-1 in diets of rohu resulted in good growth (Mukhopadhyay, et al., 1999). Inclusion of fermented linseed meal in the rohu diet up to 30-40% was recorded (Mukhopadhyay, et al., 2001). Fermented black gram can also partially or totally replace the ﬁsh meal in diet of tilapia. Fermentation of black gram can reduce the level of anti-nutritional factors and it has been included in the diet of carps viz, catla, rohu and mrigal (Ramachandran, et al., 2007). Fermentation of grass pea with Bacillus sp. reduces the crude ﬁber (Ramachandran, et al., 2005).

tion. Single cell detritus prepared by fermentation of seaweeds is used as a hatchery diet (Uchida, et al., 1997). Lactobacillus brevis is suitable for fermentation of seaweeds. Lactic acid fermentation can be performed on seaweeds such as Gracilaria sp., Ulva sp., Laminaria sp, Undaria pinnatiﬁda, Hypnea sp, Chondrocanthus, Gelidium sp. to improve their nutritive values and reduce the crude ﬁbre content.

References
Amar, B; Philip, R; Bright singh, I.S. 2006. Efﬁcacy of fermented prawn shell waste as a feed ingredient for Indian white prawn, Fenneropenaeus indicus. Aquaculture Nutrition 12; 433 – 442. Bairagi, A; Sarkar Ghosh, K; Sen, S. Ray, A.K. 2004. Evaluation of nutritive value of Leucaena leucocephala leaf meal inoculated with ﬁsh intestinal bacteria Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus circulans in formulated diets for rohu, Labeo rohita (Hamilton) ﬁngerlings. Aquaculture Research. 35, 436–446. El-sayed, A.F.M. 2003, Effects of fermentation methods on the nutritive value of water hyacinth for Nile tilapia Orechromis mossambicus (L) ﬁngerlings. Aquaculture: 218, 471-478. Gjibbs, D.F. and Green Halgh, M.E. 1983. Biotechnology chemical feed stock and energy utilization. Francis Pinter. European Communities. 81pp. Hall, G.M. and S.S. De Silva 1994. Shrimp waste ensilation. Infoﬁsh International 2/94: 27–30. Mukhopadhyay, N. and Ray, A.K. 1999a. Effect of fermentation on the nutritive value of sesame seed meal in the diets for rohu, Labeo rohita (Hamilton) Fingerlings. Aquaculture Nutrition. 5: 229 – 236. Mukhopadhyay, N and Ray, A.K., 2001. Effects of amino acid supplementation on the nutritive quality of fermented linseed meal protein in diets for rohu Labeo rohita ﬁngerlings. Journal of Applied Ichthyology 17, 220-226. Nwanna, L.C. 2003. Nutritional value and digestibility of fermented shrimp head waste meal by African cat ﬁsh Clarias gariepinus. Pakistan Journal of Nutrition 2(6): 339 – 345. Poveda, C.M. and Emorales, M. 2004. Use of mixture of barley based fermented grains and wheat gluten as an alternative protein source in practical diets for Litopenaeus vannamei (Bonne). Aquaculture Research 35: 1158 – 1165. Ramachandran, S; Bairagi, A; A.K., 2005. Improvement of nutritive value of grass pea (Lathyrus sativus) seed meal in the formulated diets for rohu, Labeo rohita (Hamilton) ﬁngerlings after fermentation with a ﬁsh gut bacterium. Bioresource. Technology. 96: 1465 – 1472. Ramachandran, S and Ray, A.K., 2007. Nutritional evaluation of fermented black gram seed meal for rohu Labeo rohita (Hamilton) ﬁngerlings. Journal of Applied Ichthyology 23: 74-79.

Nutritive value of fermented aquatic weeds
Aquatic plants contain substantial amount of protein and minerals. The presence of anti-nutritional factors restricts their use in animal feeds. Fermentation reduces the tannin, phytate, mimosine level in Lemna polyrhiza, Leucaena leucocephala (Bairagi, et al., 2004). Inclusion of fermented Lemna at 30% in the diet resulted in the best growth performance in Rohu ﬁngerlings. Water hyacinth (Eichornia crassipes) is a freshwater macrophyte which forms dense vegetation in ponds. Water hyacinth has low protein and high ﬁber content which has been used as animal feed. Fermentation may reduce its ﬁber contents and improve its nutritive value for ﬁsh feed. Molasses fermented water hyacinth was efﬁciently utilized than raw water hyacinth in Nile tilapia (Elsayed, 2003).

Fermented barley, wheat gluten as an alternative protein source
Diet palatability and amino acid proﬁle were increased by fermentation of barley and wheat gluten. Fermented grain and wheat gluten act as an alternative protein rich ingredient in diet for Penaeus vannamei (Poveda and Emoroles, 2004).

Conclusion
Fermentation is an environmentally friendly process consumes less energy and produces less waste. It is a typical example of biodiversity put in to efﬁcient usage that can be applied to a variety of different products. The fermentation process signiﬁcantly improves nutritive value, acceptability, digestibility and eliminates anti-nutritional factors in plant based ingredients. This provides a promising future for sustainable aquaculture. Fermentation will help feed manufacturers to replace ﬁsh meal to certain levels and help in reducing the feed cost and thereby increasing the proﬁtability of aquaculture systems.

Nutritive value of fermented seaweeds
Seaweeds contain high quantity of protein, minerals such as potassium, phosphorum, calcium and salt. Seaweeds are the cheapest protein sources available but their utilization is limited by the presence of crude ﬁber, which can be eliminated by fermenta34

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Research & farming techniques

Aquaculture and ﬁshing management in coastal zone demarcation: the case of Thailand
Phattareeya Suanrattanachai Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center/Training Department, Email: phattareeya@seafdec.org

Policies on ﬁsheries management
The Department of Fisheries (DOF) of Thailand proclaimed the ﬁsheries area nationwide into three management zones legalized under the National Fisheries Law of 1947. Zone 1 covers the coastal areas from the shoreline to a distance of 3 km. Zone 2 includes the inshore areas covering the distance from 3 km to 12 km of offshore. Zone 3 is the exclusive economic zone covering 200 nautical miles from the inshore line. Such ﬁsheries management zones however, have not effectively reduced the conﬂict between commercial and small-scale ﬁshers who compete to exploit the ﬁsheries resources in speciﬁcally in Zone 1. Recognizing this problem, the DOF promoted the concept of territorial use rights in ﬁsheries and a ﬁshing rights system to strengthen the deﬁned coastal zone management boundaries. Theoretically, the ﬁshers and stakeholders take their role as resource managers seriously. They participate in decision-making processes on coastal resource management in their own areas of responsibility. They make use of accessible infrastructure to develop their respective ﬁshing community’s economies. Such actions have led to the improvement of the ﬁshers’ and stakeholders’ livelihoods and security while also empowering them to participate in the esponsible and exploitation of the marine resources.

concepts of both systems are similar, clearly deﬁning coastal zone management boundaries with exclusive use rights for ﬁsheries. In Japan, the ﬁshing rights system belongs to the Fisheries Cooperative Associations (FCA), of which Japanese ﬁshers should be members in order to gain the right to access ﬁsheries. The Fishing Rights Pilot Project was implemented in the coastal zone at Bang Saphan Noi and Bang Saphan Districts, Prachuabkirikhan Province in 1997. The coastal areas of these two districts, covering a distance of up to 5 km from the shoreline, were demarcated. Small-scale ﬁshers are free to ﬁsh inside the designated zone, however irresponsible ﬁshing gears and particular trawls and light luring purse seines using mesh size smaller than 2.5cm are legally prohibited inside the zone (Yamao and Suanrattanachai 2002).

The ﬁshers and stakeholders’ participation in the coastal resource management was guided by the legal framework of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand, 1997. The constitution deﬁned that these stakeholders have the right to participate in decision-making processes on local resource management. The Chumphon Provincial Ofﬁce of Fisheries ofﬁcials took a leading role in conducting public hearings on the zone demarcation at Pakklong Sub-district, after which the ﬁshers and stakeholders of the Sub-district agreed on the marked position and areas of the zone demarcation. The Pakklong Sub-district Administrative Organization (Ao Bo To) submitted the community’s consensus on the zone demarcation to higher authorities of the government agencies. After the Cabinet approved the zone demarcation, Chumphon Province made a proclamation on the zone demarcation on October 4, 2002, which was made effective one month later on November 4, 2002. The zone demarcation consisted of two areas. Area I covers forty-six km2 from Bang Bird Mt. to Khao Lamyai Mt. while Area II is 70 km2 from Khao Lamyai Mountain to Khao Bang Jak Mountain. (Auimrod et al. 2003). Since Area I and Area II are not deﬁned as an exclusive use rights area, both local and non-local small-scale ﬁshers conventionally utilize its ﬁsheries resources. The zone demarcation was an outcome of the local ﬁshers’ and stakeholders’ participation in hearings that achieved a community consensus on coastal zone management.

Coastal zone demarcation in Chumphon Province
A locally-based coastal resource management project was implemented in Pathew District in Chumphon Province, Thailand (LBCRM-PD) as a collaborative project of the DOF and SEAFDEC Training Department (TD). Comprising a number of activities, Activity 2 which included zone demarcation, was encouraged and extended in the district under the LBCRM-PD (Yamao and Suanrattanachai 2002). The zone demarcation activity made use of the experience from the zone demarcation in Bang Saphan and Bang Saphan Noi Districts, but covered a distance of only 3 km of coastal areas as deﬁned in the National Fisheries Law, 1947. The zone demarcation was aimed at alleviating the conﬂict between small-scale ﬁshers and commercial ﬁshing boats that operate such gear as trawls and push nets.

The ﬁshing rights pilot project implementation
The DOF formulated the Fishing Rights Pilot Project under the Eighth National Social and Economic Development Plan to address conﬂicts between commercial and small-scale ﬁsheries in Prachuabkirikhan Province, Thailand. This pilot project was broadly based on the concept of Territorial Use Rights in Fisheries (TURFs) and the ﬁshing rights system of Japan. In practice, the April-June 2008

Zone management for ﬁshing and aquaculture
The local ﬁshers, ﬁsh farmers and other stakeholders beneﬁt from the utilization of the coastal area in the demarcated zone, through ﬁshing, boat cruises and engaging in ﬁsh cage and shellﬁsh culture (Suanrattanachai et al. 2003), particularly in Area II. However, while the Area II conﬂict between smallscale ﬁshers and commercial ﬁshing 35

Research & farming techniques boats was alleviated, new conﬂicts between the ﬁshers and ﬁsh farmers also became a serious problem. Fish farmers including the newcomers tried to expand their ﬁsh cage culture areas. The newcomers marked certain areas and reserved these areas for their own use for ﬁsh cage culture. Some of these marked areas encroached into the conventional cruising lane of ﬁshing boats. Additionally, some of these marked areas have been used as safe anchorage for ﬁshing boats during the monsoon season to avoid disasters from strong winds. To alleviate the conﬂict between the ﬁshers and ﬁsh farmers, the Chumphon Provincial Ofﬁce of Fisheries and the LBCRM project staff proposed to implement the concept of zone management for ﬁsh and shellﬁsh culture. The main objective was to reduce the conﬂict between the ﬁshers and ﬁsh farmers in utilizing the ﬁshing grounds in Thungmaha Bay, Pakklong Sub-district, and to control the number of ﬁsh farmers and ﬁsh cages and farming area. After stakeholders adopted this concept, the Provincial Ofﬁce held the ﬁrst pre-consensus meetings with all seven villages of Pakklong Sub-district. The elected representatives of each village joined the Provincial Ofﬁce and the project staff to conduct site selection using a global position system (GPS). The elected representatives fully supported the move to mark the site selected based on their local knowledge and customary life in the ﬁshing grounds. The marked site selected was divided into three areas corresponding to their main usage. One area intended for ﬁsh cage culture covering Area No. 3 and No. 5, is 300 rais (48 hectares); the second area for shellﬁsh culture covers Area No. 6, which is 600 rais (96 hectares); and the third area (Area No. 4) is reserved as a monsoon anchorage place to provide a safe place for the ﬁshers. In 2004, the Provincial Ofﬁce tried to formally propose the zone management for aquaculture under the Seafood Bank Program. However, this program was stopped after the Thailand political crisis in September 2006. In practice, all stakeholders particularly the ﬁshers and ﬁsh farmers respected the rules and complied with the provisions of the zone management for aquaculture. Thus, the newcomers 36 Fig. 2. Final draft of the designated zone management for ﬁshing and aquaculture, Pakklong Sub-district

Provided by Sukchai Arnuphapboon and Siriporn Pangsone, Capture Fisheries Technology Division, SEAFDEC/TD. stopped expanding and reserving the coastal areas for their own use for ﬁsh cage culture. The ﬁshers conveniently cruise their boats for their ﬁshing operations in the area surrounding the Thungmaha Bay. The zone management for ﬁshing and aquaculture does not exclude outsiders, but they have to obey and comply with the community’s rules on zone management especially on where to ﬁsh and where to operate their ﬁsh culture cages.

The implications of the zone management
Major conﬂict
A major conﬂict between crab trap ﬁshers and the ﬁsh farmers using push nets for collecting ﬁsh bait (trash ﬁsh) became a serious problem of the zone management in Pakklong Sub-District. Crab trap ﬁshers claimed that they lost their crab traps due to the push net operations for ﬁsh bait. Thus, the ﬁsh farmers, operating push nets for ﬁsh

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Research & farming techniques bait, had to pay certain compensation to the crab trap ﬁshers for the traps destroyed. Push net and crab trap ﬁshing are actually illegal ﬁshing operations. In practice, ﬁsh farmers still continue to operate the push net to catch ﬁsh bait because they claimed that the ﬁsh caught helped them reduce the cost of feed for their ﬁsh cage culture ventures. The price of ﬁsh bait sold in frozen ﬁsh plants are not affordable due to their high price. Meanwhile, the crab trap ﬁshers also continue to trap the crab resources whole year round except from October to December as regulated under the National Fisheries Act, 1947, Section 32, which prohibits taking of gravid crabs such as Scylla serrata, 2) Portunus pelagicus, and 3) Charybdis ferriatus during that period (Bureau Ofﬁce of Fisheries Administration and Management 2007).
To Ba ng S a p ha n -no i Kha o B a n g B oe t

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Conﬂict resolution
B a a n B o S a m ro n g

The stakeholders particularly the crab trap ﬁshers from village no. 7 and the ﬁsh farmers using push nets for catching ﬁsh bait from village nos. 1 and 6 of Pakklong Sub-district convened a meeting to solve their respective conﬂicts. The rationale of the meeting was to end the problems of ﬁshing gear loss and destruction of both push net and crab traps on one hand, and the alleviation of the expected declining coastal resource on the other hand. The head of village no. 7 was the chairperson of the meeting. Crab trap ﬁshers and ﬁsh farmers living in all the villages participated in the meeting. During the meeting, the ﬁsh farmers proposed that they would continue to engage in push net operation in the boundary of 200 m only, which surrounds their respective ﬁsh culture areas. Such agreed limited area for push net operation fully supported the reduction of crab trap destruction. The ﬁsh farmers also proposed to assign certain ﬁshing days for each group, so that crab trap ﬁshers could have their ﬁshing days during odd number calendar dates while the ﬁsh farmers could have ﬁshing days on even number dates. The ﬁsh farmers also offered to allow the crab trap ﬁshers to set their traps inside the 200 m boundary of their ﬁsh culture areas on odd dates (Chart 1), and agreed that push net operators that did not follow this arrangement and caused destruction of crab traps would have to pay compensation to crab April-June 2008

Laem Y ai

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o

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ﬁshers. Stakeholders agreed on these arrangements as rules. However, these rules could be cancelled whenever government agencies consider such rules as not applicable. Since the social endorsement of the community rules on ﬁshing operational management has been fully respected by the stakeholders concerned, non-local stakeholders who come to ﬁsh around the zone management area also obey these rules. Such rules have been put in effect and practice from May 2003 until the present.

This is a traditional practice of selfgovernance in ﬁsheries by the local stakeholders in Pakklong Sub-district, which has become part of the LBCRM project implementation. The local stakeholders initially solve their conﬂicts in ﬁshing in the same area using their own ways, making use of the regulations on zone management for ﬁshing and aquaculture to alleviate the conﬂict. Thus, they applied a form of “sharing the ﬁsheries” by assigning particular ﬁshing day or ﬁshing time for their respective ﬁshing operations.

37

Research & farming techniques However, the Pakklong Ao Bo To Council and the higher authorities of the government agencies have not ofﬁcially approved the community rules on ﬁshing operational management. At the same time, the stakeholders concerned also recognized the vulnerability of such community rules, but they appreciate the rules just the same to help them control and manage the stakeholders’ utilization of the ﬁshing ground. Table 1. Number of respondents by type of engagement in ﬁsheries sector Type of respondents Engaged in ﬁshing only Engaged in both ﬁshing and aquaculture Total Village No. 1 0 3 3 Village No. 6 0 1 1 Village No. 7 22 1 23 Total 22 5 27

Table 2. Households engaged in coastal aquaculture and their capacities Village No. of farming household 3 1 1 Experience on average (years) 10 9 0.5 Grouper No. of No. of cage ﬁsh (tails) (cages) 9 233 3 450 1 300 Sea bass No. of No. of cage ﬁsh (tails) (cages) 10 317 2 350 1 200

Opportunity and linkage to traditional-and-legal practices
The stakeholders have taken advantage of the geographic boundary of the ﬁshing zone management to settle their conﬂicts and share resources. As demonstrated, this initiative strongly supports the concept of communitybased ﬁsheries management (CBFM) with clearly deﬁned boundaries (Petchkamnerd et al. 2003). However, as demonstrated through the CBFM project in Pakklong Sub-district, uncertain implications became obvious as some stakeholders continue to irresponsibly operate push net and crab traps. These types of ﬁshing gear operations are not legally recognized and deﬁned by the Thai National Fisheries Law, 1947, Section (7) and (32) to operate in a restricted ﬁshing ground and ﬁshing season. The Pakklong Sub-district Administrative Organization Council has the full authority and function to manage and control the use of the coastal resources in its own boundary. This authority and function is deﬁned in the Ao Bo To Act, 1994 (Ratchagool and Tambol). The Council has not submitted the community agreement to higher authorities such as the District Ofﬁce and Provincial Ofﬁce of Fisheries for approval. This is because such means of ﬁshing operation by the concerned stakeholders are also not legitimized. Therefore, the community’s compliance with the agreed rules may not be sustainable. For such reasons, the gap between traditional and legal practices certainly remains wide, leading to less opportunity of combining and institutionalizing both stakeholders to have jurisdiction with any community agreement under a community-based organization or entity. The institution of community-based organization or body should come ﬁrst. Then, the community-based organization will be delegated the right to ﬁsh including (World Humanity Action Trust 2007): 38

No. 1 No. 6 No. 7

Table 3. National Fisheries Act, 1947 legally controlled push net and crab ﬁsheries resources Item Ministerial Notiﬁcation Section 32 (2) and (4): prohibits push net ﬁshing gear operated by powered boat having length longer than 14 m, from ﬁshing Push net [7],[8] operations in territorial waters of Prachuabkirikhan Province, Chumphon Province and Surattani Province (Annex II) Section 32 (7): prohibits anybody from ﬁshing gravid crab species, namely: 1) Scylla serrata, 2) Portunus pelagicus, 3) Charybdis Fertilized crab ﬁsheries ferriatus from October to December annually, but resource [7] allowed governmental ofﬁcials to ﬁsh the fertilized crab ﬁsheries resources for experimental purposes (Annexes I and III). Crab trap [9] The crab trap ﬁshing gear was not deﬁned in Section 4 (13), (Annexes I and III) Section 5, Ministerial regulation No. 5 (1947): culture of ﬁshes in allowable areas (Annex V) These rights are anticipated to bring security, exclusivity and permanence to community-based organization to manage the coastal resource in a certain deﬁned boundary [18]. The practice of CBFM in Pakklong Subdistrict without doubt showed that both stakeholders have not received the right to ﬁsh as suggested. Provincial Notiﬁcation MOA 0528/10491 on September 18, 2002: prohibits all kinds of push net ﬁshing gear from ﬁshing operation in the demarcated coastal zone of Chumphon Province (Annex IV)

Fish farmer[9]

• The right of exclusion, ie. the right to limit access to a territory. • The right to determine the amount and the nature of the use right in a territory. • The right to extract beneﬁts from using the resources within a territory. • The right to the future returns from the use of the territory.

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Research & farming techniques

Practice and awareness to sustain resource use
Both ﬁsh farmers and crab trap ﬁshers recognized that their means of ﬁshing operation may have contributed to the vulnerability of the sustainable resources. Each user has his way of sustaining the use of the ﬁsheries resources to secure their livelihood and employment. The ﬁsh farmers have tried buying ﬁsh bait more frequently than doing push net operation. Now, they operate the push net in the surrounding area within 200 m distance from their cage culture establishments. Crab trap ﬁshers have also their own means of strengthening the manner of sustainable resource use. Actually, the crab trap ﬁshers organized themselves into a ﬁshers’ group using crab trap, as suggested by a local Thai nongovernmental organization, the Thai Environmental Institute. The constitution of the group received technical support from the Chumphon Marine Fisheries Development Center (CMDEC) and SEAFDEC/TD. The main activity of this group is to operate the crab bank. Thus, every member of this group has been requested to donate and put gravid crabs in the crab bank cage. Moreover, every member has to use crab trap with 2.5 inches mesh size of the bottom net. The releasing of gravid crabs into the cages is meant to enhance the crab resources. In return, this activity gives a good experience to crab trap ﬁshers who are members as well as nonmembers of the crab trap ﬁshers’ group. They cited that releasing gravid crabs into the cage is effective in enriching the recruitment of the crab resources. They get more yields now compared with the pre-conducting crab bank activity. To strongly contribute to the group activity, SEAFDEC/TD extended assistance to the chairperson of the ﬁshers’ group using crab trap to enable him to visit the crab resource enhancement activity in Japan. Now many members of the ﬁshers’ group using crab trap release gravid crabs voluntarily in their own crab cage. Such action shows that the members are aware of the sustainable use of the crab resources.

Chart 1. The designated boundary of ﬁshing zone with clearly deﬁned ﬁshing days practiced in Pakklong Sub-district

Fishing zone

Aquaculture zone

Do fishing on an even date Do fishing on an odd date

200 m

Crab Trap fishers

Fish-farmers

Do fishing on an even date

Push net for bait

scale ﬁshers and commercial-scale ﬁshers. Community-based ﬁsheries management (CBFM) is an appropriate approach to encourage stakeholder’s participation in managing the coastal areas and can help reduce social conﬂicts in the ﬁsheries sector. The practice of coastal zone demarcation in Chumphon Province is an outcome of the locally-based coastal resource management project. The coastal zone demarcation was originally based on the consensus of the stakeholders’ democratic participation in zone management of a designated coastal area under the legal framework of the Thai National Fisheries Law, 1947. The coastal zone demarcation of Pakklong Sub-district, Pathew District, Chumphon Province became a legal legislative by notiﬁcation to the Chumphon Provincial Ofﬁce since on 4 November 2002. Within the boundary of the coastal zone demarcation of Pakklong Sub-district, a ﬁshing zone management for ﬁshing and aquaculture has been implemented. The zone management is a mechanism to control the number of newcomers and their capacity on ﬁsh cage culture that is friendly to coastal environment. The local stakeholders conventionally operate in the territory of the recognized zone management areas reserved for coastal aquaculture establishment and as cruising lane for ﬁshing boats.

The community agreement could secure the efforts of the ﬁsh farmers to do push net operations for ﬁsh bait within the 200 m boundary of their ﬁsh cage culture areas on even calendar dates. Similarly, crab trap ﬁshers are safe to do crab trap ﬁshing on odd dates of the calendar without any destruction from any push net operation. However, the community agreement may not be effective much longer because it has no legislative framework especially that push net operation for ﬁsh bait is not legally recognized. Therefore, both stakeholders may not be legitimized to establish community-based organization to take the function of managing the coastal resources. Fortunately, the ﬁsh farmers and crab trap ﬁshers still have the sensible awareness of the sustainable use of the coastal resources. Fish farmers try to buy ﬁsh bait more often for ﬁsh cage culture to replace their catch from push net. Crab trap ﬁshers release gravid crabs into crab cages to enhance the stock of the crab resources.
References
Yamao, M. and Suanrattanachai, P. (2002). Background and Project Proposal of Locally Based Coastal Resource Management in Pathew District, Chumphon Province (LBCRM-PD), TD/RES/No.55, LBCRM-PD No.2, 50pp. Auimrod, S, Suanrattanachai, P. and Petchkamnerd, J. (2003). Effort to establish a self-management framework in the demarcated

Conclusion
The clear deﬁned division of coastal area in Thailand has been undertaken to reduce conﬂicts between smallApril-June 2008

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Research & farming techniques zone. Proceedings of the toward further development of coastal resource management: Lessons gained through locally based coastal resource management in Pathew District, Chumphon Province, Thailand. TD/RP/58, LBCRM-PD No. 23. pp. 105-112 Suanrattanachai, P., Petchkamnerd, P. and Auimrod, S. (2003). Experience in the Zoning of ﬁsh cage and shellﬁsh culture areas. Proceedings of the “Toward further development of coastal resource management: Lessons gained through locally based coastal resource management in Pathew District, Chumphon Province, Thailand.” TD/RP/58, LBCRM-PD No. 23. pp. 113-122 The World Humanity Action Trust. The report of the commission on ﬁsheries resources. Petchkamnerd, J., Suanrattanachai, P. and Auimrod, S. (2003). Coordination between crab trap and crab gill nets ﬁsheries: change and adjustment of ﬁshing gear for responsible ﬁsheries project to contribute to locally based coastal resource management, Proceedings of the “Toward further development of coastal resource management: Lessons gained through locally based coastal resource management in Pathew District, Chumphon Province, Thailand.” TD/RP/58, LBCRM-PD No. 23, pp.123-130. Bureau Ofﬁce of Fisheries Administration and Management (2003). Ruamkod mai keawkub kanpramong, the Department of Fisherires, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives (in Thai). Tantong, A. (1986). Kumatibai kodmaiwaduaykarnpramong (pak 3) waduay muad 4 satikanpramong, muad 5 kankuabkum, muad 6 botkamnodetos promduay kodmai lae rabaeb thi samkan thi keawkub kanpramong, Law section, Control and extension division, the Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives no. 2/1986 (2529) (in Thai). Rajachagool, C. Tambol administrative organization: are the people in the dramatis personae or in the audience? at www.unescap. org/ttdw/Publications/TPTS_pubs/TxBulletin_69/bulletin69_b.pdf.

Reservoir ﬁsheries of freshwater prawn – success story of an emerging culture-based giant freshwater prawn ﬁshery at Malampuzha Dam in Kerala, India
M.N. Kutty1, C. Mohanakumaran Nair2 & K. R. Salin2 1. “Prasadam”. 10/389 Puthur 678 001, Palakkad, Kerala, India, email: kuttymn@gmail.com; 2. Fisheries College, Kerala Agricultural University, Panangad, Kochi 682 506, Kerala, India The Department of Fisheries of Kerala State in India stocked 600,000 post larvae of the giant freshwater prawn, Macrobrachium rosenbergii (also known as ‘scampi’ in India) in Malampuzha Dam in Palakkad District during September–November 2005 and began harvesting medium and large sized prawns in April 2006. The ﬁshing operations are being done by newly formed ﬁshers Self Help Groups (SHG). The ﬁshers harvest 30-50 kg daily, the large sized prawns sold at about Rs. 300/kg to an exporter at farm gate. This ﬁshery has brought considerably higher income to the 122 tribal and settler ﬁsher families, including 47 SC/ST families (underprivileged communities protected by legislation), in the hill tracts. M. rosenbergii is not endemic to the Malampuzha - Bharathapuzha river system, though it occurs in southern Kerala. In the past where Vembanad Lake connected to the Arabian Sea there was a ﬂourishing ﬁshery, now dwindling due to barrage construction, pollution and other anthropogenic factors. Prior to the formation of the SHGs the tribal people and settlers around the dam were engaged in ﬁshing in the 2,320 ha reservoir (the main objectives of damming the Malampuzha river in 40 1952 were for irrigation and potable water), but the landings were poor due mainly to poaching and lack of motivation and participation of local ﬁshers. The newly organized SHGs were motivated and cooperative with the participatory approach adopted by the DoF, allowing the ‘poachers’ to join as SHG members, which had a healthy effect on management and ﬁsh yield. A survey of the reservoir catches conducted on 16/06/2006 showed that until about 10 am 719 kg of ﬁnﬁsh (stocked Indian major carps, common carp and naturally recruited wild ﬁshes, mainly minor cyprinids and catﬁshes) and stocked prawns were landed and sold at the DoF ﬁsh sales counter, of which 41.8 kg (fetching Rs 10,450) were from the prawns. M. rosenbergii males and females (all berried) caught ranged from 200 to 350 g and 25-30 cm, and about 100-150 g and 20-24.5 cm, respectively. A total of 53.53 tonnes of ﬁsh and prawns amounting to Rs. 14.75 x105 were caught during the year 2005-2006. The average annual production from Malampuzha reservoir for the past 15 years was 3.76 kg/ha, the highest being 9.4 and the lowest 0.07 kg/ha. The production for the year 2005-2006 was 23.14 kg/ha, showing a 20 kg/ha

SHG ﬁsherman using a tire tube as a ﬂoat to sit on while ﬁshing for prawn/ laying gill nets. Both ﬁsh and prawn are caught with the monoﬁlament net of mesh size 12, 15 &20 cm.

M. rosenbergii from Malampuzha Dam. Aquaculture Asia Magazine

Research & farming techniques Table 1. Small water bodies/multi-purpose ponds used for aquaculture in Kerala with reference to Palakkad District1, 2 Kerala No. & (Area in Acres) Palakkad No. & (Area in Acres) Mean size (Acres) % Total in Palakkad No. (Area in Acres)

Type of water body/pond

Kerala Palakkad Panchayath (local govt.) 6820 (3,661.73) 633 (401.34) 0.54 0.63 9.3 (11.0) Temple 2524 (1,039.58) 314 (302.03) 0.41 0.96 12.4 (29,1) Irrigation 838 (5,022.76) 61 (1,895.49) 5.99 31.07 7.3 (37.8) Private 36461 (51,539.64) 3070 (2,142.20) 1.41 0.70 8.4 (5.8) Quarry 904 (818.64) 134 (129.04) 0.91 096 14.8 (15.8) Total 47547 (62,077.02) 4212 (4,870.10) 1.31 1.16 8.9 (7.8) 1. Source: DoF, 2001. Panﬁsh Book - Palakkad District, District Fisheries Data Book, Janakeeya Mathsya Krishi Cell, Department of Fisheries, Kerala, Trivandrum, 382 p.; DoF, 2002. Kerala Fisheries - Facts and Figures. Statistical Wing of the Department of Fisheries, Trivandrum, 212 p. 2. The area units are indicated as given in the source/s (One hectare = 2.44 acre). Table 2. Reservoirs and irrigation tanks and paddy ﬁelds with high potential for freshwater prawn stocking/integration in Palakkad District, Kerala1. Water bodies Number Area (ha) Reservoirs/dams: 9 6,683 Malampuzha: 2,313 Mangam: 393 Meenkara: 259 Chuliyar: 159 Pothundy: 363 259 Walayar: Parambikulam: 2,092 Thunakadavu: 283 Kanjirapuzha: 512 Irrigation reservoirs (not dams): 89 1947 124, 000 Paddy ﬁelds (potential integration - for paddycum-prawn culture):2 Padasekarams (collective paddy farming) 1,235 ha under seasonal ﬁsh culture: 1. Source: Same as for Table 1. 2. Traditional rice ﬁelds in Palakkad (often referred to as granary of Kerala) are now unproﬁtable and high price prawn integration in the system would improve the socio-economics of the area. increase over the average production for the last 15 years. The revenue from prawn/ﬁsh catch for a single year (20052006) was Rs. 1,475,000, which is only 500,000 less than the total revenue of the previous 15 years, clearly indicating the proﬁt margin achieved through prawn stocking and improved participatory exploitation of the reservoir ﬁshery resources. As on September 2006, i.e. 10 months after stocking, a total of 6,374 kg of prawns were harvested, earning a return of more than Rs. 16,00,000. The total ﬁsh catch from April to September 2006 was 26.8 mt, valued at Rs. 693,000. A return of Rs. 1,600,000 from the stocked freshwater prawns within a10-month period by spending Rs. 250,000 on stocked prawn seeds, is a remarkable achievement. Adding about Rs. 50,000 as harvesting and other April-June 2008 expenses, the total input cost for scampi culture was only Rs. 300,000, resulting in a cost-beneﬁt ratio of 1:5.3, indicative of a high performance of the reservoir stocking. The stocked prawns showed exceptional growth, attaining a maximum individual size of 632 g. The large sized prawns caught within 10 - 12 months since the PL stocking, is indicative of healthy conditions for prawn growth in the reservoir during this virgin stocking. As per DoF/SFG regulations 75% of the total earning from the reservoir catches is distributed to ﬁsher families of Malampuzha, within eight SHGs, and the remaining 25% is deposited in a revolving fund, utilized for stocking of ﬁsh /prawn seed and ﬁsher welfare. One Kudumbasree (SHG exclusively of women members) unit consist of ﬁve women, is also among the beneﬁciaries in the DoF project. One of the major causes of failure of reservoir ﬁsheries and ﬁsh culture in Kerala is poaching, which was very prevalent in Malampuzha reservoir as well., Since most of the so called ‘poachers’ have been included in the SFGs in the scheme, poaching has been controlled, which is a landmark achievement through participatory approach. Stocking M. rosenbergii post larvae in Malampuzha reservoir has yielded signiﬁcant results. It appears that the new culture-based prawn ﬁshery will be continued, judging also from the earlier smaller trials in smaller Meenkara Dam nearby (see Table 1), where a continuing minor culture-based ﬁshery was established as a project to rehabilitate underprivileged ﬁshers organized into SHGs around its vicinity. There is considerable scope for further development of regular culture based ﬁshery and integrated farming of freshwater prawn in the neighborhood of Malampuzha reservoir in Palakkad District and other parts of Kerala (see Tables 1 & 2), There are 54 reservoirs in Kerala (2 - >5000ha, 13 - 1,000-5,000ha, & 39 -

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