The Asia-Pacific Marine Finfish Aquaculture Network (APMFAN) was created to support the development of socially and environmentally sustainable and economically viable marine finfish aquaculture in the Asia-Pacific region. The network aims to contribute to food production and the social and economic development among people living in coastal areas.

APMFAN does this by supporting communication between research, development and extension practitioners, and facilitating the uptake of new technologies and information through publications, training programs, and study tours.

Communication and dissemination

The network provides updated information on new R&D outcomes, as well as commercial developments, through this website, and through a dedicated section in Aquaculture Asia magazine. The network web site contains the latest regional marine finfish news, publications for free download and information about network research projects and activities.

Publications

APMFAN has produced a number of publications, and is continually developing new publications on a wide range of aspects of marine finfish aquaculture. Some examples of popular network publications are:

• A Guide to Small-scale Marine Finfish Hatchery Technology - available in English, Thai, Vietnamese and Indonesian.
• A Practical Guide to Feeds and Feeding for Cultured Groupers - available in English, Thai, and Indonesian.
• A Guide to Marine Finfish Farming - available in Thai only.
• Husbandry and Health Management of Grouper - English version.

A full list of publications can be found in the Marine Finfish Publications section of this web site.

Training and study tours

APMFAN runs an annual training course in grouper hatchery production technology in Indonesia. This is an international training course, and open to anyone interested n grouper hatchery production. For details on upcoming courses, see the News section of this web site.

To date, this training course has graduated over 100 trainees from 21 countries: Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Colombia, China - Hong Kong SAR, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Myanmar, Oman, Palau, Philippines, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Trinidad and Tobago, Iran, Thailand, Vietnam. Many graduates have gone on to utilise the skills they've received to operate their own hatcheries, and some have become trainers within their own countries.

APMFAN has also run ad hoc grouper aquaculture training courses in Thailand (for Pacific Island country representatives), the Philippines and in Hong Kong SAR.

APMFAN-organised study tours to Hong Kong SAR and China have been particularly popular with marine finfish producers. In addition to visiting production farms, these study tours have provided producers with better information on their target market by visiting live fish holding facilities and live fish markets and restaurants.

Support for APMFAN

APMFAN was originally developed and supported by the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Fisheries Working Group and the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR). More recently, corporate sponsorship from Skretting Asia has contributed to network activities. Additional support and sponsorship is welcome. To discuss opportunities for collaboration or sponsorship please contact the network coordinator.

Contact

Simon Wilkinson
Coordinator, Asia-Pacific Marine Finfish Aquaculture Network
Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia-Pacific
PO Box 1040, Kasetsart University Post Office
Ladyao, Jatujak
Bangkok 10903
Thailand
Ph: +66 2 561 1728 ext. 113
Fax: +662 561 1727