The fingerling rearing pond, like the nursery pond, should be free from weeds and predators. Submerged weeds and predators are killed by mahua oilcake, which then acts as a good fertiliser. If there are no weeds, to kill predators and competitors quickly you can just add 100 kg of urea followed 24 hours later by 200 kg of fresh bleaching powder for a 1-ha area of a 1-m deep pond.

In watersheds, medium irrigation projects can be useful for aquaculture even though these water bodies are many times larger than ponds, and are basically built for irrigation or water storage. However, the full potential of these water bodies is not yet realised. Net pens or cages can be used to rear fingerlings in such environments.

It is best to stock advanced fingerlings in large ponds, tanks, and in both small and large reservoirs, since they can better escape predators and competitors. Seasonal ponds, often 0.10-0.15 ha and 1.5-1.8 m deep can be used as rearing ponds for raising advanced fingerlings. Low water levels at the end of the season will make netting and harvesting easy.

Everyone wants advanced fingerlings as early after the rains as possible. They fetch a good price and make marketable fish production possible in seasonal ponds. One way to produce early season advanced fingerlings is to grow them in perennial ponds and store them at high density with minimal feeding for the coming year. Whe such "stunted" fingerlings are stocked into ponds with good feed they grow fast and can be marketed in about 6-8 months.

Common carp is a foreign fish and there are several varieties. The variety used in Western Orissa is the fully scaled carp, which suits the tropical climate. Common carp lives and feeds near the pond bottom and can be grown with the Indian major carps, catla, rohu and mrigal as a 'polyculture' (which means growing many different types of fish together). It can also be grown alone, as a 'monoculture' in rice fields with high dykes that retain water.

In order to provide practical and effective technical guidance for shrimp hatchery management, it is necessary to establish a set of better management practices (BMPs) which underpin an effective hatchery production system. This document is not a complete manual on the management of P. monodon hatcheries but concentrates on the implementation of BMPs for the hatchery covering all of the critical stages and processes in the production cycle, which are currently believed to be causing problems in Vietnamese hatcheries. 

These guidelines provide advice on producing fish seed of the Indian major carps in hapas within ponds to improve survival.

It was common to believe that fish cannot be cultured in seasonal ponds. However, fish can be produced in any pond of any size, anywhere in Orissa, provided that the water quality is good enough. A small and shallow pond that retains water for two months can be used for raising fry. A larger and deeper pond holding water for three to four months can be used for fingerling production.

If the place where fish live is good and healthy, fish rarely die from diseases. If we stress fish by roughly handling them, by keeping too many together, or by not feeding them well, they may suffer from disease. Depending on the disease, we may see lots of fish die in a short time, small numbers of fish deaths every day, reduced growth, marks on the fish, or a change in the way they look or swim.

Fresh fish is so popular in much of eastern India that harvesting will usually draw a crowd of pond side customers. Marketing is no problem so long as the quantities are small. When bulk quantities are fished out a trader, wholesaler or a middleman may take the fish and depending on the distance, time of the day and season, transport them to the market with or without ice.

When people talk about growing fish, many say their biggest problem was getting started. In Delhi in April 2003 farmers and officials met with policy makers and said that one of their most pressing recommendations for change was to the way information is made available. They asked for a single-point, under-one-roof center, near to their place, where they could get much of what they needed.

These guidelines illustrate good practice for broodstock handling and management using practices that are suitable for small-scale operations. This document is also available in Oriya.

Self-recruiting species are defined as aquatic animals that can be harvested from farmer managed aquatic systems without regular stocking. This may include indigenous or introduced, small or larger species. Identified self-recruiting species in the Red River Delta includes exotic species (tilapia), large (snakehead, walking catfish and river catfish) and small (Anabas and Carassius auratus) indigenous fish species and non-fish species (freshwater shrimp and crabs).

Any pond can be used to grow fish, but a pond that is dug specially for fish culture usually has a regular shape, a flat bottom with a slight slope along its length. When deciding where to locate a new pond, you should consider the landscape, land use, soil texture (15% clay is best for pond construction and water holding), water supply (consider quality, quantity and seasonality), security (from theft) and convenience (maybe close to your house).

Fish culture is where people own and look after a stock of fish. This might involve regular stocking, fertilisation and feeding, protection from predators and disease and taking care of the environment.

When selecting a good place for a pond, an engineer may seek advice from local people, a biologist or an economist. It may be difficult to find an ideal site but it is necessary to look at the available sites before the work on pond building begins – so that it holds water, does not collapse or cost too much and will not waste effort and money. There are lots of things to think about before finally recommending a site.

This presentation, delivered at the Sixth Symposium on Diseases in Asian Aquaculture (Sri Lanka, 2005), reviews the strategies adopted to promote a more sustainable approach to shrimp health management. It also presents and compares the experiences gathered to date, with the aim to identify an effective way forward for the sustainable development of the sector, and provides guidance on a way forward to implement better management practices with reference to small-scale producers.

This presentation provides an overview of Vietnamese experience on the implementation of better management Practices (BMPs) and good aquaculture practices (GAP) in shrimp aquaculture. Practices were implemented collectively by encouraging small-scale farmers to form groups that collaborate on issues such as screening seed for disease and improving water quality management. Improvements to crop outcomes were observed. The results presented include the profitability of BMP adopted ponds.

Presentation on a MPEDIA/NACA intiative to implement better management practices for shrimp farming amongst small-scale farmers in India via formation of farmer groups. The practices are based on the International Principles for Responsible Shrimp Farming. Adoption of improved farming practices reduces the incidence of disease and improves crop outcomes for small-scale farmers. This presentation was made at the World Aquaculture Society Conference in Bali, Indonesia, 2005.

Sổ tay nẩy với mục đích giúp đỡ cho cán bộ khuyến ngư hướng dẫn người nông dân kỹ thuật nuôi tôm nhằm mục đích đạt được sản lương và thu nhập ngày càng cao trong hệ thống nuôi kết hơp tôm - rừng ở Đồng bằng Sông Cửu Long. Với những kỹ thuật đơn giản, thông thường giúp cho ngư dân từng bước gia tăng sản lương mà ít bị rủi ro.