This Code of Practice is prepared to promote or ensure compliance to World Trade Organisation-Sanitary and Phytosanitary measures for the movement of live aquatic organisms in the Lower Mekong Basin. The goals of the Code are to achieve environmental protection and management, biodiversity conservation as well as prevention of spread of disease epizootics. Most of the points listed in this Code are based on the inputs of MRC Member Countries.

This publication is the major output of a regional programme jointly implemented by FAO and NACA in 2015 to document and disseminate successful practices that contribute to the sustainable intensification of aquaculture in the Asia-Pacific region. Twelve practices are described that contribute to at least one of the following: Improved production and resource use efficiency (land, water, feed, energy); improved environmental benefits; strengthened economic viability and farmers' resilience; and improved social acceptance and equity.

In this issue:

NACA conducts workshops on white spot disease and shrimp health management in I.R. Iran. Don’t forget to register for the 11th Asian Fisheries and Aquaculture Forum! NACA pays tribute to Professor H.P.C. Shetty – Patron of the Pillay Aquaculture Foundation. EHP: Shrimp industry survey. 3rd International Conference on Fisheries and Aquaculture, 24-25 August, Negombo, Sri Lanka. Special Session on the Status of Aquatic Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. Second International Technical Workshop on Acute Hepatopancreatic Necrosis Disease (AHPND). Guidebook on Farmer-to-Farmer Extension Approach for Small-Scale Freshwater Aquaculture. Sustainable intensification of aquaculture in the Asia-Pacific region.

In this issue:

Aquaculture feed supply chain attracting scrutiny. Pond beauty contest, Ram Kumar and social development. Culture modes of giant freshwater prawn in Yangtze River Delta for early harvest. Fish marketing in Kashmir, India - a case study of Srinagar. Community-based integrated fish-duck farming: A boon for rural development in agro-climatic conditions of Assam, India. Gastropod and bivalve fishery of Kakinada Bay, Andhra Pradesh, India: Management and conservation issues.

In this issue:

Changes to the magazine and website. Status of alien fish species farming and it's implications for Andhra Pradesh, India. Bridging the research-extension-farmer-input and market linkage gap in coastal aquaculture through application of ICT. Bio-remediation of domestic sewerage recycled in aquaculture: A Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture model. Role of family farming in marine and coastal ecosystem management in India. Conservation of fish genetic resources: An introduction to the state fishes of India.

A shift away from exotic speces towards the use of indigenous ones was believed to counter negative impacts of culture-based fisheries. However, hatchery-produced fingerlings can also pose a potential threat to genetic diversity and integrity of their wild counterparts. This paper entails the pros and cons in the use exotic vs. indigenous species in CBF and steps to be followed when decisions are made on species choice for CBF.

The workshop, organised by FAO and NACA, was intended to enhance the capacity of national focal Points on Aquatic Genetic Resources within Asia-Pacific Region regarding the preparation of national reports on the current status of aquatic genetic resources for food and agriculture. These will be used as the major source of information for the first State of the World’s Aquatic Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture report.

In this issue:

12th Technical Advisory Committee held in Cha-am, Thailand. Audio recordings: WAS special session on regional cooperation for improved biosecurity. AFSPAN Final Technical Report now available! Pillay Aquaculture Foundation Awards for Scientists in Least Developed Countries. Gender seminar conducted and ASEAN Gender Network launched. A two-tube, nested PCR detection method for AHPND bacteria. 9th Regional Grouper Hatchery Production Training Course. Developing an environmental monitoring system to strengthen fisheries and aquaculture in the Lower Mekong Basin. Asia-Pacific Regional Workshop on the Status of Aquatic Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture.

Domestication in livestock industries is the process in which animal populations change in response to the artificial environments of farming production systems. Significant and widespread economic gains have been achieved through genetic improvements made through domestication and selective breeding of commercially farmed shrimp species, particularly Litopenaeus vannamei. Different policies on the translocation of shrimp genetic resources have influenced the approaches to shrimp domestication in different countries. The present paper examines the different approaches.

Tropical shrimp aquaculture is facing a disease crisis that may be propelled by an interaction between management practices that cause inbreeding, and the amplification by inbreeding of susceptibility to disease and other stresses. Broodstock accumulate inbreeding and lose genetic diversity when they experience bottlenecks or are chronically too small. The genetic lock is a practice that leads to inbreeding at farm level. Inbreeding may be amplifying the severity of diseases, including the major current threats.

Further training provided to aquaculturists in Fiji. Spatial planning for sustainable coastal shrimp production. Availability of grouper (Serranidae) fingerlings and seed in the coral reef of Son Tra Peninsula, central Viet Nam. Small-scale carp seed production through portable FRP hatchery at Khanguri, Odisha. Regional consultation on culture-based fisheries developments in Asia. Gender Assessment Synthesis Workshop. Broodstock management in aquaculture. Urgent appeal to control spread of the shrimp microsporidian parasite Enterocytozoon hepatopenaei (EHP).

In this issue:

Regional consultation on culture-based fisheries developments in Asia. Gender Assessment Synthesis Workshop. NACA participation in the 5th Global Symposium on Gender in Aquaculture and Fisheries, Lucknow, India. Broodstock Management in Aquaculture: Long term effort required for regional capacity building. Urgent appeal to control spread of the shrimp microsporidian parasite Enterocytozoon hepatopenaei (EHP).

Asia produces nearly 90% of world aquaculture output. However, growth of the industry is increasingly constrained by various factors, including poor broodstock quality and genetic deterioration of domesticated stock. This has arisen in part from a general lack of planning, knowledge and skills in broodstock management. Capacity building across the region is urgently required for hatchery operators at different scales through information exchange, experience sharing and training.

A regional consultation was held to discuss culture-based fisheries development in Asia from 21 to 23 October 2014 in Siem Reap, Cambodia. The consultation was funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research as part of the project Culture-based fisheries development in Lao PDR and Cambodia. The consultation provided the opportunity to discuss the outcomes of a series successful projects that have been implemented over the past decade in the Asian region.

In this issue:

Labour issues in the fishing and aquaculture industries. Commercial tilapia farming at take-off point in Fiji. Tank based captive breeding and seed production of the pearlspot (Etroplus suratensis). Cage culture of pearlspot in Kerala, India. Culture-based fisheries exchange visit from Lao PDR to Cambodia. National Fish Day, Cambodia. WAS Adelaide: Special Session on Regional Cooperation for Improved Biosecurity. Inbreeding and disease in tropical shrimp aquaculture: A reappraisal and caution.

In this issue:

Culture-based fisheries exchange visit from Lao to Cambodia. National Fish Day, Cambodia. WAS Adelaide: Special Session on Regional Cooperation for Improved Biosecurity. Inbreeding and disease in tropical shrimp aquaculture: a reappraisal and caution. Shrimp EMS/AHPND Special Session at DAA9. 2nd International Symposium on Aquaculture and Fisheries Education. Report on Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture for Food Security and Nutrition.

The disease crisis facing shrimp aquaculture may be propelled, in part, by an interaction between management practices that cause inbreeding, and the amplification by inbreeding of susceptibility to disease and environmental stresses. The study describes and numerically simulates gene flow from Penaeus (Litopenaeus) vannamei hatcheries that employ a ‘Breeder Lock’ to discourage use of their PL as breeders, through ‘copy hatcheries’ that breed the locked PL, to inbred shrimp in farm ponds. 

Shrimp aquaculture in tropical regions is facing a disease-induced catastrophe of lost production. There is reason to believe that current (poor) broodstock management practices may induce genetic erosion that increases susceptibility to disease and vulnerability to epizootics. The basic tenet for this consultation is that an important aggravating factor in the disease crisis is an agro-economic system that locks shrimp breeders, hatcheries and farmers into behaviour that induces high levels of inbreeding.

Shrimp aquaculture in tropical regions is facing a disease-induced catastrophe of lost production. There is reason to believe that current broodstock management practices may induce genetic erosion that increases susceptibility to disease and vulnerability to epizootics. The basic tenet for this Expert Consultation is that an important aggravating factor in the disease crisis is an agro-economic system that locks shrimp breeders, hatcheries and farmers into behaviour that induces high levels of inbreeding.

Artisanal shrimp aquaculture is in a disease-induced crisis of lost production, into which are falling farms, gene pools adapted to farms, and small-hold farming as a way of life. Rising levels of inbreeding and an exceptionally strong, positive relationship between inbreeding and disease which is described here. The root cause is social: a nexus of human behavior in which breeders protect their intellectual property by generating inbreeding and farmers suffer the consequences.