Better management practices have proved to be a highly effective tool for the Indian shrimp farming industry. Work to extend adoption of the practices is ongoing and in this view a national workshop was held in Chennai, 16-18 May 2011 at the Central Institute of Brackishwater Aquaculture to discuss scaling up strategies, to extend the concept to new areas and to involve more farmers and identify lessons learned that can be applied elsewhere.

The recordings in this collection are the annual progress reports of NACA’s regional lead centres in India, Thailand, China and the Philippines, plus a summary of NACA’s progress over the past five years and a special address by Professor E.G. Silas. The presentations were made at the 22nd NACA Governing Council Meeting in Cochi, Kerala, from 9-11 May 2011, India.

International requirements on food safety, traceability, animal health and welfare and social responsibility are increasingly stringent. The burden of compliance and the cost of certification are particularly heavy for small scale farmers who are often excluded by the limited resources at their disposal. Working in groups can help small scale farmers attain economies of scale necessary to address compliance issues and participate in certification schemes, improving their competitive position.

The conference was organised by FAO, the Thai Department of Fisheries and NACA and held in the Mövenpick Resort and Spa, Phuket, Thailand, 22-25 September. The conference was the third in a series of aquaculture development conferences, following on from the Conference on Aquaculture in the Third Millennium held in Bangkok 2000, and the FAO Technical Conference on Aquaculture, held in Kyoto 1976.

Over the past few decades inland fisheries resources have come under increasing pressure from water engineering projects, pollution and overfishing. FAO and NACA convened an expert workshop to review inland fisheries resource enhancement and conservation practices in Pattaya, Thailand, 8-11 February. Experts from 10 Asian countries attended the meeting to share experiences and lessons learned. Regional collaborative efforts are required to facilitate assessment of current inland fisheries resource enhancement and conservation practices.