In this issue:

• Promoting farmed shrimp consumption in India’s domestic market: A step towards sustainability
• Leveraging indigenous minor carp for sustainable aquaculture in Northeast India
• Shaping the future of Indian aquaculture: A path to captive catfish seed success
• Sustainable freshwater snail farming: Advancing nutrition security and rural livelihoods in Northeast India
• Promotion and protection of small fish species through farming: An initiative in Tripura
• NACA Newsletter

The first ever IAAC conference was a free half day event held in Ostend, Belgium on 9 September, as a prelude to Larvi 2024, which ran from 9-12 September. The conference featured twelve presentations introducing the IAAC and providing an overview of many of the issues surrounding Artemia, including management of salt lakes habitats that still provide the bulk of global Artemia supplies, Artemia biodiversity, hatching optimisation, and aquaculture of Artemia biomass in tanks and ponds. Video recordings of most will be posted shortly (the programme below will be updated with links). Video recordings of the presentations are now available on the NACA YouTube channel.

The first IAAC Members’ Meeting was held in the afternoon following the IAAC Conference. The proceedings involved two panel discussions, by the Academic Sector and Private Sector respectively. The panels included remote members participating via Zoom.

The 14th Asian Fisheries and Aquaculture Forum (14AFAF) will be held from 12-15 February 2025 in New Delhi, India. Submission of abstracts has been extended until 5 November, and early bird registration closes on 10 November, so get in quick!

The forum is a scientific meeting organised by the Asian Fisheries Society (AFS) once every three years to understand the global trends and address issues and challenges faced by the fisheries and aquaculture sector. The main purpose of this Forum is to provide an international platform for eminent scientists, young researchers, and other stakeholders across the globe to share their research experiences and innovative ideas. By facilitating the exchange of diverse range of knowledge and expertise, the Forum with the Theme ‘Greening the Blue Growth in Asia-Pacific’ aims to address key issues towards developing sustainable fisheries and aquaculture.

In this issue:

• Progressive women carp farmers of Haldia, Purba Medinipur, West Bengal, India.
• Captive breeding of Ompok bimaculatus (pabda): An indigenous catfish of North East India.
• Reaching out to the unreached through diversified aquaculture in Nagaland.
• Fish cooperatives: Development and performance through sustainable development goals for food and feed ecosystems.
• NACA Newsletter.

Ompok bimaculatus, locally known as pabda catfish, is widely distributed in the natural water resources of Assam and other northeastern states of India. It is a preferred indigenous non-airbreathing catfish with high market demand compared to Indian major carps and exotic carps. Due to habitat modification and over exploitation, pabda has been assessed as Near Threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. This article describes the development of captive breeding protocols for pabda at the Pabhoi Fish Farm, including broodstock management, captive breeding, and larval rearing. Fecundity ranged from 20,000-22,000 eggs per 100 g body weight. Spawning was induced with Ovatide and eggs transferred to a flow-through system for hatching. Larvae began exogenous feeding after two days.