In this issue:

New reviews of aquaculture now available online; Post-doctoral scholarships for women in STEM at the University of Stirling; Research breakthrough seen to curb shortage of "poor man's fish"; Free online aquaculture courses; Fishing for life 2022: South and South-East Asian Conference on Small Scale Fisheries and Aquaculture; Reported Aquatic Animal Diseases in the Asia-Pacific Region during the Third Quarter of 2021; Shrimp 2022: INFOFISH World Shrimp Trade Conference and Exhibition; Tuskfish CMS v2.0.3 available.

The University of Stirling has been awarded funds by the British Council to provide funding for four Early Academic Fellowships for Women in STEM. These fellowships will be 6-12 months in duration. The scholarships are available to women who are passport holders and permanent residents of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka. For further information please visit the University of Stirling website. The deadline for submissions is 31 March 2022.

In this issue:

Exploration of canal resources as a potential source for fish production in the Indian Sundarbans; Expansion of new host range of isopod Tachaea spongillicola infestation to fish species could pose a risk to aquaculture food industry in southeast Asian countries; Aspects of air-breathing fish farming practiced at Mathurapur-II Block, West Bengal, India; Magical role of live foods in boosting spawn survival of climbing perch: A success in the farmer’s field; NACA Newsletter.

Our article in the journal Aquaculture highlighted the first record of the isopod Tachaea spongillicola infesting wild fish species of aquaculture importance, particularly of carps. T. spongillicola was first recorded in freshwater sponges, 114 years ago and later recorded infesting freshwater prawns. Our recent study has further recorded infestation of this isopod in wild fish species. The expansion of host range from freshwater sponges to freshwater prawns and now to freshwater fish could pose a risk to aquatic industries in the years to come. We hypothesise that climate change could be a major factor contributing towards the expansion of the host range of parasites.

With the implementation of the new aquatic animal disease reporting in the Asia Pacific region from January 2021, and in lieu of the published QAAD Reports (last issue published was 4th quarter of 2020), NACA is publishing reported aquatic animal diseases submitted by countries in the Asia-Pacific region.  This report covers the third quarter of 2021. The original and updated reports are available from the QAAD page.

In this issue:

• 31st NACA Governing Council held online.
• SDG-aligned Artemia Aquaculture Workshop held in China / online.
• Policy brief on sustaining the future of the global seaweed industry.
• Quarterly Aquatic Animal Disease Report
• Training Course on Mariculture Technology in Asia-Pacific.

The Fish Health Section of the Asian Fisheries Society will hold a free webinar on significant bacterial diseases in aquaculture on 8 December, via Zoom. Presentations are: Overview of bacterial diseases of aquatic animals (Prof. Indrani Karunasagar, Nitte University); Relationship between shrimp gut health, microbiota and AHPND (Prof. Han-Ching Wang, National Cheng Kung University), and The gut as the first line of defence against bacterial diseases: Comparing fish and shrimp (Dr Pikul Jiravanichpaisal, Mani Genetics Co.). Participation is open but registration is required.

In this issue:

Habitat breeding and seed rearing of a near threatened featherback, Chitala chitala; Wild seed collection and modified-extensive farming of Mystus gulio in inland water bodies of South 24 Parganas, West Bengal; Freshwater pearl culture practices and challenges in India; Next generation probiotics: Future therapeutics for sustainable aquaculture; NACA Newsletter.

Next generation probiotics (NGP) or live biotherapeutics are organisms that have been designed to be used as living medicines to treat, cure or diagnose disease. They differ from traditional probiotics in that they are likely to be registered under a drug regulatory framework. At present, conventional probiotics are used as either functional foods or as supplements, whereas NGPs are mainly used as therapeutics and hence are subject to the full range of registration processes and clinical trials. This article describes the issues and regulatory processes in the development and registration of next-generation probiotics, and their potential for application in aquaculture.

With the implementation of the new aquatic animal disease reporting in the Asia Pacific region from January 2021, and in lieu of the published QAAD Reports (last issue published was 4th quarter of 2020), NACA will be reporting aquatic animal diseases that are occurring or present in the countries of the region, on quarterly basis.  This report covers the first and second quarters of 2021 and the original and updated reports are also available.