Livelihoods and social issues

This is the report of a livelihoods study team working together with villagers from Dang Tong Village in Kampong Chhnang Province, Cambodia. In general, villagers are skilled in farming and mat weaving, but some villagers also have individual skills such as carpentry, boat making, hairdressing and fixing machines. Although this village is in the Tonle Sap (Great Lake) area, which has the most plentiful supply of fresh fish in the country, the villagers are subsistence fishers.

The main objective of the study is to understand the villagers’ standard of living, hardship, external impact, present and future demand. The team interviewed with 15 to 60 villagers including men, women, young and old villagers, represented 135 families in the village. The main occupations of the villagers are farmers cultivating rice on 299 hectares of seasonal rice and 61.8 hectares dry season rice and fishers. Beside that, they have other occupations such as repairers, making thatch.

In this issue: From resource user to resource manager: A significant change story. Significant change with Cambodian provincial livelihoods study teams. The Community Fisheries Development Office: One year on. CFDO open for business! Stakeholders and institutional involvement in aquaculture management and development. Fish seed production for aquaculture in Southeast Cambodia: Decentralisation - the way to go? About the STREAM Journal. About STREAM. This edition is also available in Ilonggo, Khmer, Nepali and Vietnamese.

In this issue:

Aquaculture for poverty alleviation and food security. Shrimp pond waste management. Properties of liming materials. Seed production of mud crab Scylla spp. The dilemmas of strain selection. Seed production of the crucifix crab Charybdis feriatus. A general approach to disease treatment and control. Breeding and seed production of mangrove snapper Lutjanus argentimaculatus. Responsible use of antibiotics in shrimp farming. Health management for cultured marine fishes. Molecular methods for rapid detection of pathogens in seafood.

The aim of this workshop was to formulate an approach which would enable participants to start detailed work on a process monitoring system, building on current activities and using already existing skills in Cambodia, Nepal, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. Objectives were to familiarise participants with recent developments in process monitoring and significant change, and to develop an action plan for each country and a set of guiding principles for a monitoring system to underpin work in all countries.

This is the report of the First Regional STREAM Regional Conference, held 19-21 June 2002 in Bangkok, Thailand. The conference was the first opportunity for participants in the STREAM Initiative, launched on 1 December 2001, to come together to discuss the programme. The conference discussed the main activities of STREAM, ways of working, communications strategies, feedback from participating countries and issues to follow up.

The “Rural Aquaculture Service Recipients and Implementers Workshop” was held from 9-10 May 2002 in Ranchi, Jharkand. It was among the first activities of the DFID NRSP Research Project R8100 entitled “Investigating Improved Policy on Aquaculture Service Provision to Poor People”. The workshop provided the first opportunity for feedback on the project design from people who live and work in tribal communities in the three states of Jharkhand, Orissa and West Bengal.

This study examines the development of the Community Fisheries Sub-Decree. From its promulgation in late 2000 through its draft form in June 2002, this sub-decree has gone through over 25 drafts. Initially, the writing process involved the public intimately: community meetings were conducted, NGOs contributed their knowledge and expertise, and then, with these consultations in mind, the newly-formed Community Fisheries Development Office (CFDO) in the Department of Fisheries (DoF) drafted the sub-decree.

This document is the Inception Report of the DFID NRSP Research Project R8100 (March 2002 – May 2003), managed by the NACA. The purpose of the project is to identify, test and promote mechanisms for the delivery of improved rural services critical to the development of rural livelihoods, with emphasis on services in support of aquaculture objectives, strengths and constraints of marginalised groups and their complex diverse livelihoods. An inception visit was made from 17-24 March 2002. 

This article discusses a process for transacting pro-poor policy change is discussed drawing on examples in aquaculture from India. Based on research and development experience in Bihar, West Bengal and Orissa, and some further work in the western and central regions covering tribal populations, the Fisheries Development Commissioner encouraged the NACA-STREAM Initiative to recommend reforms under the FFDA scheme or even suggest a new “tribal” rainfed farming component that could be launched in the next year.

In this issue: Efforts of a farmer in fish seed production for self-employment. Remembering: The missing capacity. Measuring the process. Women's fish farmers group in Nawalparasi, Nepal. Periphyton-based aquaculture: A sustainable technology for resource-poor farmers. Unlocking information on the internet: STREAM media monitoring and issue tracking. This edition is also available in Ilonggo, Nepali and Vietnamese.

In this issue:

Prawn farm energy audits. Freshwater fish farming and poverty alleviation in Bangladesh. Artificial propagation for conservation of endangered species. Sewerage-fed aquaculture systems of Kolkata. Rice-fish farming in India. The use of lime, gypsum, alum and potassium permanganate in water quality management. Fish gene technology research in China. Low-salinity shrimp farms. Seed production of Clarius batrachus. Supplying good-quality seed for sustainable aquaculture and more.

In this issue:

Roll-out of national aquatic animal health strategies continues. STREAM concludes inception phase of 'Improved Policy on Aquaculture Service Provision to Poor People' Project in India. Expert consultation on rapid diagnosis of shrimp viral diseases held in Chennai, India. ACIAR/NACA Workshop on Feeds and Feeding Constraints in Inland Aquaculture: Research and Extension Priorities. NACA supports health management in Indian shrimp farming. Marine Finfish Aquaculture aquaculture programme gears up for workshop. Launch of Trans-Himalayan Coldwater Fisheries Network Website. NACA Organises Emergency Assistance to Indonesia in the Control of a Serious Koi and Common Carp Disease.

In this issue: Learning from each other about conflict. e-learning to support knowledge sharing in aquatic resources. Livelihood strategies, gender and participation in aquaculture: Findings from participatory research in northwestern Sri Lanka. Farming of giant tiger shrimp in northern central Vietnam. Interacting with stakeholders and policy-makers. This edition is also available in Ilonggo, Khmer, Nepali and Vietnamese.

These are the proceedings of a workshop focussed on grouper culture, but also explored management strategies required to support the sustainable development of seafarming in the Asian region. The emphasis was on technology transfer and management strategies for the benefit of farmers and coastal communities. The workshop included special sessions on diversification of seafarming systems and culture species, the role of seafarming in the livelihoods of coastal communities.

In this issue:

Chemical residues. Live reef fish trade in Hong Kong. Barramundi farming in Australia. Freshwater pearl and prawn production in China. Status of common carp varieties under culture in China. Induced spawning of Pangasius sutchi. Cambodian farmers innovate cost-effective variations on Chinese hatcheries. Genes and fish. Improving rural livelihoods in Cambodia, Vietnam, Nepal and the Philippines through the STREAM Initiative. Marine finfish news, book reviews and more.

In this issue:

Governing Council 13 / AFBiS Seminar. US Consultation sets work agenda for the WB-NACA-WWF-FAO. Consortium on Shrimp Farming and the Environment. Conclusions and Recommendations of the Joint meeting of AFBiS 2002 and the 13th NACA Governing Council. FAO/NACA Expert Consultation Focusing on Aquaculture and Small-scale Aquatic Resource Management for Poverty Alleviation. Myanmar Fishery and Livestock Fair 2002 a huge success. Nepal develops national strategy on aquatic animal health management. Shrimp Farming & the Environment Case Studies now available on the web. NACA implements APEC project on Import Risk Analysis. MOU on project to prevent disease losses on prawn farms. Andhra Pradesh Fisheries Minister studies Thai & Malaysian aquaculture systems. Vietnamese mission evaluates new high value Chinese species.

STREAM is a regional initiative that will support capacity building among local government institutions, NGOs, and community groups involved in aquatic resources management. It will support community-based learning initiatives, develop a regional communications and learning strategy and support on-going policy and institutional changes in the region to enable aquatic resources users to participate more effectively in policy-making processes, and encouraging the development of more responsive government institutions.

This volume, the third major publication arising from the Conference on Aquaculture in the Third Millennium, contains the information essential to conduct well-informed discussion of sustainable aquaculture development - both at the Conference, as well as after. The information provide basic reference points on the progress, direction and magnitude of aquaculture changes, and the factors associated with these changes, within global, regional, sectoral, thematic and technical perspectives.

This paper reports on the development of a communication dissemination strategy for aquaculture recommendations resulting from participatory research in eastern India. It focuses on the rural poor who have limited access to resources and no effective aquaculture extension support. Important matters in relation to access to extension messages include socio-economic issues, access to TV and radio receivers, literacy levels and language. The paper shows the relative accessibility of different types of extension media for the different stakeholders.