In this issue:

Integrated taxonomy, conservation and sustainable development: Multiple facets of biodiversity; A note on 100th birth anniversary of the late Dr Hiralal Chaudhuri; Aquaculture field schools supporting mangroves for climate change adaptation of Indonesian milkfish-shrimp farmers; An insight to red tilapia breeding and culture: A farmer advisory; Aquaculture for livelihoods and food security in North-western India; NACA Newsletter.

Over the last five decades, over 30 million people along Java’s north coast have experienced subsidence and subsequent soil erosion. In 2015, Building with Nature Indonesia (BwNI-Demak) started a coastal protection project in 10 communities of nine coastal villages of Demak regency. The protection measures introduced included the use of permeable structures (dams) that successfully capture sediment and support natural recovery of mangroves, and aquaculture field schools, to train small-scale farmers on good aquaculture practices such as low external inputs sustainable aquaculture, associated mangrove aquaculture and multi-trophic srhimp aquaculture.

Focussed explorations from the ICAR-National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources (NBFGR), an organisation mandated for cataloguing of genetic resources of India include surveys of various ecosystems ranging from fauna of deep sea to the high-altitude regions of the Himalaya, falling under diverse biogeographic zones and unexplored regions of the country, including North-eastern India, Western Ghats, Lakshadweep and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. This article describes the results of these efforts, which include discovery of 14 new fish species and six new distribution records between 2015 to 2020.

In this issue:

Shrimp health: Online Consultation on Strategies for Hepatopancreatic Microsporidiosis caused by Enterocytozoon hepatopenaei (EHP); Webinar: Pathogen Free: Non-infectious Diseases and Disorders of Aquatic Animals; Quarterly Aquatic Animal Disease Report, July-September 2020; Register for the Global Conference on Aquaculture Millennium +20; Scholarship opportunity: Lancang-Mekong Rice-Fish Programme; International Artemia Aquaculture Consortium.

This report summarises the proceedings of the 19th meeting of the Advisory Group, held 26-27 November 2020 via video conference. The group's role includes reviewing disease trends and emerging threats in the region, identifying developments in global aquatic disease issues and standards, evaluating the Quarterly Aquatic Animal Disease Reporting Programme and providing guidance on regional strategies to improve aquatic animal health management.