In this issue:

19th Governing Council meeting held in Kathmandu, Nepal. OIE/NACA Regional Workshop on Aquatic Animal Health. Vietnam catfish BMP project kicks off. Planning meeting, Regional Project on Reservoir Fisheries Development and Management. NACA to document 'Aquaculture Success Stories'. 6th Regional Grouper Hatchery Training Course 5-25 May 2008. Establishing a Working Party on Aquaculture Statistics. Implementing the ASEAN Roadmap for Integration of Fisheries Sector. London Expert Workshop on Aquaculture Certification.

The primary objective of this manual is to provide guidelines for attaining better practices in culture-based fisheries, an emerging practice in rural areas in the Asian region. It deals will the principles of culture-based fishery practices, primarily based on relatively long-term experiences in Sri Lanka and Vietnam. It is not only targeted at researchers per se, but also at stakeholders at the grass root levels, as well as planners and policy developers.

In this issue:

Better management practices for catfish aquaculture in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam. Developing better management practices for marine finfish aquaculture. Workshop on modelling carrying capacity for tropical finfish cage culture: Towards a consensus view. First comprehensive genetic management plan for Asian fish species: Mahseer. NACA and World Fisheries Trust sign agreement on collaboration. Fish Health Master Class. Second Workshop on Application of Molecular Genetic Techniques in Inland Fisheries and Aquaculture Management. Two new species of spiny eels described from Myanmar. Importance of species identification in conservation. Koh Yao Noi mangrove replanting in celebration of 80th birthday of His Majesty the King of Thailand. Responsible movement of live food finfish within ASEAN: Implementation workshop. Consultation on aquaculture certification guidelines. Strengthening regional mechanisms to maximise benefits to small-holder shrimp farmer groups adopting better management practices.

This report describes a training course on marine finfish hatchery protocols, which was convened at the Karabi Coastal Fisheries Research and Development Center, Thailand at the request of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community. The main goal of the training was to carry out hands-on practical work in finfish hatchery techniques, with an emphasis on grouper. This work involved spawning induction, incubation and larval rearing until day 12.

This is the report of a five-day training workshop was to build capacity and awareness of relevant stakeholders in the areas of aquatic epidemiology, risk analysis, surveillance and emergency preparedness. The long term objective was to support implementation of national strategies for better aquatic animal health management with a focus on improved surveillance, reporting, early response, emergency preparedness, risk analysis, certification and quarantine.

The 5th Regional Grouper Hatchery Training Course was another success with all participants is pleased with the overall training activities and field trips. A total of 17 participants from eight countries attended the training course which was hosted by the Brackishwater Aquaculture Development Centre, Situbondo, Indonesia. Participants were able to involve in the broodstock activities for giant grouper, in additional to the tiger and humpback groupers, and attended field trips to backyard hatcheries and export facilities.

This final report of the project “Strengthening Aquatic Animal Health Capacity and Biosecurity in ASEAN” contains two parts: A. Recommended Minimum Operational Requirements for Implementing National Aquatic Animal Health Strategies within ASEAN and B. ASEAN progress in the implementation of National Aquatic Animal Health Strategies. The report provides guidance for countries in ASEAN to implement key elements of national aquatic animal health strategies, and for monitoring progress of national strategy implementation in ASEAN member countries.

This practical manual provides better management practices for the farming of shrimp in tambak systems in Aceh, Indonesia. The manual addresses the formation of farmer groups, crop planning, and specifies better management practices. These include: Location of tambaks, design and construction of tambaks, pond preparation practices, shrimp seed selection and stocking practices, feed management practices, water management practices, health management practices, harvest and post-harvest handling practices, keeping records and improved marketing practices.

This is the report of the project Application of PCR for improved shrimp health management in the Asian region. The training programme included two training workshops that were designed to provide a good understanding of PCR methodology, laboratory practices and trouble shooting in detection of both DNA and RNA viruses. The workshops were followed by by two rounds of an anonymous PCR inter-calibration or ring testing exercise to allow laboratories to gauge their own performance.

This training manual (in Thai language) provides guidance in marine finfish cage aquacutlure techniques. It is geared towards giving small-scale farmers a solid technical grounding that will enable them to improve their farm productivity and reduce losses through understanding of markets and economic factors, better farm siting. and improved feeding, handling and stock management practices. This knowledge will help the trainees and other fish farmers to improve their productivity and profitability while also reducing their risk profile.