This report, the 39th in the series, contains information about the aquatic animal health status of fifteen states in the Asia-Pacific region. The foreword discusses the 7th Symposium on Diseases in Asian Aquaculture.

This report examines the role mariculture could play in reducing poverty and providing alternative livelihood opportunities for people living in coastal areas. This includes a review of the current status of coastal poverty, coastal livelihoods and vulnerabilities within the Asia-Pacific region and the experiences and examples of sustainable economic development through mariculture. This review then identifies key follow-up actions and recommends strategies for future pro-poor mariculture development.

In this issue:

NACA Governing Council endorses new work programme, elects Sena De Silva as next Director General. RapiDot Kit - Farmer friendly kit for WSSV detection. Regional mariculture program strengthened. Economics and marketing analysis of the live reef fish food trade in the Asia-Pacific. Workshop on molecular techniques in aquaculture and seafood safety, Mangalore, India. Better-practice approaches for culture-based fisheries development in Asia. High-level Bahrain fisheries deletation visits Iran. First monthly meeting of fish farmers at One-stop Aqua Shop in Punjab Pakistan. Fish breeding training program for farmers of OAS, Kaipara. Provincial workshops on National Fisheries Policy and Strategy Framework held in Punjab and Sindh, Pakistan. Monitoring and evaluating the impacts of aquaculture on the agency and well-being of women. STREAM welcomes AYAD volunteer. Workshop to strengthen aquatic animal health capacity and biosecurity in ASEAN. Asian Federation for Information Technology in Agriculture (AFITA) 2006 in Bangalore. Aquaculture rehabilitation project launched by Indonesian Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries.

In this issue: Policy development as a theme and policy briefs as a genre. Decriminalising Cambodian family-scale fishers through a livelihoods approach to law reform. Longer pond leases in Orissa. One-stop Aqua Shop - a "one-window delivery" service center for aqua-farmers and fishers. Fisheries and aquaculture policy formulation process in Pakistan. Improving the international marine ornamental fish trade to sustain and improve the livelihoods of poor people involved in the trade. About the STREAM Journal. About STREAM.

This story comes from Lake Keenjhar near Thatta town Sindh Province in Pakistan. It contrasts the lives of women in the fishing village of Chilya with the life of an influential business man with a fish farm on the opposite side of the highway.