This report, the nineteenth in the series, contains information about the aquatic animal health status of sixteen states in the Asia-Pacific region. The editorial discusses the role of the Quarterly Aquatic Animal Disease Reporting System.

In this issue:

Fertilisation, soil and water quality management. Commercialisation of giant freshwater prawn culture in India. Aquaculture in reservoir-fed canal systems. Production of black-lip pearl oyster Pinctada margaritifera. Hybridisation hassles. Breeding sea cucumber Holothuria scabra in Vietnam. Use of palm kernel meal in feeds. Getting the most out of your feed. Marine finfish aquaculture in Myanmar. Penaeus monodon culture in low-salinity areas. Fisheries and aquaculture in Nepal.

In this issue:

14th NACA Governing Council, Myanmar. Welcome to NACA's first Associate Member. NACA Alumni notes - U Minn Thame. Australian Youth Ambassador. Assisting in the Development of Recirculating Shrimp Farm Technologies. Nepal to join STREAM Initiative. NACA Joins Thai IT for Agriculture Forum. Indigenous Australian aquaculture group visits Thailand. Bangladesh Fisheries Training and Extension Project tour. Ugandan farmers train on catfish breeding and culture.

Cambodia is one of the poorest countries in the world; much of its population live in rural areas and many live below the local poverty line. The management of common property aquatic resources is of over-riding importance to food security and sustainable rural development in Cambodia. The key groups of poor people who use aquatic resources as part of their diverse livelihoods portfolios are subsistence fishers, small-scale aquaculture practitioners and aquatic resources collectors.

The Asia Regional Advisory Group on Aquatic Animal Health meets annually to discuss regional health issues including emerging disease threats. This report includes a review of regional disease status circa 2002, global and regional disease reporting arrangements, global issues and standards, progress in implementation of the Regional Technical Guidelines on Health management for the Responsible Movement of Live Aquatic Animals, identification and designation of regional aquatic animal health resources and regional and international cooperation.

In this issue: Hon Mun MPA Pilot Project on Community-based Natural Resources Management. An experience with participatory research in Tam Giang Lagoon, Thua Thien-Hue. Experiences and benefits of livelihoods analysis. Lessons learnt in implementing PRA in livelihoods analysis. Lessons learnt from livelihoods analysis and PRA in the Trao Reef Marine Reserve. Using the findings from a participatory poverty assessment in Tra Vinh Province. About the STREAM Journal. About STREAM. This edition is also available in Ilonggo, Khmer, Nepali and Vietnamese.

This report, the eighteenth in the series, contains information about the aquatic animal health status of fifteen states in the Asia-Pacific region. The foreword discusses changes to the list of diseases covered in the report by the Asia Regional Advisory Group on Aquatic Animal Health.

In this issue:

Outcomes of Advisory Group on Health. New FAO Regional Representative for Asia and the Pacific. Chinese Regional Lead Centre provides training in Rice-Fish farming under China-ASEAN Agriculture Cooperation. Development of Second Phase of APARIS. Building the leading source of global information on aquaculture. AFS/Fish Health Section 5th Symposium on Diseases in Asian Aquaculture. Upcoming training courses.

This paper examines farming practices in marine fish cage aquaculture in southeast Asia with reference to feed and feeding. It proposes a range of reforms to improve the economic performance of the sector, including selective breeding, use of hatchery-reared fingerings, modernisation of cage systems, improved feed management and use of dry pelleted feeds, relocation of cages to better quality sites and a greater degree of government and private sector co-operation in research and development.

This study of the livelihood of farmers and fishermen is based on the information provided by the villagers representing 142 households in the village. There had been some changes that impacted on the livelihood of villagers, especially in natural resources. The population is constantly growing which leads to an increase in natural resource utilisation and ultimately their degradation. The villagers usually suffer from diseases such as malaria, fever and dengue fever.