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.

In the north-western states of India there is great scope for aquaculture to generate employment opportunities, improve the socio-economic status of farming communities, furnish additional food and nutritional security and boost the national economy. This article describes the present state of Indian aquaculture and prospects for increasing production through diversification, use of village/community ponds and inland saline aquaculture of shrimp and other species, along with major concerns and action plans.

The aquaculture of red tilapia is proving to be highly successful due to its attractive colour, faster growth rate and good market demand. Expansion of the industry will depend on adequate supply of quality seed. This article describes the status of red tilapia aquaculture and good practices in broodstock management and nursery rearing using hapa systems and all-male seed production techniques, including hapa installation, breeding, egg collection and related issues.

In 2015, a bacterium called Streptococcus agalactiae, also referred to as Group B Streptococcus (GBS), caused a foodborne disease outbreak involving at least 146 people in Singapore, associated with the consumption of raw freshwater fish. The specific strain responsible for the outbreak was later identified as sequence type 283 (ST283). Invasive GBS ST283 disease is also found in other countries in and around Southeast Asia. FAO has published a fact sheet and a risk profile for GBS ST283, which are available for free download. These documents provide guidance on risk reduction, and practical recommendations for food safety competent authorities.

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.

The 88th edition of the Quarterly Aquatic Animal Disease Report contains information from thirteen governments. The foreword provides an announcement on the new format for the Aquatic Animal Disease Report from January 2021 onwards.

Join us on 31 May for a free webinar on Culture-based fisheries for rural development, with leading experts from the Asian region. Culture-based fisheries (CBF) are practices to enhance fish stocks in waters that don't have enough natural recruitment to sustain a fishery. CBF practices are usually applied in small water bodies such as village dams and irrigation reservoirs. Fish growth is driven by the natural productivity of the waters, foraging on natural food supplies. The simplicity and low capital requirements of CBF make it easy for farming communities to learn and adopt.

The year 2021 is the one-hundredth anniversary of the birth of the ‘Father of Induced Fish Breeding in India’, the late Dr Hiralal Chaudhuri, DSc, former Senior Fishery Scientist at the ICAR-Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute, Barrackpore, India and Ex-Chief Technical Advisor in Aquaculture, FAO/UNDP at Lao PDR. In his honour, National Fish Farmers’ Day is celebrated annually on 10 July, to acknowledge the contribution made by professional fish farmers and breeders to India’s economy, food supply and production of table-sized major carps and other important inland food fishes.

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.

The Fish Health Section of the Asian Fisheries Society will convene a webinar via Zoom on 21 April, from 12:00 to 15:00 Bangkok time (GMT +7). Topics include: Stress-related non-infectious disorders in fish (Prof. George Iwama, Quest University, Canada); Nutritional diseases of aquatic animals (Prof. Orapint Jintasataporn, Kasetsart University, Thailand); Harmful algal blooms and fish kills (Prof. Lim Po Teen, University of Malaya); and Aquaculture ecotoxicology (Dr Roger Chong, CSIRO Australia). Participation is free, but registration is required.