Join us on 2 September at 12 noon GMT for a free webinar on the Status of the use of Artemia cysts in fish and crustacean hatcheries around the world. The webinar is facilitated by the International Artemia Aquaculture Consortium (under formation). The webinar will document differences in practices used by fish and crustacean hatcheries in the use of Artemia cysts for the preparation of live feeds. Speakers include technical experts using Artemia in the production of shrimp, freshwater prawn, mud and mitten crabs, seabass, sabream and other marine fish from Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Ecuador, Greece, India, Spain, and Thailand. Participation is free but registration is required.

In this issue:

Counting down to Aquaculture Millennium +20; Free webinar - Fish Vaccination: Theory, Innovations and Application; Quarterly Aquatic Animal Disease Report, October-December 2020; Invasive disease linked to raw freshwater fish: Group B Streptococcus; International Crustacean Symposium 2021.

FAO will conduct a regional training course on surveillance and monitoring of antimicrobial resistance in aquaculture from 26-30 July, in collaboration with the Institute of Hydrobiology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and INFOFISH. The course will focus on methodologies relevant to monitoring and surveillance of AMR in major bacterial pathogens of diseased aquatic animals in Asia. The training will be held via video conference. To register for the training sessions, or to view the training programme, please visit the INFOFISH website.

The Fish Health Section of the Asian Fisheries Society (FHS-AFS) is inviting you to a free Zoom webinar on Fish Vaccination: Theory, Innovations and Application. The webinar will be held on 4 August at 13:00 Bangkok time (GMT+7). Please register in advance to attend. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about how to join the webinar.

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.