Despite their abundance at one time in India and other Asian nations, wild mahseer populations have been declining because of degradation of aquatic ecosystems, urbanisation and indiscriminate fishing. Wild mahseer are populations are presently struggling for their mere existence.

An international workshop on mahseer conservation, propagation and rehabilitation will be held in Bhimtal, India from 23-24 April 2018. The workshop is organised by the ICAR-Directorate of Coldwater Fisheries Research in collaboration with the Coldwater Fisheries Society of India.

BRAQCON 2019 wil cover latest research and development in the broader themes of the conference in the form of special sessions, contributed papers, expert group discussions and brainstorming on issues facing aquaculturists and ecosystem managers in India and around the world. The conference themes include: Brackishwater ecosystems, estuarine biodiversity and conservation; aquaculture production systems; larviculture; fish and shellfish nutrition; environment and climate change; aquatic animal health; socio-economic and livelihood issues; and aquaculture genetics and biotechnology.

Offshore Mariculture Asia 2018 will cover the full process of setting up an offshore operation, building on experiences learnt from established operations in the countries who pioneered in this industry. Sessions will begin with an exploration of the early stages of the process such as site selection, moving from nearshore to offshore and choosing the right species, and will culminate with presentations on processes further down the chain such as marketing, investment and technology and feed section.

The practice of collecting penaeid shrimp seed and prawn seed from inundated agricultural fields adjacent to the Rupnarayan River has become a supplementary source of income for local communities. During the wet season each year, the river floods the extended open tract of unsown paddy fields. This article describes the traditional fishing practices, gear and livelihoods associated with capture and grow out of shrimp and prawn seed in this region of West Bengal, India.

Insects form a natural food source for many aquatic animals. This and the presence of chitinase makes insect meals a logical alternative to fish meal in the formulation of aquaculture diets. Insect meals have also been shown to allow for enriching through dietary intake. Of particular interest has been the use of black soldier fly larvae. This article reviews the life history and potential of black soldier fly larval meal to replace fishmeal used in fish diets.