This project contributes to NACA's recent work with the FAO on aquaculture transformation. The aim is to create more efficient, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable food systems through innovation, investment, and partnerships. NACA is developing an Aquaculture Innovation and Investment Hub (AIIH) to help realise this vision in the region, providing a facility that will bring together innovators, startups, and investors to accelerate transformation. The project will contribute to developing National Innovation and Investment Plans for Thailand, The Philippines, and Fiji, which will address issues including climate change, disease prevention and management, environmental sustainability, gender equality and social inclusion, and resource utilisation and management. The project is part of a wider AQUADAPT initiative, a four-year partnership running from 2023-2027, funded by Canada's International Development Research Centre.

In this issue:

  • Progressive women carp farmers of Haldia, Purba Medinipur, West Bengal, India.
  • Captive breeding of Ompok bimaculatus (pabda): An indigenous catfish of North East India.
  • Reaching out to the unreached through diversified aquaculture in Nagaland.
  • Fish cooperatives: Development and performance through sustainable development goals for food and feed ecosystems.
  • NACA Newsletter.

In this issue:

  • How welfare assessments of farmed white leg shrimp (Penaeus vannamei) can benefit the whole industry
  • Thai Fish Project: A path towards a sustainable aquaculture
  • Nationally-recognised ornamental fish breeder Kripan Sarkar - a man to remember
  • Tilapia parvovirus disease: An emerging threat for the tilapia aquaculture industry
  • Naihati fish seed market as state-of-the-art for sustainable support services to fish growers, buyers and traders
  • NACA Newsletter

The Thai Fish Project began in 2019, and involves around 200 research members and multiple institutions in Thailand and Japan. The project aims to promote domestication and wise use of two Thai native aquatic species, namely the Asian sea bass Lates calcarifer and banana shrimp Penaeus merguiensis through increasing productivity, reducing the impact of infectious diseases, and preserving genetic resources. The project also encompasses several specific research topics to ensure that it comprehensively addresses the concerns on safeguarding the food security and enhancing the environmental sustainability as much as possible. This article describes the main research activities, outputs and future expectations of the Thai Fish Project.

Eight thematic reviews prepared as preparation for the Global Conference on Aquaculture Millennium +20 (GCA +20) have been published in a Special Issue of the Journal of the World Aquaculture Society "Aquaculture for Food and Sustainable Development". A group of experts prepared advanced working drafts of each thematic review and the key findings from each theme were presented and discussed by expert panels during the GCA +20. Participants were then invited to provide their feedback and perspectives on the reviews and their key messages for consideration in finalisation of the papers. The reviews are available for free download.