This report, the 70th in the series, contains information about the aquatic animal health status of nine states in the Asia-Pacific region. The foreword discusses tilapia lake virus, a new viral disease of farmed tilapia.

In this issue:

Aquaculture feed supply chain attracting scrutiny. Pond beauty contest, Ram Kumar and social development. Culture modes of giant freshwater prawn in Yangtze River Delta for early harvest. Fish marketing in Kashmir, India - a case study of Srinagar. Community-based integrated fish-duck farming: A boon for rural development in agro-climatic conditions of Assam, India. Gastropod and bivalve fishery of Kakinada Bay, Andhra Pradesh, India: Management and conservation issues.

In this issue:

Register for the 11th Asian Fisheries and Aquaculture Forum and GAF6. 6th Global Symposium on Gender in Aquaculture and Fisheries. Global Conference on Climate Change Adaptation for Fisheries and Aquaculture. A Review of women's access to fish in small-scale fisheries. Aquaculture operations in floating HDPE cages: a field handbook. Aquaculture seed and feed production and management in Bangladesh: Status, issues and constraints.

A Regional Proficiency Testing Program for Aquatic Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratories in Asia-Pacific was developed to strengthen diagnostic capability across Asia. This capability was identified as a requirement to facilitate the sanitary safety of trade in aquatic animal products. The program provided 41 laboratories across the Asia-Pacific with the opportunity to assess their diagnostic performance for 10 regionally significant aquatic animal pathogens, and to adapt or modify practices where necessary to improve.

Due to the world’s rapidly growing population, which is expected to peak somewhere around 9.5 billion, food production will need to be massively increased over the next few decades. This increase must be achieved without further degrading the environment. The unit environmental footprint of food production must be significantly reduced from where it is today. This concept, termed sustainable intensification, applies as much to aquaculture as it does to other agricultural sectors.