The USAID Maximizing Agricultural Revenue through Knowledge, Enterprise Development, and Trade (MARKET) Project and NACA are hosting a Gender and Aquaculture Seminar: Equity and Regional Empowerment in the Aquaculture Value Chain on February 24-25 in Bangkok, Thailand. The USAID MARKET Project and NACA have undertaken a year-long research project on women’s roles and influence on selected aquaculture value chains in four countries in Southeast Asia.

This report, the 67th in the series, contains information about the aquatic animal health status of fourteen states in the Asia-Pacific region. The foreword discusses the OIE Regional Workshop on Safe International Trade in Aquatic Animals and Aquatic Animal Products.

Further training provided to aquaculturists in Fiji. Spatial planning for sustainable coastal shrimp production. Availability of grouper (Serranidae) fingerlings and seed in the coral reef of Son Tra Peninsula, central Viet Nam. Small-scale carp seed production through portable FRP hatchery at Khanguri, Odisha. Regional consultation on culture-based fisheries developments in Asia. Gender Assessment Synthesis Workshop. Broodstock management in aquaculture. Urgent appeal to control spread of the shrimp microsporidian parasite Enterocytozoon hepatopenaei (EHP).

In this issue:

Regional consultation on culture-based fisheries developments in Asia. Gender Assessment Synthesis Workshop. NACA participation in the 5th Global Symposium on Gender in Aquaculture and Fisheries, Lucknow, India. Broodstock Management in Aquaculture: Long term effort required for regional capacity building. Urgent appeal to control spread of the shrimp microsporidian parasite Enterocytozoon hepatopenaei (EHP).

The Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia-Pacific team participated actively during the 5th Global Symposium on Gender in Aquaculture and Fisheries held during 12-15 November 2014, in Lucknow, India. This event was held simultaneously with the 10th Indian Fisheries and Aquaculture Forum and the International Workshop on Aquatic Animal Disease Surveillance The major supporters were NORAD for GAF5 organisation, and USAID for the MARKET Special Workshop and MARKET Gender Project.

Asia produces nearly 90% of world aquaculture output. However, growth of the industry is increasingly constrained by various factors, including poor broodstock quality and genetic deterioration of domesticated stock. This has arisen in part from a general lack of planning, knowledge and skills in broodstock management. Capacity building across the region is urgently required for hatchery operators at different scales through information exchange, experience sharing and training.

The research and development mandate of NACA is addressed through five thematic work programmes and three cross-cutting work programmes that support sustainable aquaculture and aquatic resource management in the region.

Enterocytozoon hepatopenaei (EHP) is a microsporidian parasite that was first characterized and named from the giant or black tiger shrimp Penaeus monodon from Thailand in 2009. EHP is confined to the shrimp hepatopancreas (HP) and morphologically resembles an unnamed microsporidian previously reported in the HP of Penaeus japonicas from Australia in 2001. Together, these studies suggest that EHP is not an exotic pathogen but that it is endemic to Australasia.

A regional consultation was held to discuss culture-based fisheries development in Asia from 21 to 23 October 2014 in Siem Reap, Cambodia. The consultation was funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research as part of the project Culture-based fisheries development in Lao PDR and Cambodia. The consultation provided the opportunity to discuss the outcomes of a series successful projects that have been implemented over the past decade in the Asian region.

The NACA/USAID MARKET Gender Project organised a Gender Assessment Synthesis Workshop in Bangkok, Thailand from 29 September to 1 October 2014, which was attended by the MARKET gender project teams from Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam. The objectives of the Synthesis Workshop were to assess the status of work on the in-country gender assessment reports and the case studies, including make a start on writing of case studies.