Malaysia is a maritime nation and its fishing industry is a source of income for 134,000 fishermen. In 2012, the fisheries sector produced 1.7 million tons of fish valued at RM10.8 billion and generated trade worth RM6 billion. The landings from capture fisheries are expected to increase from 1.32 million tons in 2010 to 1.76 million tons in 2020 at an annual growth rate of 2.9%. In 2012, 65% of total catch was contributed by the coastal fisheries as compared to 35% from deep sea fishing. Landing from deep sea fishing is expected to rise from 381,000 tons in 2012 to 620,000 tons in 2020. Deep sea fishing has been identified for its potential to contribute to the increase in the country s fish production. With a growing population and an increasing preference for fish as a healthy source of animal protein, the National Agro-food Policy (2011-2020) estimated that the annual demand for fish will increase to 1.93 million tons by the year 2020. The Department of Fisheries (DOF) has developed the Capture Fisheries Strategic Management Plan (2011-2020) based on three main documents i.e.; National Agro-food Policy (NAP, 2011-2020), Department of Fisheries Strategic Management Plan (2011-2020), and Malaysia National Plan of Action on Sustainable Fisheries for Food Security towards 2020. Aquaculture is now being promoted in Malaysia as an important engine of growth and eventually to become the mainstay of the nation s economy. Situated in a region with abundant supply of land and water, two determinant factors for aquaculture activities, Malaysia has always strived to ensure that this sector is not sidelined in their development efforts. With a growing population and an increasing preference for fish as a healthy source of animal protein, it has been estimated that the annual demand for fish will increase to 1.7 million tons in 2011 and further to 1.93 million tons by 2020. From the present annual aquaculture production of about 525,000 tons, this output would need to be raised to 790,000 tons to meet the projected demand by 2020. In a move to develop the aquaculture industry, the DOF, has initiated the Aquaculture Industrial Zone (AIZ) Program involving the development of 49 zones, located across Malaysia, which will be used for culture of various types of high value aquatic species. The DOF has identified several strategic areas that would be developed for downstream activities such as fish seed production, feed mills, fish processing plants, and other supporting industries. Aquaculture is also currently listed amongst the 16 Agro-food s Entry Point Projects (EPP) of the National Key Economic Area (NKEA). The government aims to double the Agro-food sector s contribution to Gross National Income (GNI) from Malaysian Ringgit (RM) 20.2 billion in the year 2010 to RM49.1 billion by 2020, or an increase of RM28.9 billion.

There are two approaches to resource enhancement of depleted wild fish stocks: through stock enhancement where aquaculture science plays a central role, or through improved management of fish stocks. This paper presents an argument that despite major advances in stock enhancement technologies (tagging, genetic mapping, numerical modeling techniques), major hurdles in policy framework, science and information gaps, risk mitigation protocols and capacity gap remain. These factors are associated with high and recurring cost that requires medium to long-term solutions that ultimately, improving management and governance to recover depleted stocks will still be the best option available.

The basic procedures for producing marine fish fry in hatcheries developed for milkfish fry production nearly 3 decades ago are the basis of fry production systems for all other marine fish species that are now reared in hatcheries in the Philippines and other Southeast Asian countries. These include large-scale microalgae production in outdoor tanks, feeding of appropriate sized rotifer grown on microalgae such as Nannochlorum during the first feeding phase, and shifting to larger prey such as Artemia towards the latter stages of production. In recent years, the increasing demand for high-value species such as groupers, sea bass, red snapper, and pompano in both local and export markets has encouraged a number of hatcheries to produce fry to supply the requirements of fish cage farmers. Techniques are modified using information from research institutions and multi-national firms active in developing products and equipment to improve commercial production of these species. Larval feeds of appropriate sizes, forms and presentation for various larval stages incorporating essential nutrients, micronutrients, and feed stimulants are now available in the market. Diseases in marine fish hatcheries have become common occurrences such that various chemotherapeutants, vaccines, and immunostimulants are now available and increasingly being applied in fish hatcheries. Technological developments in hatchery systems, such as the use of recirculating systems, water pretreatment protocols (ozonation, mircrofiltration, UV light treatment) are also increasingly being adopted by commercial establishments. A critical link between fry production and production of marketable fish is fingerling/ juvenile production in nurseries. Fry are commonly grown in brackishwater fishponds to appropriate size for stocking in fish cages. Methods to improve growth through proper feeding and nutrition, eliminate or reduce disease occurrence and parasite infestation, reduce cannibalism in cannibalistic species such as sea bass, grouper and snappers are active areas of research. Nursery production is integrated with fry production in large commercial facilities but is also done by small-scale fish farmers who have access to fry either from the wild or hatcheries. Commercial hatcheries adopt fingerling production from well-studied species in developed countries. Smallscale farmers however still rely on zooplanktons collected from the wild such as copepods, Moina, mysids, and trash fish as feed. Production is dependent on availability of feed sources and susceptibility to pathogens and parasites that come with the feed. It can also be erratic since smallscale farms are vulnerable to changes in climate and weather conditions. Further technological advancement in marine fish hatcheries will increasingly be led by commercial establishments and industries developing equipment like photobioreactor for microalgae to produce algal paste, or methods to develop intensive systems for rotifer culture. Research institutions will however need to support the needs of the small-scale farmers and hatchery operators who may not be able to apply costly products from these companies by developing innovative simple techniques that can improve culture systems such as producing fry and fingerlings in mesocosm pond system, appropriate use of probiotics as water stabilizer, and production of zooplankton in ponds.