Culture of groupers in ponds and floating net cages has been practiced for many years in the Philippines. Unsustainable culture practices such as dependence on wild caught seeds, use of trash fish, use of high stocking densities, and unregulated expansion and proliferation of fish cages, have led to the "boom and bust" cycle of grouper aquaculture in the Philippines. The drastic decrease in grouper aquaculture production in the late 90's was mainly attributed to environmental deterioration and diseases outbreaks. To sustain grouper production, research on the breeding, seed production and culture of groupers started in the mid 1980s. As a regional inter-government R&D organization, the Aquaculture Department of the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC/AQD) followed the recommendations of the 1987 Seminar-Workshop on Aquaculture Development in Southeast Asia on grouper R&D. Research activities initially focused on market survey of grouper species in the Philippines and Southeast Asia, assessment of fry and availability in traditional fishing grounds, and development of broodstock management techniques. Following the spontaneous spawning of Epinephelus coioides in concrete tanks and floating net cages in 1990's, protocols for the seed production of milkfish and sea bass were adapted and modified. Parallel studies to determine sustainable culture techniques in ponds and net cages were conducted. Studies on the nutritional requirements of grouper at various developmental stages were done to reduce dependence on live prey organisms and trash fish as feeds. Research geared towards health management started in the in late 90's to early 2000's. Prospects for grouper aquaculture are discussed in the light of recent advances in grouper R&D and the Government of the Philippines initiatives to increase fish production by mariculture.

An important region of biodiversity in the country is the Agusan Marsh, located in northeastern Mindanao, southern Philippines. The Marsh aquatic fauna are not well studied and majority of available information is dispersed and sporadic. This study presents an updated systematic list comprising aquatic faunal species collected from seven Marsh localities during a 2006 survey. Of a total of 64 species of aquatic fauna distributed in 45 genera and 37 families, about 59.3% are fishes, 17.2% crustaceans, 14.1% molluscs, and 9.4% reptiles. Most of the aquatic fauna are native and migratory. Flowing rivers, lakes and creeks are the primary habitats of these organisms; majority of them thrive in lakes and upper streams. Fish species reported in earlier literature are also included. The Indigenous Knowledge System (IKS) was applied to integrate species known to the native Manobo, but not found in earlier studies nor the present survey. Fishery-related problems include the decline in fishery stocks, displacement of native species, and destruction of habitats. These problems are attributed to illegal fishing (e.g., electrofishing, use of chemicals and ichthyotoxic plants), overfishing, introduced or exotic or invasive alien species, pollution (e.g., heavy metal contamination), habitat degradation (e.g., conversion of marshland to agriculture), and human disturbance. The deliberate or accidental introductions of exotic species such as carps and the janitor fish now pose serious threats to species diversity. Conservation measures and strict enforcement of wildlife and environmental laws are needed to save the biodiversity of Agusan Marsh for future generations.

The Agusan Marsh is an extensive floodplain in the middle of the Agusan River Basin in eastern Mindanao where rivers, creeks and tributaries mainly in the provinces of Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur and Compostela Valley converge and drain northward to the Agusan River and into Butuan Bay. The main habitats of the Marsh are the freshwater swamp forest (with Terminalia, peat swamp and sago palm forest subtypes), secondary scrub, herbaceous swamp, open water (oxbow/floodplain lakes, pools), and flowing water (rivers, streams). Peat forests have been confirmed in Bunawan and Caimpugan. Over 200 bird species have been known to spend at least part of the year in the Marsh, making it an important site for migratory birds from northern Asia and Siberia. As one of the Philippines' ecologically significant wetlands, the Marsh has been declared a protected site under NIP AS (1994), Presidential Proclamation 913 (1996), and RAMSAR (1999). The Agusan Marsh Wildlife Sanctuary covers -111,540 ha in 8 municipalities of Agusan del Sur. Recently the Agusan Marsh was placed high on the list of Philippine nominations to the World Heritage Natural Sites. Despite all these, very few scientific studies have been conducted on the Marsh but this has not stopped drainage and development for agriculture, construction of dams and reservoirs for irrigation, deliberate or accidental introductions of exotic species, e.g., tilapia, carps, janitor fish, and golden apple snail, and logging in the watershed areas. The latter have been legitimized by Integrated Forest Management Agreements despite the presence of primary forests. The latest proposed intervention is the Agusan River Basin Development Project. There is need for scientific research to provide baseline information on hydrology, sediment dynamics and ecology as prerequisite to any interventions and developments in the Agusan Marsh.

This chapter highlights some of the important examples of transgenic fish development. An overview of important steps in fish transgenesis is given. The status of development in the case of transgenic carp, tilapias, Atlantic salmon and mud loach is discussed. Other future applications of transgenic fish are presented. The key research and capacity needs for further development of transgenic fish are also discussed.

Aquaculture is the farming of aquatic organisms including fish, molluscs, crustaceans and aquatic plants where farming implies some intervention in the rearing process to enhance production, such as regular stocking, feeding, protection from predators, etc. (FAO, 1997). The contribution of aquaculture to global supplies of fish, crustaceans, mollusks and other aquatic animals continues to grow, increasing from 3.9 percent of total production by weight in 1970 to 32.4 percent in 2004 growing more rapidly than all other animal food-producing sectors. Worldwide, aquaculture production has grown at an average rate of 8.8 percent per year since 1970, compared with only 1.2 percent for capture fisheries and 2.8 percent for terrestrial framed meat production systems over the same period (FAO 2006).

We studied the influence of the development of aquaculture in the Philippines on the local economy, focusing on coastal fishers in two towns in Capiz and Iloilo, Panay Island, Philippines. Coastal residents in the two towns closely depend on fishing and aquaculture for both their primary and secondary incomes. The small-scale aquaculture business commenced by coastal fishermen has been expanding particularly after the 1990s. The planting of mangrove trees is promoted and small-scale aquafarming is done by coastal fishermen who exert only small environmental loads. Small-scale aquaculture, including the aquaculture of shellfish, net cage culture, pen culture, and seaweed culture, requires low initial investment and imposes minimal workload on operators in terms of breeding management up to shipment, which is why most coastal fishing people want to continue in the business. On the other hand, pond culture, practiced before the 1990s, promises no further rise in production for several reasons that include overproduction of milkfish and the outbreak of diseases in shrimp and prawn. Under these conditions, small-scale aquaculturists in two towns have established a sustainable aquaculture production system that allows them to maintain mangrove forests, utilize natural recirculation functions and help local residents obtain income.

Arachidonic acid (ArA) was not a minor component, and ArA distributes widely in coral reef organisms. Seagrass had high linoleic acid and linolenic acid levels with low Ara, EPA and DHA levels, while some species of seaweed had intermediate or high ArA levels (5% to 12%). In starfish, sea cucumber and some species of corals, ArA was the first major fatty acid (20% to 30%), but DHA levels were very low. Bivalves, abalone and shrimps had intermediate ArA levels. Total lipids of abdominal muscle and liver of dugong had respectively ArA levels of 7.8% and 11.0%, which were higher than EPA levels (2.4% and 1.6%), but DHA levels (0.4% and 2.3%) were low. It is clear that ArA is a major fatty acid in coral reef animals. The present results suggest that the existence of an ArA-rich food chain may be widespread in coral reef areas, and that the widespread existence of ArA-rich food chain may lead to intermediate or high ArA contents in tropical species.

Fry of tropical marine fish needed for aquaculture still comes mostly from the wild. Thus, fry availability is a major constraint in the development and extension of aquaculture, especially in rural areas of developing regions. Although the mission of hatcheries is to provide a stable fry production and supply for farmers, fry production remains variable due to poor fecundity and low survival. For the last four years (2002-2005), SEAFDEC/AQD and JIRCAS have conducted the collaborative project that was aimed at developing advanced diets for improving egg production/quality (2002-2005) and larvae/fry quality (2004-2005) through dietary manipulation. Larval rearing tests: In 2005, larval rearing tests (4 trials with rotifers) were conducted to investigate the effects of enriched-live food (4treatments: low (CS) and high (DHAPS) HUFA with or without arachidonic acid supplementation) on survival and growth in rabbitfish Sigunus guttatus fry. Fry fed the rotifers enriched with a combination of DHAPS+5% ArA showed the best survival (44.4±4.5% for D17 fry in the 4th trial).Growth was not different among the treatments (CS, CS+5% ArA, DHAPS, DHPS+5% ArA). Broodstock tests: From March, 2005 to January,2006, a feeding test has been conducted to investigate the effects of dietary ArA supplementation (0% for diet 1, 0.3% for diet 2 and 0.6% for diet 3) on egg production and quality of wild-caught and hatchery-bled rabbitfish broodstock. The broodstock spawned 13 times for diet1 (six pairs), 14 times for diet 2 (five pairs) and 17 times for diet 3 (six pairs) during the period of May 2005 to January, 2006. The total numbers ofhatched-larvae were 3,818 x 10³ for diet 1, 4,391 x 10³ for diet 2 and 4,597 x 10³ for diet 3. The % of normal larvae did not differ among the dietary treatments. Considering together with the results of mangrove red snapper (2003) and rabbitfish (2004), the optimum level of ArA incorporation appears to be between 0.5% and 0.7%. Judging from the results of fatty acid analysis, DHA and arachidonic acid should be supplemented to diets at the same time as to make DHA/arachidonic acid ratio appropriate. Thus, the present study clearly shows that dietary arachidonic acid supplementation is very promising for the development of fry production technologies in tropical areas.