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Establishing adaptive strategies towards a climate-resilient seaweed farming: A case in Panobolon Island, Guimaras, Philippines
-Fish for the People , 2018 - Secretariat, Southeast Asian Fisheries Development CenterSeaweeds are ecologically important primary producers, competitors, and ecosystem engineers (Harley et al., 2012), support complex food webs in coastal zones, and provide habitats and food for associated organisms, from apex predators to invertebrates (Reisewitz, Estes, & Simenstad, 2006). Seaweeds are intimately linked to human cultural and economic systems via the provision of ecosystem goods and services ranging from food, medicine, to cosmetics (Pickering, 2006) and storm protection (Rönnbäck, et al., 2007). There is strong scientific consensus that coastal marine ecosystems, along with the goods and services they provide, are threatened by anthropogenic global climate change (IPCC, 2001). However, the impacts of ongoing and future anthropogenic climate change in seaweeddominated ecosystems remain poorly understood (Harley et al., 2012). It is therefore, timely and relevant to provide better understanding of the experiences of seaweed farmers and their capacity to anticipate, cope with, resist, and recover from the impact of natural hazards (Blaikie, Cannon, Davis, & Wisner, 1994). The Philippine-based SEAFDEC/AQD is currently conducting a three-year (2015-2018) study on the economic benefits and losses of seaweed farming due to climate change indicators. With pilot site in Panobolon Island, Nueva Valencia, Guimaras, Philippines, the study highlights the adaptive strategies and the effects of climatic change on the productivity of small-scale seaweed growers in a community. -
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Promoting responsible aquaculture for the sustainable production of soft-shell crabs
-Fish for the People , 2018 - Secretariat, Southeast Asian Fisheries Development CenterSoft-shell crabs command a high price because these could be eaten whole when cooked. Myanmar, Viet Nam, and Thailand are among the Southeast Asian countries that produce considerable quantities of soft-shell crabs mostly sold to local restaurants as well as exported to Australia, Europe, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, and the USA. Production of soft-shell crabs is an emerging technology in the Philippines, where the demand for this product has been increasing and the technology becoming a growing interest. With prices that could range from US$ 10 to US$ 15 US$ or higher per kilogram depending on the size, soft-shell crabs are bought in bulk by elite restaurants in the Philippines that usually serve this delicacy with complimentary food or drinks. Although the demand for soft-shell crabs is high, production is still unstable due to lack of seedstocks, which are mainly sourced from the wild. To reduce the pressure on the natural population, SEAFDEC/AQD has initiated the development of soft-shell crab technology using hatchery-produced seedstocks, and is currently promoting the use of hatchery-produced seedstocks for soft-shell crab farming to local and international stakeholders all over the Southeast Asian region through its training courses. With funding support from the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic, and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCAARRD) of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) through its National Mud Crab Science and Technology Program (NMCSTP), SEAFDEC/AQD has intensified the development of the soft-shell crab technology. Applicable to all mangrove (mud) crab species, the technology for the production of soft-shell crabs could now be pursued using hatchery-produced seedstocks is described in this article. -
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Addressing gaps in the culture of pathogen-free polychaetes as feed in shrimp hatcheries
-Fish for the People , 2018 - Secretariat, Southeast Asian Fisheries Development CenterOne of the factors that contribute to the success of shrimp hatchery operations is the availability of good quality broodstock diets. Polychaetes have been regarded as the best maturation diet for shrimps as they contain essential nutrients requisite for the reproduction of shrimps. Consequently, the demand for polychaetes increased with the intensification of shrimp farming and as a result, the natural stocks are depleting gradually and thus, could no longer provide sustainable supply for shrimp hatcheries. In addition, the issue on biosecurity concerning wild polychaetes prompted the shrimp farmers to obtain polychaetes from reputable sources, thus, the culture of polychaetes under controlled condition has become a sustainable alternative. The SEAFDEC Aquaculture Department (SEAFDEC/AQD) therefore initiated the “Refinement of rearing and feeding techniques for sustainable mass production of the polychaete Marphysa sp.” to address the gaps in polychaetes culture and ensure the sustainability of polychaetes production to supply the shrimp hatcheries at SEAFDEC/AQD, and where the potential mass production of the polychaetes (Marphysa sp.) in indoor tanks is being undertaken to ensure that these are pathogen-free. -
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Supporting ASEAN good aquaculture practices: Utilization of alternative protein sources for aquafeed to minimize pressure on fishery resources
-Fish for the People , 2016 - Secretariat, Southeast Asian Fisheries Development CenterAquaculture industry of Southeast Asia has been expanding steadily as a result of an increasing demand of food fish in the region as well as in the global scale. Aside from its contribution to the world’s fisheries, the aquaculture industry creates employment opportunities and provides income for the region’s fish farmers, as well as produces fish which is a major component in the diets of peoples in Southeast Asia. However, the fast development of aquaculture had been viewed as threat to sustainable capture fisheries production as the widespread use of fish by-catch in aquaculture feeds results in overexploitation of the fishery resources and to certain extent degradation of the resources. Recognizing the importance and urgency of addressing such concern, the Senior Officials of the ASEAN Member States responsible for fisheries adopted in June 2011, the Plan of Action on Sustainable Fisheries for Food security for the ASEAN Region Towards 2020 which includes provision on the need to “improve the efficient use of aquatic feeds by strictly regulating the quality of manufactured feed and feed ingredients and support continued research for developing suitable alternative protein sources that will reduce dependence on fishmeal and other fish-based products.” Along with such declaration, the SEAFDEC Aquaculture Department has been enhancing its R&D activities aimed at finding alternatives to fishmeal as feed ingredients in aquaculture feed formulations. -
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Supporting ASEAN good aquaculture practices: Preventing the spread of trans-boundary aquatic animal diseases
-Fish for the People , 2016 - Secretariat, Southeast Asian Fisheries Development CenterThe FAO Fishery Statistics had indicated that Asia is the top producer of fish and fishery products from both capture fisheries and aquaculture. Specifically, Southeast Asia had contributed 9-31% of the total aquaculture production in Asia from 1950 to 2014 with Indonesia and the Philippines accounting for the most at 23-63% and 10-45% of the total, respectively. Aquaculture has been viewed as a solution to the growing concern on food security issues as well as for the socio-economic stability of many countries in Southeast Asia. For such reason, aquaculture operations are being intensified to compensate for the declining production from capture fisheries and in order to nail the gap between supply and demand for fish and fishery products in the world. With intensification, aquaculture production has already overtaken the contribution of capture fisheries to the world’s total fisheries production. However, concerns on the safety and quality of aquaculture products have been raised as result of intensified fish farming operations. Added to such concern is the irresponsible introduction of aquatic species for aquaculture that serve as carriers of pathogens. As a result, a large number of infectious aquatic diseases have emerged threatening the sustainability of aquaculture in the Southeast Asian region. In an effort to address the emergence of transboundary diseases in the region, the Aquaculture Department of SEAFDEC (SEAFDEC/AQD) launched a program on Healthy and Wholesome Aquaculture which includes as one of its main objectives, the need to continue improving aquaculture production through innovations in fish health management. -
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Sustaining environmental integrity in the midst of intensified aquaculture development
-Fish for the People , 2015 - Secretariat, Southeast Asian Fisheries Development CenterThe escalating aquaculture production from Southeast Asia during the past decades seems inevitable notwithstanding its significant contribution to economic growth and guaranteed food security of the countries in the region. Despite its good prospects, the region’s aquaculture sector is being confronted with various issues that should be addressed to enable it to develop sustainably and contribute unceasingly to poverty alleviation in the region. Responsible aquaculture has been practiced in the region as means of easing the crisis in capture fisheries; however, this has to be matched with effective approaches that address concerns on the fishery resources that are deteriorating. Resource enhancement of economically important aquatic species has been considered as one of the effective approaches that would help protect and restore the aquatic resource habitats and stocks, the latter connotes stock enhancement. As could be gleaned from the current scenario of fisheries in the Southeast Asian region, the recurring over-exploitation of common natural resources has affected the livelihoods of fishers and coastal communities. The imbalanced extraction of natural aquatic resources and natural recruitment has worsened through the years and if left unabated could result in the extinction of many of the region’s endemic aquatic species. It is for such consequences that the Aquaculture Department of the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center, while intensifying its efforts in developing sustainable aquaculture, is also promoting resource enhancement as these two approaches are expected to enhance the region’s fishery resources and food security in view of their perfect roles in improving the productivity of aquatic stocks and status of the natural habitats. Nonetheless, aquaculture techniques have always been used to facilitate the stock enhancement of commercially important, threatened and endangered aquatic species. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the USA defines stock enhancement as “restoration aquaculture” or the release of hatchery-bred juveniles of fish and shellfish to the wild, and considers this approach as a management tool to recover depleted stocks due to overfishing and habitat loss. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has demonstrated that stock enhancement is a type of culture based fisheries since part of the life cycle of certain aquatic species is being controlled in hatcheries before the seeds or juveniles are transplanted or released into open waters — freshwater or brackishwater or marine environments — and allowed to propagate or grow on natural foods until reaching harvestable size. -
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Orchestrating the southeast Asian aquaculture towards sustainability: SEAFDEC initiative
-Fish for the People , 2015 - Secretariat, Southeast Asian Fisheries Development CenterThree years after the Philippines became a signatory to the Agreement Establishing the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC) in January 1968, the Philippine Government submitted a Position Paper during the Fourth Meeting of the SEAFDEC Council in January 1971, formally inviting SEAFDEC to establish a regional aquaculture project in the Philippines. This was anchored on the decision reached during the Third Ministerial Conference for the Economic Development of Southeast Asia in 1968, for SEAFDEC to consider the establishment of a new department to deal with freshwater and brackishwater fish culture, in addition to the already established Research and Training Departments. Subsequently, the Ministerial Conference established a working group of aquaculture experts from the Member Countries to conduct a study on the aquaculture situation in Southeast Asia. Their report which indicated that the new SEAFDEC Department could be established in the Philippines was considered by the Fourth Ministerial Conference for the Economic Development of Southeast Asia in 1969. This led to the series of surveys in the Philippines, conducted by a Survey Mission from the Japanese Overseas Technical Cooperation Agency headed by Dr. Katsuzo Kuronoma, former President of Tokyo University of Fisheries, Japan from 1969 to 1971 to identify the appropriate site of this new Department. Together with counterpart experts from the Philippines, the Survey Mission concluded that the Aquaculture Department would be established in Iloilo Province, Panay Island, Philippines, to undertake aquaculture research in the region, and training of researchers and technicians in aquaculture. Following a conference in September 1972 among representatives from the Philippines and Japan, the Mindanao State University which at that time had already developed the technology for breeding penaeid shrimps, was designated as implementing agency of the Project for the Philippine Government. Although shrimp culture was given priority in the initial project plan, it was also agreed that the new Department could undertake, whenever feasible, the culture of other coastal and brackishwater species, and in a subsequent stage, freshwater fish culture. Based on such recommendations and the commitments of the Governments of Japan and the Philippines to support the operations of the new SEAFDEC Department, the Sixth Meeting of the SEAFDEC Council in July 1973 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia agreed to establish the Aquaculture Department in Iloilo, Philippines, adopted the corresponding Plan of Operation and Program of Work, and approved the appointment of Dean Domiciano K. Villaluz as the first Department Chief. True to its word, the Aquaculture Department has since then been pursuing programs on sustainable development and responsible stewardship of aquaculture resources in Southeast Asia through research and promotion of appropriate aquaculture technologies and socio-economic strategies relevant to the sustainability of the aquaculture industry in the region. -
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Transforming a coral reef cove into mariculture hub: Igang marine station of SEAFDEC/AQD
-Fish for the People , 2015 - Secretariat, Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center -
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Searching for ecological ways to reduce WSSV impact
-Aquaculture Asia , 2014 - Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia-PacificWhite spot syndrome virus (WSSV) has brought financial losses to all shrimp farming systems, and lately the “Early Mortality Syndrome” (EMS) or more accurately termed Acute Hepatopancreatic Necrosis Disease (AHPND) have added to the threats to shrimp farming in South Asia. Most studies on WSSV have been done in tanks with species other than Penaeus monodon. Several studies of RESCOPAR aimed to study WSSV epidemiology in on-farm situations and find ecological means of disease prevention or control. To achieve these goals experimental, cross-sectional, longitudinal and case studies were carried out by PhDs in Indonesia, the Philippines (Tendencia, 2012) and Vietnam. -
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Potentials and prospects of Southeast Asian eel resources for sustainable fisheries and aquaculture development
-Fish for the People , 2014 - Secretariat, Southeast Asian Fisheries Development CenterThe world demand for river eels has been increasing mainly because of the market expansion of some delicacies such as the kabayaki (broiled eel with sweet soy sauce) in East Asia. While most of the world’s eel production is derived from aquaculture, it should be noted that eel aquaculture is still dependent on the natural resources. As techniques for the full-life cycle aquaculture of eels have not yet been fully developed for commercial use, the eel aquaculture industry is still solely dependent on wild resources for seed stocks. However, the natural resources had been confronted with various factors that could possibly create negative impacts on the eel resources including habitat alteration, overexploitation, climate change, pollution, and incidence of diseases. Thus, concerns on the sustainability of various eel species in the world have increased in recent years. It should be reckoned that the European and American eels are already threatened to certain degree by pollution and damming (or the construction of dams that prevent their migration to freshwater bodies) leading to almost “close to collapse” of the European eel resources. This situation prompted CITES to list the European eel (Anguilla anguilla) in CITES Appendix II in 2009 and accordingly, trade restrictions of the European eel and its products came into effect. In Southeast Asia, it is known that aquaculture and inland capture fisheries of eel are practiced but data and information on the total production of eel in the region remain very minimal. In this regard, the Southeast Asian countries have been encouraged to report their respective eel production to SEAFDEC in order that the status and trend of the region’s eel resources could be established and the statistics could be appropriately reflected in the Fishery Statistical Bulletin of Southeast Asia produced yearly by SEAFDEC. Meanwhile, in an effort to conserve the eel resources in Southeast Asia, SEAFDEC recently launched a project on Conservation, Management and Sustainable Utilization of Eel Resources in Southeast Asia with funding support from the Trust Fund for SEAFDEC of the Fisheries Agency of Japan. -
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Unifying the art, science and business of aquaculture through the information resources and services of SEAFDEC Aquaculture Department Library
-Fish for the People , 2013 - Secretariat, Southeast Asian Fisheries Development CenterEstablished in 1973 in Tigbauan, Iloilo, Philippines, the Aquaculture Department (AQD) is one of four Departments of the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC). AQD is mandated to conduct scientific research to generate aquaculture technologies relevant and appropriate for the region; develop human resources; and produce, disseminate and exchange information on aquaculture. AQD is committed to sustainable development and the responsible stewardship of aquaculture resources through science-based research and the promotion of appropriate technologies and information relevant to the Southeast Asian region (SEAFDEC/AQD, 2009). The need to disseminate AQD’s research results is as important as the conduct of research in fisheries and aquaculture as referred to in the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries (Wilkinson and Collins, 2007). In cognizance of the role that AQD should play with respect to its function of disseminating and exchanging information on aquaculture, the AQD Library was established to support the information needs of AQD scientists and staff. In addition, the Library also provides services to visiting researchers, local and international trainees and students, as well as the diverse users from AQD’s partner institutions. During the strategic planning workshop conducted by AQD in 2009, one of the goals identified was for AQD to strengthen the capacities of the aquaculture sector. Matching with such goal, the Library and Data Banking Services Section of the Training and Information Division identified its information dissemination and services target for 2012. Primarily, AQD Library aims to improve accessibility to archived and updated information, and to create a digital library collection of AQD publications and documents. In keeping up its goal of providing quality, current and relevant information, the Library continues to avail of quality print and non-print information resources, to ensure that it keeps abreast of the advancements in aquaculture and fulfil the diverse information needs of users. The Library also introduces innovations in its services with the purpose of unifying the art, science and business of aquaculture, and strengthens its local and international linkages for efficient sharing of knowledge and resources. -
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Reducing rural poverty and improving lives through sustainable aquaculture: AQD's 40-year saga of mustering strength and expertise for technology development
-Fish for the People , 2013 - Secretariat, Southeast Asian Fisheries Development CenterRecognizing the need to promote fisheries development for improving the economies of Southeast Asian countries, the Second Ministerial Conference for the Economic Development of Southeast Asia held in Manila, Philippines in April 1967, agreed to establish the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC) based on the recommendations from the First Ministerial Conference for the Economic Development of Southeast Asia in Tokyo, Japan in April 1966 and the subsequent Conference on Agricultural Development in Southeast Asia organized in Tokyo, Japan in December 1966. As soon as the necessary documentations were completed, signing of the Agreement Establishing SEAFDEC took place in Bangkok, Thailand on 28 December 1967 by the Governments of Japan, Malaysia, Republic of the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Republic of Vietnam, while the establishment of the Marine Fisheries Training Department in Thailand and Marine Fisheries Research Department in Singapore, under the SEAFDEC umbrella was also finalized. Two years later during its Second Meeting in Singapore in March 1969, the SEAFDEC Council agreed in principle, to establish a new SEAFDEC department to carry out research and development in the field of aquaculture, and organized a study group to identify the appropriate site of the department as well as to draft its plan of operation and working program. During the Fourth Meeting of the SEAFDEC Council in Manila, Philippines on 18-22 January 1971, then Philippine Secretary for Agriculture and Natural Resources Arturo R. Tanco, Jr. informed the SEAFDEC Council that the Philippines had entered into a bilateral agreement with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for the implementation of an aquaculture project in the Philippines. It was also during that same Meeting that Secretary Tanco invited the Council to consider incorporating the said aquaculture project into the activities of the proposed new SEAFDEC department to avoid duplication of efforts, and requested the Council to also consider the establishment of such department in the Philippines. Therefore, having considered the position paper of the Philippine Government, the Council agreed in principle, to establish the SEAFDEC Aquaculture Department in the Philippines. Based on results of the series of surveys conducted by a team of Japanese and Filipino aquaculture experts, and after securing the commitments of the Governments of Japan and the Philippines to support the operations of the new department, the SEAFDEC Council at its Sixth Meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 3-7 July 1973, agreed to formally establish the Aquaculture Department in Iloilo, Philippines, with the main function of carrying out research, training and extension activities in fish culture, and the rest is history. Now, SEAFDEC has four existing Departments: (Marine Fisheries) Training Department (TD) in Thailand, Marine Fisheries Research Department (MFRD) in Singapore, Aquaculture Department (AQD) in the Philippines, and Marine Fishery Resources Development and Management Department (MFRDMD) in Malaysia. A new department, the Inland Fishery Resources Development and Management Department (IFRDMD) is expected to be formally established very soon in Indonesia. Meanwhile, the Member Countries of SEAFDEC now include all the ASEAN member states, namely: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam, plus Japan. -
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Meeting social and economic challenges in Southeast Asian aquaculture: Targeting rural aquaculture development for poverty alleviation
-Fish for the People , 2012 - Secretariat, Southeast Asian Fisheries Development CenterIn 2010, five Southeast Asian countries led by Vietnam and followed by Indonesia, Thailand, Myanmar, and the Philippines, have successfully joined the ranks of the world’s top 10 producers of food fish from aquaculture. Taking into account aquaculture production in general which includes seaweeds, the region’s production from aquaculture had contributed more than 45% to the region’s total fishery production, about 24% to the world’s production from aquaculture, and about 10% to the world’s total fishery production in 2010. As shown in the statistics reports, most of the aforementioned countries recorded double-digit growth rates in aquaculture production from 2006 to 2010, ranging from 18 to 62 percent. Another milestone in the fisheries sector of the region is the engagement of about 11 million people in aquaculture and its ancillary industries. In spite of these figures, the region’s rural areas where aquaculture development is taking giant strides remain the most impoverished groups in most countries of Southeast Asia. In an attempt to address this concern, SEAFDEC Aquaculture Department compiled the results of the implementation of its program on Meeting Social and Economic Challenges in Aquaculture which had been tried in local setting in the Philippines, with the objective of developing aquaculture technology adoption pathways that could be promoted in the other Southeast Asian countries with the same conditions as those in study sites in the Philippines, as means of alleviating poverty in rural areas. -
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Sandfish culture technology developed
-Agriculture Magazine , 2011 - Manila Bulletin Publishing Corporation -
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Promoting sustainable aquaculture development to increase fish supply and improve livelihoods of rural people in Southeast Asia
-Fish for the People , 2011 - Secretariat, Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center -
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Sandfish: Profitable sea cucumbers also supply bioremediation
-Global Aquaculture Advocate , 2011 - Global Aquaculture AllianceSandfish, a type of sea cucumber, are both a high-value culture species and one that supports the aquaculture of other fish species by cleaning up waste on the bottoms of ponds or sea cages. Hatchery and nursery technologies for sandfish are being continuously refined by Vietnam’s Research Institute of Aquaculture No. 3, the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center and their partners. These technologies have also been initially transferred to the private sector through a training course and manual. -
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SEAFDEC Regional Fish Disease Program: Safeguarding the quality of aquaculture products and environmental integrity of the southeast Asian region
-Fish for the People , 2009 - Secretariat, Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center -
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Application of GIS in shrimp disease surveillance and monitoring
-GIS Link , 2009 - National Mapping and Resource Information Authority -
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The filter net [tangab] fishery in Iloilo Strait, Philippines: Food and livelihood for coastal communities in the midst of waste of non-target fishery resources
-Fish for the People , 2008 - Secretariat, Southeast Asian Fisheries Development CenterThe Philippines is home to a mixed of blessings: an enormous marine biodiversity, a tremendous variety of fishery enterprises, and about 50 million coastal residents who mostly fish and eat fish. So many animals and so many nets in the water result in huge total catches of target fishery species, but also unfortunately of ‘trash fish’ — huge numbers of diverse marine larvae, juveniles, small adults, and unwanted species. 'Trash fish' is a category of fisheries bycatch, which as a whole has been estimated to average about 20% worldwide, but difficult to quantify in Philippine fisheries given the large number and variety of fishers, fishing grounds, gears, species, and markets. Moreover, it is difficult to quantify the costs and benefits of a given fishery, and in particular to balance the economic benefits to the coastal communities in terms of food and livelihood versus the ecological costs of catching (killing!) untold numbers of larvae, juveniles, and small adults of innumerable species. Qualitative information is readily available, however, and this article takes as example the case of the filter net or tangab fishery in Iloilo Strait in central Philippines. A typical tangab catch from Iloilo strait is a large mixture of small sizes of low-value and non-marketable species loaded from bagnets into many wooden boxes. -
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Mangroves or aquaculture? Why not both?
-Fish for the People , 2008 - Secretariat, Southeast Asian Fisheries Development CenterThis article briefly summarizes the techniques developed, verified and/or refined during the implementation of the Project on the Promotion of Mangrove-Friendly Shrimp Aquaculture in Southeast Asia, which was implemented by the SEAFDEC Aquaculture Department from 2000 to 2005. Conducted under the ASEAN-SEAFDEC FCG collaborative mechanism, the project which received generous funding from the Government of Japan through its JTF Program, aimed to develop sustainable culture technology packages on shrimp farming that are friendly to mangroves and the environment.
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