The paper presents the usefulness of beta-glucans as immunostimulants for strengthening the non-specific defense system of a wide range of animals. In Taiwan, researchers tested the effects of beta-glucans on the vibriosis resistance of tiger shrimp Penaeus monodon which yield promising results. They suggest that supplementation of beta-glucan at 0.5 mg per ml is sufficient in strengthening the non-specific defense mechanism of postlarval shrimp.

The paper discusses about probiotics and its possible use in shrimp aquaculture. The paper also provides information on how the probiotics work and presents the preliminary results of the field tests conducted by Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center, Aquaculture Department and BIOPOND Systems. The general characteristics of Bacillus are also discussed.

The paper discusses the four most destructive shrimp pathogens, such as MBV, the monodon baculovisrus, IHHNV, the infectious hypodermal and hematopoietic necrosis virus, Vibrio harveyi, the luminous bacteria, and WSBV, the white spot syndrome-associated baculovirus. The effects, detection method and treatment for the four pathogens were also briefly discussed.

Philippine coastal communities can become capable fishery resource managers and that their management practices can become largely self-sustaining if the project approach focuses on assisting fishermen to learn how to help themselves. Community organization is an essential part of the process and should not be viewed as an end product in itself. There are also no quick fixes, and projects require a complex array of activities if large numbers of coastal residents are to be assisted. In some of these projects, the control of illegal fishing combined with limiting of commercial fishing to offshore areas and good coastal habitat management resulted in a doubling of daily fish catch and income for small-scale fishermen. However, even with the best of management, the total fishery harvest is limited and further increases in individual fishing income can only come from reducing total fishing effort. This will require a system of control on access to the resource to limit the number and kind of fishing gears and to divide the resource equitably. Assisting coastal communities to devise and implement realistic equitable access controls is the major challenge facing coastal resource co-management.

The paper discusses the recommended strategies regarding the further conversion of mangrove forests to fishponds and the management of existing fishponds for the culture of various aquatic species based on economic feasibility analysis. Strategy for the management of Philippine mangrove and the guidelines for the selection of mangrove areas for preservation, conservation and fishpond development are also presented.

The document reviews and evaluates the development of shrimp culture in the Philippines. It also discusses the ecological and socioeconomic effects of shrimp culture industry in the country.

This issue presents the shrimp production trends in Asia-Pacific, along with notes on the diseases devastating the industry and interviews with shrimp farmers in the Philippines. The options of shrimp farmers -- which are really quite limited and largely experimental - are discussed. These options include probiotics, the use of beta-glucans as immunostimulant, closed recycling systems. Farmers may also opt to farm other high-value species like grouper, mudcrab, or even milkfish to make use of the ponds they have invested quite a lot on. This issue also discusses Philippine government efforts to revive the shrimp industry, as well as AQD's R&D priorities for shrimp as worked out in various consultations with AQD's program partners and industry practitioners.

The milkfish Chanos chanos is a food of the common tao (man) and one of the most important fishes farmed in the Philippines. It is also a cultural symbol in the country, a national fish no less. To develop the milkfish industry, the Philippine Government established the National Bangus Breeding Program (NBBP) in 1981. NBBP was undertaken by the Department of Agriculture and the SEAFDEC Aquaculture Department with funding support from the International Development Research Centre of Canada. NBBP's target is commercial production of fry using the milkfish breeding and hatchery techniques developed by SEAFDEC. NBBP has twelve project sites, one in each of the country's regions. The Philippine Government recently decided to privatize the NBBP stations when technical and administrative problems remain unsolved. There was no commercial production of milkfish fry in most of the stations despite almost 10 years of operation. The questions that potential investors are now asking themselves are: • What is the economic prospect of milkfish breeding in the country? • Is the bangus breeding technology "ripe"? • How much money will be invested? • Where are these stations to be privatized? • What about their status? • What are the mechanics of the privatization? • Where will we get the human resources to run the business? This issue on milkfish breeding attempts to answer these questions.