Aquaculture production in Thailand has been practiced for a long time. Thailand has a huge flood plain, long riverine stretches, natural lakes, reservoirs and brackish-water areas along the coastline. On the Gulf of Thailand and Andaman Sea there are approximately 2,600 kms of shoreline. Marine shrimp farming in Thailand has been part of the culture for the last 80 years (Tookwinas, 1994). However, the technology of intensive shrimp farming has expanded significantly along the coastal province in the last two decades. Presently, Thailand has become the leading country in shrimp production in the world market since 1991 (World Shrimp Farming, 2004) with a total production area of approximately 75,000 ha and 30,800 farmers and production of 330,000 tons in 2003. Recent statistics show that 37 percent of shrimp farmers are small operators utilizing a farming area less than 0.8 ha, the area between 0.8–1.6 ha of 28%, the area between 1.6–4.8 ha of 24% and the area over 4.8 ha of 11% (National Statistical Office, 2000). The farming species are Penaeus monodon and P. vannamei. More than 95 percent of marine farming production has been exported frozen, headless and with the shell on. The importing countries are United States, Japan, European Countries, Canada and etc.

Malaysia has a long coastline of 4,055 kilometers (km), of which 1,640 km is in Peninsular Malaysia and 2,415 km is in the state of Sabah and Sarawak. With the declaration of the 200 miles Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), the total fishing area of Malaysia has expended to 160,000 square nautical miles. Given this large fishing area, fisheries are a significant sector in the Malaysian economy. The sector produced 1.5 million mt of fish valued at about RM5 B in 2003. The marine fisheries production was 1.3 million mt valued at RM4 B, constituting 1.4 % of the Gross Domestic Production (GDP). The aquaculture production was 196,874 mt valued at over RM1.2 B constituting only 13% of the total fisheries production. In the case of the marine capture fisheries, the bulk of the landings came from trawl nets (57%), purse-seine nets (21%) and traditional gerars (22%). Whereas in aquaculture, cockles (Anadara granosa) is the dominant harvest, accounting for 37% of the total aquaculture production. With regard to employment, the fishing industry involves about 89,400 fishermen and 21,100 aquaculturists giving a total of 110,500 people. In 2002, Malaysia exported an estimated 198,892 mt of fisheries products valued at RM1.5B. The bulk of the exports were higher for chilled fresh fish and frozen crustaceans mainly shrimps to Japan, Singapore and USA. At the same time, Malaysia imported an estimated 353,794 mt from neighboring country Thailand valued at RM1.3 B. In terms of quantity, Malaysia was a net importer of fish but in terms of value there was a net gain in foreign exchange to the tune of RM156 M. Traditionally, the mainstay or backbone of the Malaysian fisheries is the inshore sub-sector both in terms of production and socio-economic considerations. However, the inshore sub-sector has reached a saturation point as evidenced by declining catch rates in recent years. This is coupled with substantial fisheries resources in the EEZ waters of Malaysia and vast potentials for aquaculture development in the country. Focus of development has been shifted towards offshore fisheries and aquaculture.

Shrimp culture is playing an important role in the contribution of foreign exchange earnings in Indonesia. However, for two decades, particularly in 1985 to 1994 the production of shrimp (P. monodon) had drastically decreased from 180,000 mt in 1984 to 35,058 mt in 1994, although total production of shrimp from both capture and aquaculture increased in the next 10 years, obtaining annual growth rate of 3.50%, from 170,563 mt in 1993 up to 477,332 mt in 2003. Production from aquaculture itself has merely grown to 2.80%. This was due to disease problem caused mainly by viral diseases called Monodon Baculovirus (MBV) and White Spot Syndrome Virus (WSSV), which started in 2000. The total shrimp export showed a significant increase in ten years for both volume and value, with growth rate of 4.91% for volume and 0.78% for value, gaining 98.569 mt worth US $ 867,703 in 1993 to 137,636 metric tonnes worth US $ 850,222 in 2003. Taking into account that shrimp culture is one of the prime commodities, potential to increase foreign exchange earnings, the Government has made some efforts to cope with disease problems besetting the industry. In this regard, the Director General of Aquaculture, Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries (DGA-MOMAF) is considering other shrimp culture species as alternative. In 2000, DGA made a business breakthrough by giving license to the private sectors to import broodstock and post larvae of P. vannamei into the country. Since then, the P. vannamei culture has been practiced in potential provinces in Indonesia. The success story of P. vannamei culture has encouraged many farmers who used to culture P. monodon, to try the new shrimp species. This increased shrimp aquaculture production, contributing 37.11 % to national production in 1999 and 41.2 % in 2003.

The manual describes methods used at the SEAFDEC Aquaculture Department in order to establish milkfish broodstock. It is presented under the following major section headings: Establishing broodstock farms; Farms for rearing bangus juveniles; Maturation cages for rearing broodstock to maturity; Gathering data; Spawning and egg collection; and Larval rearing.

Phytoplankton composition and density were studied in three (3) stations in West Bay, Laguna Lake. Blue-green algae and diatoms were the most abundant in terms of cell density. Green algae had the most number of species. Diatoms predominated in the early parts of the year, under intense light conditions. Pulses of green algae were evident toward the end of the year, under high nitrogen concentrations. BIP (Biological Index of Pollution) values were very much affected by seasonal variations in the phytoplankton community.

The backflow of Pasig River into Laguna de Bay was closely monitored beginning April 28, 1997 based on the expected high tide in Manila Bay and the average low lake level of 2.5 m in Station W (N 14°27.7'; E 121°08.5') located at the west lobe of the lake. Saltwater intrusion was first detected during of the highest high tide (i.e., 1.5 m at 1430 h) on April 29. Water from Pasig River flowing into the lake was black and had a characteristic odor of hydrogen sulfide. With the light house (or 'Parola') at the mouth of Pasig River as the reference point, movement of saltwater in the lake was monitored and the area affected estimated with the use of GPS 38 Personal Navigator®. Up to mid May (Week 2), the movement of saltwater into Laguna de Bay was hampered by the intermittent calm weather conditions and moderately strong northeasterly wind ('hanging amihan'). When the wind direction shifted and the southwesterly wind ('hanging habagat') became strong on Week 3 (May 18 to 20), strong water movement and fast diffusion of saltwater into the other parts of the west lobe of the lake were observed. During this period of rapid change in the lake (May 21-24), a high frequency monitoring was conducted in Station W. Fluctuations in chloride ion concentration, conductivity and total dissolved solids, Secchi disc reading, turbidity, dissolved oxygen, and other parameters were noted in the station. Heavy rainfall in the area on May 24-26 and run-offs from the watershed and overflow from the river tributaries increased the lake level. The elevation of the water level resulted in draining out of the lake water into Pasig River to Manila Bay and this practically ended the year's saltwater intrusion into Laguna de Bay. Movement of saltwater reached almost the whole area of the west and central lobes of the lake on the first week of June (week 5) as evidenced by the clearing of water in those areas. It was estimated that clearing of the entire lake because of saltwater movement takes about 2-3 months.

Nile Tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus, cultured in cages in Laguna de Bay, were sampled on two occasions in 1995, each time over a 24-hour cycle. The weights of stomach content were averaged and analysed with the computer model MAXIMS. The model predicted that, in May, larger fish feeding on natural food alone fed continuously from dawn to dusk, ingesting 4.9 to 5.4% of their body weight (wet weight basis) whereas smaller fish had two feeding periods per day, from sunrise to mid-morning and again from mid-afternoon until after sunset, ingesting between 13.0 and 13.7%. In August, fish were given supplemental feed that ran out around mid-day, after which they continued to ingest natural food. The fish ingested 3.8 to 4.0% supplemental feed and 4.4 to 4.7% natural food per day. In May, most of the stomach contents consisted of the blue-green alga Anabaena spiroides, whereas in August, the natural food was made up principally of detritus. On the basis of these findings, it is recommended that supplemental feed be given in several doses spread throughout the day.

An ecological assessment was done on the seven major lakes in the Philippines, namely; Laguna de Bay, Taal, Naujan, Lanao, Mainit, Buluan, and Bato. The assessment was based largely on secondary data and some primary data. The ecological parameters considered for each lake were focused on published information as well as those unpublished but were made accessible to the author by researchers and agencies of government. The different lakes are classified into three ecological categories, namely; critically degraded, degraded, threatened, and underdeveloped. Where adequate data on a lake is available, emphasis is also given on the examination of the nature of land use, lake development measures, climatic variations in terms of rainfall, and ecological conditions in the lake as they affect fish production. Finally, lake specific and general recommendations are forwarded for management purposes.

This paper reviews historical and recent data on biodiversity, fisheries, exotic fishes, and aquaculture in Philippine lakes and rivers. The country's lakes and rivers are poor in primary freshwater fishes because the Philippines' only connection with the Asian mainland had been through land bridges between Borneo, the Sulu islands, Mindanao, Palawan and Mindoro - in which islands endemic carps have evolved. Philippine lakes and rivers instead have secondary freshwater fishes such as gobies, migratory marine fishes such as mullets, and some snails, clams, and prawns. Most lakes and rivers have been severely degraded and their biodiversity reduced by siltation, pollution, overfishing, and the establishment of exotic fishes from other countries or elsewhere in the country. Many fishes first described in the Philippines in 1910-1940 by Seale, Herre, and Filipino ichthyologists have not been collected in recent years. The Laguna de Bay fishery in the early 1960s was largely dependent on the 'ayungin' Therapon plumbeus, 'biyang puti' Glossogobius giurus, and the 'kanduli' Arius manilensis that together comprised 95% of the annual 83,000 mt; another 19,000 mt came from shrimps and 245,000 mt from snails. Fishing and snail-dredging were so intense that catches declined and the whole lake fishery collapsed around 1970. After the collapse, the primary production of the lake increased and milkfish and tilapia became natural choices for aquaculture. Lake Lanao became famous for its species flock of 18 endemic carps, but these are now extinct, except perhaps two species. In 1963, these carps contributed 981 mt to the fishery, other native fishes 269 mt, shrimps and snails 257 mt, and introduced fishes 479 mt. Twenty years later, endemic carps have made up only 92 mt, native fishes 141 mt, shrimps and snails 164 mt, and introduced fishes 312 mt of the harvest from the lake. The 'kadurog' G. giurus, probably stocked in the lake with milkfish larvae in 1955, proliferated in the 1960s and apparently drove the endemic carps to extinction. The 'katolong' Hypseleotris agilis was first seen in the lake in 1977 and has since outcompeted the 'kadurog'. In Lakes Taal and Naujan, migratory marine fishes have been caught by fish corrals set across the outlets, but the catch along Pansipit River has fallen since the turn of the century and that in Butas River fell from 62 mt in 1977 to 17 mt in 1983. Catches of the endemic sardine Harengula tawilis in Lake Taal fluctuated between 4,400 mt in 1983 to 11,300 mt in 1990 and 1,400 mt in 1994. Cage culture of tilapia and milkfish has been going on in Lake Taal for 10 years. In Lakes Buhi and Bato, the endemic 'sinarapan' Mistichthys luzonensis almost disappeared due to fine-net fishing and tilapia stocking; catches have been 50-90 mt in 1983-93 but zero in 1994.

Copepods, specifically calanoid copepods, play an important role in the productivity of aquatic ecosystems since they serve as a crucial link between primary producers and carnivores. In tropical reservoirs and lakes, they are not only a major source of food for many invertebrates and zooplanktivorous fish, but also good biological indicators. Calanoid/cyclopoid-cladoceran ratio is used in limnological studies as an indicator of water quality. In the past, studies in the Philippines on copepods and other freshwater zooplankton have dealt only on their taxonomy and distribution. Filipinodiaptomus insulanus is a calanoid copepod recognized as endemic to the country with its distribution restricted to the areas of Bulacan, Laguna and other parts of Rizal. Furthermore it is the only calanoid copepod found in the La Mesa Reservoir in Novaliches, Quezon City. This paper is a synthesis of three studies of F. insulanus obtained from La Mesa Reservoir. It aims to provide additional baseline information about the organism, particularly on its postembryonic development, feeding habits, and density fluctuations of its life history stage in the reservoir.