Findings of previous studies revealed that regardless of the objective, age does affect the information-seeking behavior of an individual. Likewise, this study found the same results. Although all of the younger Filipino aquaculture researchers preferred the Internet to begin their search process, it was found that they were more frequent library users, and more reliant on librarians than their older counterparts. Likewise, they preferred the combination of print and electronic formats when reading. Thus, they would print and save the retrieved electronic copy of information at least very often. The study is a valuable addition to the information-seeking behavior studies on Filipinos, and the first to tackle the effects of age on the information-seeking behavior of Filipino aquaculture researchers.

Mangrove rehabilitation has a long history in the Philippines dating back to the 1930s. The standard practice is the planting of bakhaw Rhizophora propagules by paid community members (or volunteers) in seafront sites selected during spring low tides. In 2009, the Community-based Mangrove Rehabilitation Project (CMRP) of the Zoological Society of London was established to: (a) rehabilitate abandoned government-leased fi shponds into healthy mangroves; (b) increase coastal protection, food resources, and livelihood income through sustainable management of mangroves; and (c) re-establish the legally mandated mangrove ‘greenbelt’ along the coast. Over four years, the CMRP has planted the following in various partner sites in Panay and Guimaras: (a) 58,000 seeds or wildings bagged in nurseries by 3,000 participants, and (b) 99,000 seedlings/wildings outplanted by 4,000 planters in ~20 ha of greenbelts and abandoned ponds. The species are mainly bungalon/piapi Avicennia marina, pagatpat Sonneratia alba, and to a lesser extent, bakhaw Rhizophora. The planters include high school/college students and teachers, members of people’s organizations, barangay and municipal government employees, BFAR and DENR staff , and civil society organizations. The extensive CMRP trials have yielded signifi cant learnings, many of them paradigm shifts from present protocols, as included in the 20 Golden Rules of Mangrove Rehabilitation. A manual that documents these learnings with concrete examples based on CMRP monitoring of fi xed quadrats and other standardized protocols, is currently in press. Some of these protocols are the following: (a) planting site: shift from seafront sites to abandoned ponds (whenever possible); (b) time of site selection: during (low tide of) Neap Tide rather than Spring Tide; (c) species selection for seafront sites: the ecologically correct bungalon/piapi and pagatpat, rather than the easy-to-plant but unsuitable bakhaw; (d) sources of planting materials: use of available wildings is harvesting nature’s excess (equivalent to withdrawing from ‘seedling banks’), which also saves time; (e) labor: “No Pay” planting is based on the premise that labor contributed by the community provides the basis for ownership, thereby obligating them to nurture the plants to maturity and validating their role as de facto managers of mangrove resources. Similar mangrove initiatives have been observed elsewhere in Southeast Asia, as follows: (a) barriers/breakwater in MaIaysia, Vietnam, and Thailand; (b) use of wildings in Malaysia; and (c) mangrove ecoparks/reserves in Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and Brunei.

Seahorses (Hippocampus spp.) are commonly found in tropical coral reefs as well as in lagoons and estuaries, and are highly exploited for their high price, resulting in the listing of these seahorses in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). In fact, all seahorses are among the first marine fishes of commercial importance to be listed in both the IUCN and Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) to ensure their sustainable utilization. In promoting the protection and sustainability of this resource, efforts have been made worldwide for their conservation through stock enhancement by releasing captive-bred or captive-held seahorses. The SEAFDEC Aquaculture Department (AQD) with support from the Japanese Trust Fund through the project ‘Resource Enhancement of Internationally Threatened and Over-exploited Species in Southeast Asia through Stock Release,’ has been working on the resource enhancement of seahorses primarily by developing appropriate release and monitoring strategies, and enhancing the involvement of concerned communities in the management of the natural as well as the restocked seahorses.

Adaptation of a fish-duck-pig integrated farming system was conducted at the Busay Freshwater Experimental Farm in Babatngon, Leyte. Genetically improved farmed tilapia (GIFT) and common carp (at a ratio of 4:1) were stocked at densities of 3/m² and 6/m² in four earthen ponds; they were not given any commercial feed. Animal houses were built over the ponds and stocked with mallard ducks at a density of 375/ha, and piglets at 30/ha; they were given commercial feeds daily. After 154 days, the farming system produced a net yield of 1,685 kg fish/ha at a stocking density of 3/m² and 2,808 kg/ha at 6/m². Since water quality was not adversely affected, the higher stocking density of 6/m2 is a viable option. This farming system can be further improved and refined for better production and higher incomes.

The windowpane oyster Placuna placenta (local name kapis) used to be harvested in large quantities and support a shellcraft industry in the Philippines, particularly in Panay Island. But the fishery and the industry declined markedly by the 1990s. Studies were conducted to transplant kapis and also to develop hatchery techniques for it in an effort to counter the population depletion. Kapis with average shell heights of 7 cm and 10 cm were transplanted from Roxas City in northern Panay Island and from Oton, Iloilo in southern Panay to Taklong Island in Guimaras during the rainy season (July–November) and the dry season (February–June). Survival of the transplants was higher during the dry season (57–60%) than during the rains (35–48%). Sexually mature kapis 10 cm in shell height were induced to spawn by temperature manipulation, water level manipulation, and use of ultravioletirradiated sea water. Spawning was successfully induced by raising the water temperature to 29±0.5oC. Eggs measured 45 μm on average, and fecundity was 5,000–10,000 per female. Kapis larvae were reared on a combination of the microalgae Isochrysis galbana, Tetraselmis sp., and Chaetoceros calcitrans, maintained at a density of 100,000 cells/ml. Three water treatment schemes were tested for larval rearing: chlorination, ultraviolet irradiation, and filtration (control). Larvae survived to the umbo veliger stage (180 μm, day 10) in chlorinated sea water whereas mass mortality occurred at the straight-hinge stage (days 4–) in both UV-treated and filtered sea water.

The effect of low pH on the tactile sense of Macrobrachium rosenbergii postlarvae was determined in the laboratory by means of two behavioural assays: shelter (netting) occupancy and jumping response to touch stimuli (taps) by a glass micropipette. The postlarvae were acclimated to pH 4, pH 5, pH 6 and pH 7.5 (control) in 45 L aquaria 5−7 d before the experiments. Shelter occupancy decreased with pH and was significantly lower at pH 4 and pH 5 than at pH 6 and in the control. The jumping response instantly followed a tap 93−98% of the time in the control, pH 6 and pH 5 treatments. However, the postlarvae showed significantly lower jumping response (65%) at pH 4, indicating an impaired tactile sense. Low pH 4−5 probably degrades the chitin of the sensory setae and inhibits the surface mechanoreceptors of the prawn postlarvae.

The effects of two stocking densities and two feed combinations on growth, survival and production of the giant tiger shrimp Penaeus monodon in floating net cages were studied in an attempt to refine the existing technology on cage culture of tiger shrimp for the benefit of small- and medium-scale fish farmers. Four treatments were tested, replicated in time: stocking density of 100 shrimp/m2, feeding with 70% commercial shrimp pellets P and 30% 'trash fish' F; 100 shrimp/m2 and 50% P + 50% F; 200 shrimp/m2 and 70% P + 30% F; and 200 shrimp/m2 and 50% P + 50% F. Harvested after 93–95 d, the shrimps at the lower density treatments were significantly larger and had greater proportion of good sizes (>18 g body weight). Although the combination of 70% P + 30% F resulted in better growth, the combination of 50% P + 50% F resulted in more good-size shrimps. Survival, production, and gross income were not significantly different among treatments. None of the treatments in this study was economically viable. Gross income was very low due to poor growth and survival, mostly due to luminous vibriosis, then a new disease that eventually wiped out many shrimp hatcheries and ponds around Panay Island.

A total of 2,643 kg of groupers were collected from six markets (96% of the biomass) and from prescribed fish traps in three fishing grounds (106 kg, 4%) around Zamboanga City and Basilan from November 1993 to October 1994. The collection included 26 species in seven genera: Aethaloperca, Cephalopholis, Cromileptis, Epinephelus, Niphon, Plectropomus, and Variola. The three species of highest biomass were Epinephelus fasciatus (26%), Cephalopholis sonnerati (14%) and Cromileptis altivelis (13%). The least biomass was contributed by Epinephelus sexfasciatus (0.1%), Plectropomus areolatus (0.1%), and Cephalopholis sexmaculatus (0.3%). Grouper biomass was lower from November to April and greater from May to October. Groupers caught by the prescribed fish traps were mostly Epinephelus merra (50% of the total). The highest catch of grouper was 0.8 kg/fish trap around Sta. Cruz Island in July, and the highest catch of all demersal fishes was 7 kg/trap around Malamawi Island in September. On average, groupers made up less than 10% of the monthly catch of fish traps. The groupers collected from the markets and from the fish traps averaged 28 cm in total length— all young juveniles. Cromileptes altivelis (average 38 cm) were the largest individuals and Plectropomus spp. (36 cm) similarly so. The largest C. altivelis (1.5 kg) was caught in December and the smallest (0.8 kg) in April and August. The various Cephalopholis species averaged 31 cm, and the various Epinephelus species were smallest at 26 cm. Groupers were largest in December and smallest between January and May. Length-weight equations were derived for seven grouper species. Of the 78 grouper stomachs that were dissected, 52 were empty and 26 contained food, mainly crabs, anchovies, hermit crabs, soldierfish, squids, and shrimps. Groupers with mature and ripe varies had from 3,000 to 11,000 eggs per gram ovary.

In Capiz, northern Panay, grouper catches by hand picking, hook and line, shelters, and fish corral were low throughout the year, on average 1-3 fish from each fishing operation, but higher in Tinagong Dagat than in Sapian Bay. Epinephelus coioides was the most common of the three grouper species collected; E. quoyanus and E. malabaricus were not numerous. The 882 specimens of E. coioides from Tinagong Dagat measured from 3.6 to 39 cm in standard length; the 250 E. coioides from Sapian Bay were between 1.7 and 31.2 cm SL. The size distribution showed a modal length of about 17 cm SL (21% of the fish) in Tinagong Dagat, and 11 cm (26%) in Sapian Bay. Small juveniles 2–8 cm were collected from Tinagong Dagat in January-April 1993, but not in Jan-Apr 1994. Such small juveniles were also collected from Sapian Bay in January and in April–August 1993. Groupers 9–23 cm occurred year round, but the 9–15 cm group was more abundant from January to June. At both sites, groupers >30 cm could hardly be found. Both grouper habitats experienced wide ranges of water temperature, salinity, and dissolved oxygen during the year.

Interviews were conducted among respondents identified from the households, agriculture farms, sugar mills, and fish farms along the whole stretch of Imbang River, Malisbog River, and Muyao Creek, down to Barangay Balaring at the coast of Silay City in Negros Occidental. Among the 1,073 households, 11% used river water for washing clothes, but 20% also used the rivers for disposal of waste waters, 11% for human wastes, and 13% for animal wastes. Among the 30 respondents from the agriculture sector, 70% discharged water into the river. The two sugar mills in the area treated waste waters partially before release into the rivers; one sugar mill also released wastes in a nearby rice field. Milling wastes such as bagasse, molasses, and mud press were reused and not dumped into the river. Imbang River was both the water source and wastewater sink for seven fish farms.