Aquanews ~ Summer 1997

1

Charles Frederick Hickling (C.M.G., M.A., SC.D) was a British fisheries officerwho served as the Fisheries Adviser to the British Colonial Office and acted as

Director of the Tropical Fish Culture Research Institute, Malacca, Federation ofMalaya (Malaysia). As a pioneer of aquaculture he was an advocate of fish farming asa means of providing stocks which could be managed more effectively and with greaterproductivity than natural fisheries. In spite of his enthusiasm for the potential ofaquaculture as a source of food production, he never envisaged that it could attain thelevels of productivity that have been currently achieved.

He authored a number of aquaculture and fisheries related books, among them Fish

Culture (1962) and The Farming of Fish (1968).

B rigitte Goetze, CRSP DeputyDirector, met with Marco IvánRodríguez at the World Aqua-

culture Society Meeting in Seattle thisyear to learn how research carried outunder the CRSP filters down to farmers.

In 1978 Rodríguez attended AuburnUniversity for a nine-month trainingcourse, followed by four months offish processing in Peru, two months inMexico working on fish and shrimpnutrition, and four months in Israelworking on fish production andfarming and studying in an extensiontraining program.

In 1984 he became the manager of theHonduran Dirección General de Pescay Acuicultura’s Research Station at ElCarao, where he came into contactwith the CRSP research program. ElCarao Station is the PD/A CRSPs re-search site in Honduras. Rodríguez alsoparticipated with the CRSP in the LandUse and Productivity Enhancement(LUPE) project. This was a jointUSAID and Honduran Ministry ofNatural Resources project to developagriculture, including aquaculture, inupland areas, with an emphasis onsustainability and the protection ofwater quality.

In Rodríguez’ opinion, the mostimportant aspect of the CRSPs workhas been research into the sex-reversalof tilapia. He believes that the CRSPhas developed the best sex-reversaltechniques in the world—techniqueswhich he now uses on his own farm.

In 1992 he left the CRSP site at ElCarao to become manager of acommercial fish farm in Honduras calledRed Tilapia San Eduardo. Two years

Sustainable Aquaculturefor a Secure Future

POND DynAMICS/ Aquaculture COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH SUPPORT PROGRAM NEWSLETTER

Volume 12, Number 1/Summer 1997 Oregon State University ISSN 1062-4996

T he CRSP has spent years trying to make ponds green. Green waterindicates plenty of algae and other creatures which are essential for goodfish production. As fish farmers and research biologists, the first comfort

for us after fertilizing the ponds is seeing the water turn green. The datacrunchers are contented with seeing a straight regression line and highcorrelation between phytoplankton levels and fish yield. Green water makes usall happy. After all, we are ableto produce tilapia from thosegreen ponds at yields as highas 8,000 kg/ha/year—almostone order of magnitudegreater than the legendaryHickling’s ponds in Malacca afew decades ago.

We at the Asian Institute ofTechnology (AIT) have beenworking in collaboration with theRoyal Thai Department ofFisheries (DOF). Armed withconvincing data and graphs ofimpressive fish productionresulting from our experimentalponds, we gave seminars to the biologists of the DOF on principles and practices ofpond fertilization. We then received authority from DOF to pursue extension work inThailand. The next step was to transfer our pond fertilization technology to theproducers—the small-scale farmers in rural northeast Thailand.

This region is the target for many international aid projects due to its largepopulation, its relative poverty, and a harsh climate. The poor in this regiondepend a great deal on fish for their protein intake. Annual per capita fish

Green Water Revolution in Northeast Thailandby C. Kwei Lin

Crops growing on the dykes of fish ponds in northeast Thailand.

C. K

wei

Lin

. . . continued on p. 10

Interview with an Alumnusby John Baker

. . . continued on p. 3

2

T aura Virus Syndrome hassignificantly affected shrimpproduction in Latin America.

The Taura virus can result inmortalities of 70-90%. In response tothis problem, many shrimp farmersin Honduras and Ecuador are nowcultivating tilapia. Some farms areexperimenting with fish-shrimppolyculture, while in areas whereshrimp culture is no longerprofitable, some producers aremaking use of existing ponds byturning them over exclusively tocultivating tilapia.

Although tilapia are primarilycultivated as a freshwater fish, their

POND© software, the decisionsupport system for aquaculture,developed by CRSP researchers

at Oregon State University, has beenmade freely available to interestedparties through the Internet. JohnBolte and Shree Nath of the CRSPsData Analysis and Synthesis Team atOSU have made the programdownloadable from a WWW site.

Comments left by thosedownloading the software from theWeb site suggest that POND© is beingpositively received by a variety ofusers from around the world.Recipients of the software includebusinesses, systems modelers,speculative and practicingaquaculturists, students, researchers,government agencies, and overseasdevelopment groups. The program isbeing applied to a wide range ofaquacultural projects, freshwater andmarine, tropical and cool water. Theprogram is similarly being applied to awide range of finfish, including carpspecies, salmonids, tambaqui, andtilapia, as well as crustaceans.

POND© Version 3.0 focuses onproviding a detailed view of pond

aquaculture at both the individualpond and facility levels. Analysis isaccomplished primarily by the use ofsimulation models combined with aneconomics package that can generateenterprise budgets for a pond facility.The models are organizedhierarchically and proceed fromsimple ones (where fish growth, pondvolume, and water temperature arethe only state variables) to morecomplex ones which describephytoplankton, zooplankton, bacterial,and water quality/sediment dynamicsin addition to fish growth, pondvolume, and water temperature.

POND© can be accessed at the URL:<http://biosys.bre.orst.edu/pond/pond.htm>. √

The program has been downloadedby people in: Argentina, Australia,

Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia,Denmark, Ecuador, Hungary, Italy,Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand,Norway, Portugal, Philippines, SouthAfrica, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, UK,US, and Venezuela.

POND© Feedbackby John Baker

Excelente. Muy Bueno. Thanks—Fernandez Bouzas, SpainThank you for supplying this software to users free of charge—very important in developing countries—

Eddy, AustraliaThis is a highly informative website for aquaculture producers—Caratao, USA

Tilapia Aids Shrimp FarmingBy John Baker

PD/A CRSP Comings and GoingsPD/A CRSP Board of Directors.Koong is Associate Dean of theCollege of Agricultural Sciences andAssociate Director of the OregonAgricultural Experiment Station. Wewelcome him to the program and lookforward to his participation in theCRSP in the coming years.

T he Program Management Officehas added a new member to the

team—Financial Manager ClareLaFond. LaFond comes to the CRSPfrom the private sector and bringswith her considerable experience andexpertise in financial analysis,planning, and administration. Whenwe say were pleased that she’s onboard, we really mean it!

C RSP participants bid farewell toDr. Phil Helfrich, Director

Emeritus, Hawaii Institute of MarineBiology, who retired from the PD/ACRSP this spring after a long andproductive tenure with the program.Helfrich began his earlycollaboration with the CRSP in 1983as a principal investigator. In 1986he was appointed to serve asUniversity of Hawaii representativeon the CRSPs Board of Directors.Since 1989 he served as Board Chair.We wish him much good fortune inhis future endeavors.

O regon State University’sDr. L.J. (Kelvin) Koong was

recently appointed to serve on the

T he CRSPs External EvaluationPanel now counts member Dr.

Kevan Main, Deputy Director of theHarbor Branch OceanographicInstitution, among its ranks. Before herwork with HBOI, Main served asDirector of the USDAs Center forTropical and Subtropical Aquaculture.We look forward to her contributions tothe program as a member of the EEP.

A nother addition to the PD/ACRSPs Board of Directors is Dr.

Shadrach Okiror-Okiror from theUniversity of Arkansas at Pine Bluff.Okiror-Okiror is presently Director ofInternational Programs at UAPB andhas extensive overseas experience inagricultural development. Welcome!

R etiring from the CRSP is WayneSeim, long-time CRSP principal

investigator and one of the chiefreasons the CRSPs research efforts inRwanda were so successful. (As manyof you know, the CRSP was forced toabandon work there in 1994 because ofgreat political upheaval.) Seim’scollaboration with the CRSP began in1985. His decision to retire from theDepartment of Fish and Wildlife atOregon State University carried with ithis stepping down from involvement inthe CRSP. Seim will be missed by many,and we wish him the best of luck in thefuture.

Aquanews ~ Summer 1997

3

tions. However, fingerlings can bestocked into ponds or cages placedin ponds, or supply or drain canals.

Pond salinities in the shrimpfarming regions of the Pacific Coastof Central America experience lowsalinity (less than 25%o) during andafter the rainy season, from May toDecember. This 7-8 month periodprovides the best tilapia growingseason on that coast. However,rainier conditions on the AtlanticCoast may allow tilapia culture to becarried out in shrimp ponds yearround.

Initial experimentation withshrimp-tilapia polyculture seems tobe meeting with favorable results. Inthe Philippines, shrimp-tilapia

natural habitats experience a rangeof salinities. Their naturally hightolerance to salt water providespotential for adoption by shrimpfarmers, who cultivate penaeidshrimps which are marine species.Nile and blue tilapia can toleratesalinities as high as 36-40%o,growing well in salinities of 36%o,while O. mossambicus, Florida,Taiwanese, and other strains of redtilapia can grow well at 36%o–fullstrength sea water.

High levels of salinity do seem toadversely affect tilapia reproduc-tion, and tolerance to salinityincreases with size, so fingerlingproduction is still best carried out infreshwater or low salinity condi-

farmers. Over a four year period hehas supplied fingerlings, and accom-panying aquaculture advice, to some25 farmers.

Rodríguez believes strongly in theneed for the adequate training of fishfarm workers. Currentlypoor stock managementleads to fish mortalities.Hands-on teaching isneeded to effectivelyteach techniques of fishstocking, handling, andmanagement. Trainingoppor-tunities doalready exist, but insome cases the courseleaders themselveswould benefit from acontinuing educationprogram to keep themabreast of improvedtechniques.

According toRodríguez, tilapia mayeven have a role in theshrimp-farmingbusiness. Currentlyshrimp-farming faces theproblem of pollutionfrom farms, and theadverse effects that thiscan place on localenvironments. There is aneed to im-prove waterquality on shrimp farms,and the addition of tilapia

later he started his own Palillos FishFarm in Comayagua, producingfingerlings and broodstock. The farm,employing five permanent and two tothree temporary staff, produced half amillion fingerlings in 1996 with plansto produce one million in 1997. It alsoproduced 50,000 broodstock, expor-ting to Brazil and Guatemala. Rodrí-guez reports that there is a greatdemand for tilapia and that he is ableto sell everything that he produces.

“People love them,” he notes. Thepreferred harvest size is 200-250 g.Rodríguez used to give a week-longstudy course at the Escuela AgricolaPanamericana in Zamorano, onoptimum harvest size, called “The Sizeof Your Hunger.”

Rodríguez provides technicalassistance to other fish farms inclu-ding the four big tilapia farmers inHonduras. He also provides freetechnical assistance to his own clients.In fact, Rodríguez stipulates that hewill only supply fingerlings andbroodstock to farmers on the conditionthat they follow his husbandry advice—expertise gained through the CRSP.Not only does this practice protectRodríguez from taking unjust blame inthe event that fish supplied by him diein the hands of untrained customers,but it also serves to transfer techniquesdeveloped by the CRSP to local

Interview . . . from p. 1

and clams to shrimp systemsmay be one way to achieve this.Sooner or later, Rodríguez believes,there will be a need for more workerstrained in fish production within theshrimp farming business. √

Marco Iván Rodríguez

Ma

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polyculture has been found to bemore productive than monocultureof tiger shrimps or Nile tilapia.

In Honduras it has even beensuggested that tilapia consumeshrimp which are killed by Tauravirus in the pond and hence,possibly, reduce the spread of thevirus between the crustaceans. √

Sources:Shrimp Industry’s Interest in Cultivating

Tilapia, Acua-Noticias Zamorano,1 July 1996.

B.W. Green. Inclusion of tilapia as adiversification strategy for penaeidshrimp culture. Proceedings of IVSimposio Centroamericano DeAcuacultura, Tegucigalpa, Honduras,22-24 April, 1997.

4

Some members of the panelrequested that EdOp Net, theeducational opportunities networkmonthly newsletter, be madeavailable in Spanish. As a result, aSpanish-language version of theAugust issue of EdOp Net will bereviewed by the HondurasEducation Advisory Panel todetermine if it is useful enough to becirculated to the general public.

The panel is continuing its workby developing criteria for selecting acandidate for the graduate studentopportunity to be chosen this fall,and by assisting in the developmentand promotion of short courses.Members of the panel agree thatworking on the advisory panelcreates an opportunity for aquacultureproducers, educators, researchers, andgovernment officials to network. TheEDC will use the Honduras panel as amodel in establishing similar panels inthe other countries where the PD/ACRSP collaborates and where humancapacity development is a limitingfactor in the growth of aquaculture. √

T he Education Advisory Panelfor Honduras first cametogether in Tegucigalpa,

Honduras, in April when itsinaugural meeting was held justbefore the Central American Sympo-sium on Aquaculture (22-24 April).The panel is made up of peoplethroughout the spectrum ofHonduran aquaculture —that is,representatives of government,educational institutions, and privatebusiness.

The panel agreed that there is agreat need for training at all levelsfor aquaculture development to“take off” in Honduras. Generalareas of need include long-termtraining to develop human capacityfor research and research adminis-tration so that aquaculture researchstations can, in the future, operateunder the direction of Hondurans.Short-term needs include technicaltraining in production managementand techniques and businessmanagement training to helpfarmers develop business plans andimprove their marketing strategies.

One of the panel’s recommenda-tions was that the CRSP EducationDevelopment Component (EDC)support a graduate student to studyat a CRSP-affiliated university for aMaster ’s degree relating closely toCRSP research topics, and with anemphasis in research and researchadministration.

The panel will also help develop aschedule of short courses to beoffered in Honduras over the nextfour years. Short courses willaddress topics of immediate concernto producers and will be self-supporting through participants’registration fees. Carole Engle, aCRSP researcher based at theUniversity of Arkansas at Pine Bluff,will present the first short course inearly September, introducingconcepts on business plan develop-ment, farm management, andmarketing. Later in the year, morein-depth workshops on each topicwill follow up the introductorysession.

New Education Advisory Panel for Hondurasby Marion McNamara, Education Development Component Coordinator

If you’re not alreadygetting it, you mightwant to subscribe toE d O p N e t . H e r e ’ swhy...and how.

EdOp Net i s a f ree month lynewslet ter publ ished by theEducation Development Component(EDC) of the Pond Dynamics/Aquaculture CRSP. The EDC worksto increase training and educationopportunities that complement CRSPresearch activities. Each month,EdOp Net provides updates oneducation, training, and employmentopportunities that may be ofinterest to PD/A CRSP participantsand to aquaculture researchers,students, and practitioners in thegeneral aquaculture and developmentcommunities.

EdOp Net is provided in bothelectronic and paper formats. Toreceive EdOp Net each month, sendan email request to <mcnamarm@ucs.orst.edu> and specify whetheryou would like to receive anelectronic or hard copy (includeyour full address in either case).EdOp Net can also be accessed onthe World Wide Web at: <http://www.orst.edu/Dept/crsp/edops/

edop.html>.

M embers of the Education Advisory Panel for Honduras are:

Francisco Avalos, Executive Director, AsociacionNacional de Acuacultores de Honduras, (ANDAH)

Medardo Galindo, Gerente General of the Federation ofAgricultural Exports of Honduras (FPX)

Rosa Garcia, Director, Direccion General de Pesca yAcuacultura (DIGEPESCA)

Bartholomew Green, Co-Principal Investigator, PD/ACRSP Honduras project

Daniel Meyer, Head, Animal Sciences Department of thePan-American Agricultural School (EAP)

Dr. Marco Polo Micheletti Bain, Vice-Minister,Secretaria de Agricultura y Ganaderia

Marion McNamara, CRSP Education DevelopmentComponent Coordinator

Luis Morales, Chief, Research Department,DIGEPESCA

Marco Tulio Sarmiento, Chief, Aquaculture Department,DIGEPESCA

Alberto Zelaya, Gerente General, ANDAH

Aquanews ~ Summer 1997

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NOTE: Kevin Hopkins is expanding andediting Ryan’s presentation, with the viewto submission for publication in anaquaculture journal.

R yan Mashiyama, a 9th grader at Waiakea High School, Hawaii, received anaward in the Senior Research division of the annual Hawaii State Scienceand Engineering Fair, held in Honolulu earlier this year. His project “The

effect of bias on the estimation of fish growth curves” was a mathematicalinvestigation of sampling bias incurred by seine netting. Ryan’s mentor for thisproject was Kevin Hopkins, a former CRSP Principal Investigator. Ryan was ableto use PD/ACRSP data ashis source ofmeasurementsof seine-nettedfish.

The purposeof the Scienceand Engineer-ing Fair is toencourage andrecognize theefforts andresults of scien-tific investiga-tions by second-ary studentsthat go beyondnormal schoolstudies. √

High School Student’s Analysis of CRSP Data Wins Awardby John Baker

The following is the abstract of Ryan’sHawaii State Science and EngineeringFair presentation.

THE EFFECT OF BIAS ON THE

ESTIMATION OF FISH GROWTH

CURVES

Aquaculturists use growth curves topredict the growth and size of fish.Data used to form these growth curvesusually come from whole populationmeasures at stocking and harvestcombined with data from seinesampling (i.e., catch the fish sample ina drag net) during the period betweenstocking and harvest. It has beennoted that seine sampling tends tocollect larger fish leading to biased(i.e., systematically incorrect)estimates of size. This project wasconducted to determine the effect ofthis bias on the estimation of fishgrowth curves.

The source of data in this study wasthe Collaborative Research SupportProgram in Pond Dynamics/Aqua-culture which conducts aquacultureresearch around the world. Data from81 ponds were used. Von BertalanffyGrowth Functions (VBGF) werecomputed from the data as collectedand from data which had beenadjusted to remove bias. The VBGFsand Phi Prime, a standard estimator ofgrowth performance, were thencompared.

It was found that the bias from seinesampling would cause growth curvesto be artificially high during theperiod between stocking and harvest.However, if the culture period wasextended substantially, the curvesderived from biased data would be toolow. Also, Phi Prime was, on average,approximately 2% too high if it wasderived from biased data. Thus, it isessential to correct seine sample datato remove bias before using that datato estimate fish growth curves.

Ryan Mashiyama and his award-winning presentation.

translation is to serve as a tool forthe Spanish-speaking countries inunderstanding the English versionof the seafood HACCP regulation.Copies of the document can beobtained by sending a MoneyOrder (no check or credit card) for$15.00 dollars (U.S.) to: NydiaRivera, CETI Translation andPublication Service, 7865 ThorDrive, Annandale, VA 22003-1437,Phone: 703/560-4499.

Source: Pamela Tom, Sea Grant ExtProgram, Food Sci & Tech Dept,University of California, Davis, CA95616-8598.

NOTE: the Seafood HACCPRegulation is available on FDA’swebsite at <http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~lrd/haccpsub.html>

Availability of Spanish Translationof Seafood HACCP Regulations

T he Seafood HazardAnalysis Critical ControlPoint Regulations, 21 Code

of Federal Regulations, Part 123-Fishand Fishery Products is available inSpanish for US $15 (includes postageand handling). The translation wasdone by CETI, a company thatstarted about a year ago translatingdocuments and is dedicated toproviding communication servicebetween English and Spanish. CETIworks on a part-time basis(generally after 7:30 pm EST)translating documents. The trans-lation of document 21 CFR Part 123is their first publication venture tohelp the industry, academia, andregulators in Latin America. Thetranslated document is not asubstitute for the English HACCPregulation. The purpose of the

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indicated tilapia as the source ofinfection. All four patients had beenpreparing fresh whole fish, three ofwhich were known to be tilapia. Intwo cases the fish were taken live fromholding tanks. Transmission of thebacterium from fish to humans seemsto occur through wounds incurredduring the preparation of fish causedby knives or bones.

Currently, infection in humansresponds well to antibiotics. However,the potential of Streptococcus iniae tocause disease in humans has impli-cations for the treatment of thepathogen in fish. Berridge et al. (1997)warn “We must be ever vigilant in ouruse of antibiotics in food fish to mini-mize the potential for development ofantibiotic resistance which mighthamper the effective treatment ofinfections in man. Inappropriateantibiotic therapy in tilapia could notonly induce problematic resistance inS. iniae (for both fish and man) butcould also initiate resistance in otherStreptococcus sp. with potentially direconsequences.” √

Sources:B.R. Berridge, S. Lawhon, A Eldar, H. Bercovier,

D.E. Low, M. Weinstein and P.F. Frelier.Proceedings of IV Simposio CentroamericanoDe Acuacultura, Tegucigalpa, Honduras, 22-24 April, 1997.

Invasive infection due to Streptococcus iniae: Anew or previously unrecognized disease.Canadian Bacterial Surveillance Network(CBSN) Newsletter, May 1996.

Most aquaculturists have by now heard the stories about Streptococcus iniaesince its rather splashy appearance on the aquaculture scene as another MadCow phenomenon—this time with a piscine twist.

We present here a brief round-up of items on this issue and progress beingmade to assess the threat to fish and humans from Streptococcus iniae. Weespecially invite reader comments and contributions to help distribute thelatest findings about Streptococcus iniae and the real risk to fish and humans.Tell us what you know! — Ed.

Streptococcus iniae under the Microscope

Setting the Scene for a Discussion aboutStreptococcus iniaeby John Baker

S treptococcus iniae is a bacteriumof significance to aquacultureand to tilapia farming in

particular. The bacterium wasoriginally isolated and described fromabscess material in an Amazonfreshwater dolphin (Inia geoffrensis);however, it is more widely found inintensively cultured fish. Intensiveculture provides conditions thatenable the rapid spread of pathogens.Likewise, poor conditions, imposingstress on fish, are very likelysignificant in the development ofclinical disease and mortalities.Streptococcal infections have been foundin all major tilapia-producing countries,including Taiwan, Japan, Israel, and theAmericas. Streptococcal bacteria havebecome increasingly important agents ofinfection in both fresh- and saltwater fishculture.

The bacterium is the most significantsource of streptoccal infection associatedwith disease in tilapia and hybrid stripedbass in the US and has also beenassociated with disease in rainbow troutand coho salmon. In Israel it has beencommonly associated with disease in awide range of fish, including trout,tilapia, and ornamental fish.

Streptococcus iniae has also beenreported as the source of bacteremicillness in humans, in Texas in 1991 andin Ottawa, Canada, in 1994. Four,more recent, cases in December 1995and February 1996 in Ontario, Canada,attracted media attention, and

The United States Departmentof Agriculture AgricultureResearch Service has initiated aresearch project to investigatethe epidemiology ofStreptococcus iniae in tilapia,hybrid striped bass, and channelcatfish culture, with the aim ofsolving the problems associatedwith bacterial infection incultured fish. The projectrequires the cooperation of fishfarmers, research institutions,and industry associations tofacilitate the collection of datafrom cultured fish populations.

Persons interested incontributing to this project byallowing sampling shouldcontact Dr. Phil Klesius. Datacollected will be treated withconfidentiality.

Contact:Dr. Phil Klesius, AgricultureResearch Service Project leaderPhone: 334-887-3741Fax: 334-887-2983Email: klesiph@vetmed.auburn.edu.

Source:American Tilapia Association

Newsletter, Summer 1997.

Research Initiative toInvestigate Streptococcusiniae in farmed fish

Aquanews ~ Summer 1997

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T he American TilapiaAssociation has been workingwith fish culturists and the

university network for several years tocontrol fish diseases. Surveys ofcommercial growers of both tilapiaand hybrid striped bass haveindicated Streptococcus bacteria to bemajor problem worldwide, whichleads to the mortality of millions ofadult and juvenile fish each year.When news reports were published inCanada in the spring and summer of1996 indicating possible humaninfection of Streptococcus fromhandling live fish, aquaculturists andresearchers met in an open forum todiscuss the situation.

First, many of the researchersdoubted the accuracy of the findingsand believe that the infections werefrom a different bacteria than is com-monly found on fish. Secondly, sincethousands of people are working ontilapia and bass farms and processingplants in the USA and overseas, and noone has reported being infected byStreptococcus bacteria even when it ispresent on their site, a rash of five of sixinfections over a half year period inToronto would seem to be beyond therealm of probability. Thirdly, anationwide survey of fish farms by theUSDA-CDC for the Streptococcusbacteria identified in Toronto is beinglaunched an early results indicate nonimminent danger to people handlingfish even on a daily basis.

The ATA recommends simple,common-sense guidelines forhandling seafood, and indeed all foodproducts. Although the risks offoodborne illnesses are alwayspresent, even when opening anddrinking a can of soda pop. Properprecautions such as rinsing foodproducts—animal and vegetable—with fresh, chlorinated water willminimize the potential forcontamination. ATA assures the publicthat seafood products are generallysafe and wholesome when handledand prepared using common sense. √

ATA Update onStreptococcusby Ray DeWandel, President,American Tilapia Association

ATA Fact Sheet on Quality Control of Seafood

1 Bacteria may be found on the surface of many raw food products,including the surface of whole raw fish.

2 Care should be taken when handling all types of raw fish, especially ifthe fish are being gutted, de-boned or filleted. The preparation of raw fishremains safe, if consistent with the following guidelines:

a Keep hands and utensils clean. Kitchen surfaces such as cuttingboards should be washed with hot soapy water, chlorinated water,and disinfected with household bleach at 200 ppm solution.

b Use care when handling sharp knives or fish bones. Avoid cuts orskin punctures.

c Always wear kitchen gloves when preparing raw fish, and cottongloves when handling live fish to provide a non-slip grip.

3 Among the bacteria generally involved in common skin infections(cellulitis) are Streptococcus and Staphylococcus (Strep and Staph). Strep hasbeen found on both freshwater and marine fish around the world.

4 The safety of consuming fish is not in question. It is safe to eat properlycooked seafoods. However, food poisoning from other organisms canarise from eating raw shellfish or finfish. Consumers are encouraged toproperly cook their seafoods.

5 It is possible that bacteria can cause infection by entering the skin throughcuts which occur after contact with knives or sharp fish bones during thepreparation of whole raw fish. The best precaution is to avoid directcontact between the bacteria and the bloodstream. This means rinsing rawfish in chlorinated water and wearing gloves when filleting or dressingraw seafood.

6 Though infection with any bacteria can be serious, streptococcal infectionsare not more dangerous than other common skin infections. Skininfections are not contagious and cannot be passed from one person toanother.

7 Signs of bacterial skin infections include pain, redness, heat, and swellingin the affected area of skin. There may or may not be fever. If redness orswelling should develop after preparing raw fish, medical attentionshould be sought without delay.

8 Cellulitis is commonly treated with any of several types of antibiotics,including penicillin. The treatment is painless, inexpensive, and veryeffective if treated early.

9 The Center for Disease Control, the National Aquaculture Association andthe American Tilapia Association assure the public that seafood productsare generally safe and wholesome when handled and prepared usingcommon sense.

These guidelines first appeared in the American TilapiaAssociation Newsletter, Autumn, 1996. They are reprintedhere with permission of the American Tilipia Association.

8

Fishellaneous Items

The Gift of Tilapia

A foundation, GIFT FoundationInternational Inc., has been launched

in the Philippines to continue the selectivebreeding and research program thatdeveloped “Super Tilapia.” Super tilapiais the nickname of a strain called GIFTTilapia—GIFT being short for GeneticImprovement of Farmed Tilapia—whichwas developed by an ICLARM project. Itshows higher survival and grows 60%faster than traditional stocks, allowingthree fish crops per year, instead of thepreviously obtained two.

The new foundation will be run as anot-for-profit organization and will beresponsible for distributing improvedstock and aquaculture technology tofarmers and a network of privatehatcheries.

The GIFT Project is funded by the UnitedNations Development Program and theAsian Development Bank.

Source: ICLARM Newsbriefs 41, Sept. 1996.

U.S. Tilapia ProductionExpected to Decline

A lthough the ATA is still conductingnationwide interviews with Tilapia

producers, preliminary data indicates adecline in production for 1996 after majorincreases over the past several years. Themajor constraints to production are highcosts of production such as feed, electricity,freight to market and labor; high costs forconstruction such as for recirculatingsystems; losses due to disease and systemfailures; and low market prices, below thecost of production in many systems.With the decrease in supply and increasesin feed costs, producers are asking forhigher prices at the farm gate and morestringent credit terms for buyers.ATA will be contacting producersthroughout the next few weeks and plansto publish its Annual Situation andOutlook Report by mid-summer. Thereport will detail domestic production byRegion and will include the final Tilapiaimport statistics by country of origin. ATAPresident Ray DeWandel is asking forinput on volumes and prices fromproducers in the USA and overseas.

Source: American Tilapia AssociationNewsletter, Summer 1997.

M ike Sipe for Tilapia International, Florida, hasbeen carrying out growth trials of chocolate hybrids,

which are genetically male. His findings so far have ledhim to suggest that the rapid growth of the hybrids couldallow as many as four growth cycles per year.

Source: Fish Farming International 23, no. 11, November 1996.

A llen and Maria Reames have developed a tilapia-asparagus integrated system in Desert Center, CA.

Irrigation water pumped from wells is used to filloxygenated tilapia ponds and tanks. Waste water from thetilapia is then used to irrigate asparagus and grapefruit.Maria Reames claims that irrigation with fish effluentenhances asparagus vigor and growth.

Source: Aquaculture Magazine, January/February 1997.

Transgenic Tilapia

T he transgene, which when introduced to the geneticmaterial of salmon, under the trade mark

AquAdvantage™, leads to massively increased growthrates, has also been introduced into tilapia. Preliminaryevidence shows a doubling in size for AquAdvantage™tilapia compared to controls. Aqua Bounty Farms, thepatent-holder, is hoping to license use of AquAdvantage™fish in such a way to eliminate up-front fees, insteadsecuring payment in the form of royalties on sales.

Source: World Aquaculture, March 1997.

Aquanews ~ Summer 1997

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Please refer to p.15 for contact information on both of these conferences.

Meeting ~ ISTA IV ~ Meeting

T he International Symposium for Tilapia in AquacultureIV will be held 9-12 November in Orlando, Florida.

Conference sessions will cover a wide range of topicsincluding:

• Marine fish, bait species, ornamentals, and shellfish• International trade, competition among small producers,

farming systems, live transport, and economics• Quality control, management for ponds and tanks,

pollution control, breeding strategies, genetic conservation

Optional tours to aquaculture facilities on east and westFlorida coasts, EPCOT Land of Living Seas, and HarborBranch Oceanographic Institute will also be available.

“Every dollar that we devote to preventing conflicts,to promoting democracy, to stopping the spread ofdisease and starvation, brings a sure return insecurity and savings. Yet international affairsspending today is just one per cent of the federalbudget...,” President Clinton said in his State of theUnion address to Congress on Feb. 4.

USAIDs request out of that one per cent of thefederal budget is only 0.42 percent—less than onehalf of one percent of the budget.

Secretary of State, Madeline Albright, USAIDAdministrator Brian Atwood and other top officialsare urging Congress to reverse the decline in foreignassistance funding.

Albright, in her first appearance before Congress asthe new secretary of state, told the HouseInternational Relations Committee on Feb. 11, “Wehave deeply reduced our foreign assistance programs,and we now contribute a smaller percentage of ournational income to growth and democracy in thedeveloping world than any other industrializednation...”

Albright challenged the committee: “We must notforget that developing countries around the worldoffer the fastest-growing markets for Americancompanies. We must continue to encourage thesecountries to participate fully in the global economy.And where possible, we should support their reforms

through our bilateral development assistance andthrough the multilateral development banks.”

Albright also noted the consequences of notproviding assistance . “The threats of globalwarming, pollution, deforestation and loss ofbiodiversity may not be as dramatic as those posed bynuclear missiles or a terrorist’s bomb,” she said. “Butif we ignore them we will surely pay the price interms of poor health, lost jobs and the deteriorationin our quality of life. That is why we must continueto forge bonds of cooperation in protecting the healthand productivity of our common heritage of air,water, and land...”

USAIDs programs advance both US foreign policygoals and the well-being of some of the world’sneediest people. Of the $19.4 billion requested by thepresident for programs in international affairs,USAID would manage $7.2 billion, which includesboth USAID programs and programs administered byUSAID in cooperation with other agencies.

USAID works with developing nations andcountries in transition to support democracies andmarket economies. US exports to countries receivingUSAID assistance grew by $98.7 billion from 1990 to1995, supporting roughly 1.9 million jobs in theUnited States. By the year 2000, four out of fiveconsumers in the world will live in developingnations.

Foreign Aid Funding - Does it Matter?Foreign Aid Funding - Does it Matter?Foreign Aid Funding - Does it Matter?Foreign Aid Funding - Does it Matter?Foreign Aid Funding - Does it Matter?Source: USAID Developments, 3:2/Winter 1997

Meeting ~ WAS ~ Meeting

A s you may know, meetings of the WorldAquaculture Society are major international

aquaculture events, bringing together technical,producer, and supplier segments of the aquacultureindustry.

WAS ‘98 or the International Triennial Conferenceand Exposition of World Aquaculture Society, Na-tional Shellfisheries Association, and AmericanFisheries Society Fish Culture Section, will be held atBally’s Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, from 15-19February 1998. It will be hosted by the CaliforniaAquaculture Association and held jointly with theWestern Regional Aquaculture EXPO.

10

CRSPs green water technology, AITsaquaculture outreach unit, incollaboration with Thai fisheriesextension officers, has launched aprogram in Udorn province. We hired alocal artist to produce comics, cartoons,posters, and pamphlets using the localdialect and locally identifiablecharacters to convey the new way ofgrowing fish. We even recorded anddistributed an audio cassette of songsbased on the local ballad tradition, sothat farmers can listen to tapes onmaking green-water ponds while theyare working in the fields.

We started the green watercampaign three years ago with littlemore than 20 volunteer farmers inUdorn province. The results haveshown that these farmers have beenable to increase fish production intheir ponds from 500 kg/ha or so to2,000 kg or more in one crop. Thenumber of fish farmers using ourguidelines has now risen into thehundreds and is still increasing. √

consumption is around 20 kg, and thetotal regional demand for fish is morethan 200,000 tonnes/year, of whichless than 10% comes from local aqua-culture. To a large extent the peopledepend on the harvesting of wild fishand on imports from central Thailand.Adding to the financial hardshipsimposed by a depressed economy,people in northeast Thailandcommonly have to pay more for theirfish at market than do people in otherparts of the country.

Traditionally, aquaculture innortheast Thailand has been confinedto backyard ponds used for holdingfish captured from rice fields duringthe rainy season. Such ponds oftenserve multiple water uses during thedry season, such as washing, bathing,and irrigation as well as fish holding.Ponds receive little or no fertilizerinput. Green water and algal scumsare associated with dirty water, which

Green Water Revolution . . . from p. 1

is undesirable in terms of the daily useof these ponds. In telling farmers tomake water green by puttingfertilizers in their pond, we have hadto surmount age-old tradition. It is ahuge cultural and practical gap for usto overcome.

Fortunately, the water supplysituation has changed in northeastThailand during the last decade. Tosolve the problem of water shortagesduring the dry season, the Thaigovernment has built numerous waterbodies including village, watershed,and fish ponds and reservoirs. As aresult, the use of surface waters isdiversifying and changing from multi-purpose backyard ponds to pondsdedicated solely to fish culture. Manyfarmers have now diversified intoaquaculture and have built fish pondsin the middle of their rice fields. Evenso, it can still be a major task topersuade them that green water is goodfor fish. To overcome the conceptualproblem and to spread the word of the

A recent advertisement for farm-raised fish spotted in a majorU.S. newspaper.

Aquanews ~ Summer 1997

11

Notices of Publication ~A New Distribution Format ~

For many years the PD/A CRSP has issued Notices of Publications to announce newly-published work carried out under PD/A CRSP sponsorship. From now on, instead of mailingout individual NOPs, there will be a space reserved in each issue of Aquanews for publici-zing recently published work of CRSP researchers. As with NOPs to date, to receive a fullcopy of a report, please contact the author/s directly unless it is otherwise noted.

CRSP Research Report 97-103

TIMING OF SUPPLEMENTAL FEEDING FOR TILAPIA

PRODUCTION

James S. DianaSchool of Natural ResourcesUniversity of MichiganDana Bldg, 430 E UnivAnn Arbor, MI 48109-1115 USA

C. Kwei Lin And Yang YiAsian Institute of TechnologyG.P.O. Box 2754Bangkok 10501 Thailand

The staged addition of feed to fertilized fish ponds wasevaluated by adding fertilizers to 15 ponds stocked withNile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus, then adding feed at halfad libitum rates once fish in the ponds reached a targetweight. Each pond was stocked with 750 fish (3 fish/m2),and each treatment included three ponds with first feedingat (a) 50 g, (b) 100 g, (c) 150 g, (d) 200 g, and (e) 250 g.Ponds in Thailand (at the Ayutthaya Freshwater FisheriesStation, Royal Thai Department of Fisheries) weremaintained for 236-328 d until the fish reached 500 g.

Growth was similar for all treatments under fertilizer alone(1.17 g/d) and was also similar when feed was applied(3.1 g/d). Feed application rates averaged 1.17% BW/d,indicating substantial use of natural food. Pond water qualitydid not deteriorate under supplemental feeding. Feedconversion rates averaged 1.03. Multiple regression indicatedthat 73.8% of the variance in growth was explained by designvariables (feed input and days), while 86.2% of the variancein growth was explained by adding dissolved oxygencontent and alkalinity into the equation.

The most efficient system was to grow fish to 100-150 gwith fertilizers alone, then add feed. First adding feed (at50% ad libitum) once fish reached 100 g produced thehighest predicted annual revenues ($6,164 per hectare).Results of this experiment indicated that either criticalstanding crop occurred early (before the first fish sample)or did not occur at all in these ponds.

This abstract was excerpted from the original paper,which was published in the Journ. of the WorldAquaculture Society, 27(4)1996:410.

CRSP Research Report 97-104

OPTIMAL RESOURCE ALLOCATION BY FISH FARMERS IN

RWANDA

Carole R. Engle, Ph.D.Department of Aquaculture and FisheriesUniversity of Arkansas at Pine Bluff1200 North Univ DriveBox 4912Pine Bluff, AR 71611

Although many small-scale fish farming projects aroundthe world promote fish production as a source of low-costprotein, increasing evidence demonstrates fish to be animportant cash crop, even for limited-resource farmers.A mathematical programming model was developed fromsurvey data of Rwandan farmers to determine optimalresource allocation on subsistence farms in Rwanda. Thespecific objective of the study was to determine farm plansthat maximize returns to a representative Rwandan farmfamily’s resources, subject to constraints of the farmfamily’s proteinic and caloric requirements. Soybeans,sweet potatoes, and maize were selected to meet householdnutritional requirements. Fish production was selected asthe principal cash crop, in most cases lending support tothe evidence that fish is more important as a cash crop thanas a primary protein source in Rwanda

This abstract was excerpted from the original paper,which was published in the Journal of AppliedAquaculture, 7(1)1997:1-17.

12

Notices of Publication (cont.)

CRSP Research Report 97-105

OBSERVATIONS AND MODEL PREDICTIONS OF DAILY

AREAL PRIMARY PRODUCTION IN A EUTROPHIC BRACKISH

WATER CULTURE POND

James P. SzyperHawaii Institute of Marine BiologySchool of Ocean and Earth Science and TechnologyUniversity of Hawaii at ManoaP.O. Box 1346Kaneohe, HI 96744, USA

Observations of daily gross primary production ofoxygen per unit area in a eutrophic, brackish water shrimpculture pond over a 14-day period are compared withpredictions from two models in order to assess the utility ofthe model approaches for ponds and to refine observationalprotocols and techniques for pond assessment.

The models predicted rates (3.2 to 37.7 g O2 m-2 d-1)which exceeded observations (4.7 to 15.7 g O2 m-2 d-1) at allbut the lowest light levels. Observed rates were also lowerthan other observations at similar light levels. Theseshortfalls are attributed to (1) the inadequacy of the methodfor estimation of community respiration as a component ofgross production, in the absence of direct observation; and(2) the possibility of nutrient limitation of rates in the pondecosystem.

The models are sufficiently sensitive to chosen parametervalues, and the day-to-day variation of the parameters inthe ecosystem likely sufficiently variable, that dailydeterminations of parameters should be made whenpossible, with particular attention to timing and use ofsurface water. Field observations of daytime communityrespiration, and improved knowledge of its controllingfactors and relationships, are important needs for theadvancement of model treatment of photosynthesis inponds.

Eutrophic pond ecosystems have characteristics (verticaltemperature structure resembling natural water bodies,complete light extinction within the shallow water column)which make them amenable to study as microcosms ofsome general aspects of aquatic primary production,particularly problems involving the prediction of dailyareal rates from small-scale volume-based rate data.

This abstract was excerpted from the original paper,which was published in the Ecological ModellingInternational Journal on Ecological Modelling and SystemsEcology, 88(1996):83-92.

CRSP Research Report 97-106

COMPARISON OF THREE MIXING DEVICES IN EARTHEN

CULTURE PONDS OF FOUR DIFFERENT SURFACE AREAS

James P. SzyperHawaii Institute of Marine BiologySchool of Ocean and Earth Science and TechnologyUniversity of Hawaii at ManoaP.O. Box 1346Kaneohe, HI 96744, USA

Mechanical mixing of culture ponds with low-powereddevices can conserve photosynthetically-produceddissolved oxygen, and so reduce the need for moreexpensive aeration. This work aimed to test inexpensive,easily obtained devices and to establish the utility ofquantifying stratification and mixing processes in powerunits to facilitate comparisons and projection ofrequirements to new situations. Three mixing devices ofpower consumption less than 0.25 hp (63.5-173.6 W) werecompared in tropical earthen ponds of surface areasranging from 200 to 1400 m2. Mixers were operated duringthe time of maximum stratification in control ponds(13:00-16:00 h), to standardize test conditions. Performancewas assessed as reduction in a pond’s stratification energy(SE), contained in the uneven vertical distribution of mass.

Neighboring unmixed ponds showed very similar dielcycles of SE; unmixed ponds also showed similar patternson successive days, but varied more than neighboringponds assessed simultaneously. The mixing device ofgreatest power consumption, a fan-blade aerator-mixer(AM) operated below water surface, reduced stratificationenergy more quickly than a submersible impeller pump(SP) and an air-lift (AL). The AM and AL were moreefficient than the SP, but all were of low efficiency (less than0.1%). Efficiencies were related to pond size, withperimeter/area ratio being significant but surface/volumenot so. Mixing effects propagated rapidly horizontally.

The AM applied sufficient power to exceed the observeddaytime rate of increase in stratification energy, i.e. toprevent stratification, in ponds of all sizes except thelargest. The AL and SP did not apply power at sufficientrates, and the AM would have been inadequate at othertimes. It is not necessary, however, to prevent stratificationcompletely for all mixing applications.

This abstract was excerpted from the original paper,which was published in Aquacultural Engineering,15(5)1996:381-396.

Aquanews ~ Summer 1997

13

Notices of Publication (cont.)

CRSP Research Report 97-108

SEMI-INTENSIVE SHRIMP POND MANAGEMENT AND

QUALITY OF EFFLUENTS

David Teichert-CoddingtonBartholomew GreenDepartment of Fisheries and Allied AquaculturesAuburn University, Alabama 36849

Delia MartinezEneida RamirezLaboratorio de Calidad de AquaLa Lujosa, Choluteca, Honduras

John HarvinWayne ToyofukuRafael ZelayaGrupo Granjas Marinas San BernardoCholuteca, Honduras

A collaborative research program was established inCholuteca, Honduras, in 1993 to establish a baseline ofestuarine water quality in the shrimp producing regionsand to study the impact of pond management on effluentwater quality. Participants in the program included AuburnUniversity AL, the Ministry of Natural Resources,Government of Honduras, the National Association ofHonduran Aquaculturists (ANDAH), Pan-AmericanAgricultural School at Zamorano, Honduras, and theFederation of Export Producers (FPX). This reportsummarizes studies on effluent quality from ponds andmakes associations between pond management andeffluent quality.

This abstract was excerpted from the original paper,which was published in IV Symposium on Aquaculture inCentral America: Focusing on Shrimp and Tilapia, 22-24April 1997: 203.

CRSP Research Report 97-107

INCLUSION OF TILAPIA AS A DIVERSIFICATION STRATEGY

FOR PENAEID SHRIMP CULTURE

Bartholomew W. GreenDepartment of Fisheries and Allied AquaculturesAuburn University, Alabama 36849-5419 USA

The potential for tilapia culture in brackish water shrimpponds is evaluated. Aquaculturally important tilapia arethe Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus), blue tilapia(O. aureus), red tilapia (Oreochromis spp.) and, to a lesserextent, Mozambique tilapia (O. mossambicus). Nile and bluetilapia can tolerate salinities as high as 360/00 to 400/00,but best growth occurs at salinities below 200/00 Redtilapia, either from Florida or Taiwan, survive and growwell in salinities of 360/00. Mozambique tilapia is able totolerate salinities as high as 1200/00, but good growth isreported through salinities of 360/00. While these tilapiacan spawn in waters of various salinities, greater fingerlingproduction is achieved in freshwater or slightly saline(20/00 to 50/00) waters. Maximum salinity tolerance intilapia appears to be reached at a total length of50 to 70 mm. Acclimation of tilapia from freshwater tosaline water appears best accomplished by increasingsalinity from 2.5-50/00 daily until the desired salinity isreached, although some producers acclimate more rapidly.Season, choice of culture species, source of tilapiafingerlings, market, and management/logistical consi-derations of tilapia-marine shrimp polyculture arediscussed. Along the Pacific coast of Central America,polyculture of tilapia and marine shrimp may be limited to6 to 7 months each year during and immediately followingthe rainy season depending on the tilapia species. Tilapiacan be stocked directly into ponds or into cages placed inponds, supply canals or drain canals. Both cage culture oftilapia in shrimp farm supply canals, and polyculture oftilapia and shrimp in production ponds are being imple-mented on shrimp farms in Latin America. Managementsystems have been developed for this polyculture whereeither tilapia or shrimp is the principal culture species.

This abstract was excerpted from the original paper,which was published in IV Symposium on Aquaculture inCentral America: Focusing on Shrimp and Tilapia, 22-24April 1997: 85.

14

Notices of Publication (cont.)

CRSP Research Report 97-110

THE CRSPS: INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATIVE RE-SEARCH SUPPORTS PROGRAMS

John M. Yohe, Pat Barnes McConnell, Hillary S. Egna, JohnRowntree, Jim Oxley, Roger G. Hanson, David Cummins,and Avanelle Kirksey*

The Collaborative Research Support Programs (CRSPs)are communities of U.S. Universities, U.S. Agency forInternational Development (USAID) and USAID missions,and developing countries national agriculture researchsystems (NARS), other U.S. federal agencies, internationalagricultural research centers (IARCs), private agencies,industry, private voluntary organizations (PVOs), andother developing country institutions. Their scientists, inclose collaboration with one another and for the mutualbenefits of their programs, carry out agricultural researchand training around identified constraints to foodproduction, storage, marketing, and consumption. Morespecifically, they include components which address foodand agricultural policy/planning, natural resourcemanagement, plant and animal improvement (includingbasic genetics, biodiversity, applied genetics andbiotechnology), plant and animal physiology andimproved production practices, plant and animalprotection, socio-economic and socio-cultural factorsinfluencing production and consumption patterns; culturalconstraints to technology adoption and development; andimproved food processing, household food security andhuman nutrition. Through shared resources, peer reviewand institutional support, these communities of scientistsand institutions give emphasis to the needs of small scaleproducers and the rural and urban poor. (The foregoing isthe introductory paragraph to this book chapter.)

This abstract was excerpted from the original publication,which is Chapter 19 in Disease Analysis through Geneticsand Biotechnology: Interdisciplinary Bridges to ImprovedSorghum and Millet Crops, In: J.F. Leslie and R.A.Frederiksen (Editors), Iowa State University Press,1(1995): 321.

*To order this publication contact:PublicationsPD/A CRSP400 Snell HallOregon State UniversityCorvallis OR 97331, USA.

CRSP Research Report 97-109

THE POND DYNAMICS/AQUACULTURE CRSP-SPONSORED PROCEEDINGS OF THE THIRD CONFERENCE

ON THE CULTURE OF TILAPIAS AT HIGH ELEVATIONS IN

AFRICA

Karen Veverica, EditorDepartment of Fisheries and Allied AquaculturesAuburn University, Alabama 36849

This was the third conference of its kind to be held forRwanda, Burundi, and Kivu province in the east part ofZaire. High elevation was understood to be greater than1,000 meters. During the conference, country reports werepresented describing the extension service and providingtechnical data following a list of points included in theconference invitation. Technical papers on rice-fish cultureand extension strategy were presented from Burundi.Papers on rabbit-fish culture, composting regimes,elevation-related tilapia production and tilapia-clariaspolyculture were presented from Rwanda. Kivu provincepresented a paper on the Zaire Peace Corps fish culturesustainable extension service. Attendees included ministrypersonnel, university professors, FAO personnel, universitystudents, Peace Corps volunteers, station managers, modelfarmers, extension and training specialists, and sometrainees.

The organization and operation of the extension servicesin all three countries were compared. Fish culture extensionhas been assured mainly by Peace Corps volunteers inZaire, with very few Zairian counterparts on hand. InRwanda, although some Peace Corps volunteers haverecently commenced activities in fish culture, Rwandeseextension agents are responsible for all fish cultureextension. Burundi is in the midst of re-vamping its fishculture extension service. It previously relied on PeaceCorps volunteers but now has funding to train its ownextension agents. However, Burundi presently has a freezeon hiring for government jobs and has opted to useextension agents already working in other domains such asforestry. A very lively discussion of the advantages anddisadvantages of each country’s extension service tookplace. All three countries have active farmer trainingprograms. (The foregoing are the first two paragraphs ofthe publication’s Executive Summary.)

This abstract was excerpted from the original publication,entitled The Pond Dynamics/Aquaculture CRSP-Sponsored Proceedings of the Third Conference on theCulture of Tilapias at High Elevations in Africa, 41(1997): 1.

Aquanews ~ Summer 1997

15

Upcoming Conferences and Expositions

Date Topic/Title Event Location Contact InformationAug 10-13 Aquaculture Trondheim ‘97 Trondheim,

NorwayEuropean Aquaculture Society, Slijkensesteenweg 4, B-8400 Oostende, Belgium, Tel: +32 59 323859, Fax +32 59321005, email: eas@unicall.be

Aug 13-16 AquaNor ’97 Trondheim,Norway

AquaNor, Nidarohallene, N-7030 Tronaheim, Norway,Fax: +47 73 516135

Aug 24-27 American Fisheries SocietyAnnual Trade Show

Monterey,California, USA

Amy Fink, American Fisheries Society, 5410 GrosvenorLane, Suite 110, Bethseda, Maryland 20814-2199, Tel:(301) 897 8616 ext 214, Fax: (301) 897 8096

Sept 7-12 Practical Short Course onAquaculture Feed Prep,Nutrition and Feed Mgmt

Texas, USA Dr. Mian N. Riaz, Rood Protein R&D Center, Texas A&MUniversity, College Station, TX 77843-2476, Tel: (409) 8452741, Fax (409) 845 2744, email: mnriaz@tamu.edu

Sept 8-11 Stock Enhancement & SeaRanching

Bergen, Norway PUSH, Bontelabo 2, N-5003 Bergen, Norway, Fax: +47 5531 73 95, email: borthen@telepost.no

Sept 17-21 World Fishing Expo. Vigo, Spain Patricia Foster, Nexus Media Ltd., Top Floor, 84 KewRoad, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 2PQ, UK, Tel: +44 181 3329273, Fax: +44 181 3329335

Sept 19-21 Aquaculture PacificExchange

Cambell River,BC, Canada

Master promotions Ltd, P.O. Box 565, Saint John, NewBrunswick, Canada E2L 3Z8, Fax: +1 (506) 658 0750

Sept 21-23 26th Fish Feed andNutrition Workshop

Frankfort,Kentucky, USA

Carl Webster Tel: (502) 564 9109 orJames Tidwell Tel: (502) 564 9104

Oct 5-11 3rd Intl AbaloneSymposium

Monterey,California, USA

Catherine Ashley, California Sea Grant College, 9500Gilman Dr, La Jolla CA 92093-0232; Fax 619 534 2231;email: cashley@ucsd.edu

Oct 22-27 IV Ecudorian AquacultureConference

Guayaquil,Ecuador

Conference Information: Tel: +593 4 269455, Fax: +593 4269456.

Oct 23-25 Fish Africa ’97 Culemborg, CapeTown, So. Africa

Clare Northcott, EMAP Heighway, Meed House, 21 JohnSt, London WC1N 2BP, England; Tel +44 (0) 171 470 6301;Fax 44 (0) 831 9362, email: claren@meed.emap.co.ukor EMS, PO Box 630302, Benmore 2010, Johannesburg,South Africa, Fax +27 11 783 7269

Nov 2-5 Sustainable Aquaculture2nd Intl Symposium

Oslo, Norway Nils Svennevig, MARINTEK, PO Box 4125, Valentinlyst,N-7002, Trondheim, Norway, Fax: +47 73 595660

Nov 9-12 ISTA IV Orlando,Florida, USA

Kevin Fitzsimmons, University of Arizona, 2601 E.Airport Drive, Tucon, AZ 85706, USA; Tel; 520 741 1990;Fax 520 573 0852; email kevfitz@ag.arizona.edu

Feb 15-191998

World Aquaculture Society,Aquaculture ‘98

Las Vegas, NE,USA

Aquaculture ‘98 Conference Manager, 21710 7th PlaceWest, Bothell, WA 98021, USA; Tel 1-206-425-6682; fax1-206-483-6319; email worldaqua@aol.com

Mar 18-20 Aquaculture International98

Glasgow,Scotland, UK

Emap Heighway, MEED House, 21 John Street. LondonWC1N 2BP, England, Fax: +44 171 831 2509

Workshops and Short Courses

Date Title/Topic/Site ContactsYear-round

Work Experience in Hatcheries Techniques/Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand

Aquaculture Short Course Unit, Ag & Aquatic Systems, Schoolof Env, Resources & Development, GPO Box 2754, Bangkok10501 Thailand; Fax 66 2 524 5484; email: somchai@ait.ac.th

Year-round

Training & Research in Fisheries & StockMgmt/Wageningen AgriculturalUniversity, the Netherlands

G. van Eck, Dept of Fish Culture & Fisheries, PO Box 338,6700 AH Wageningen, The Netherlands; Tel 31 8370 8330; Fax31 8370 83937; email: gerrie.va.eck@alg.venv.wau.nl

Sept 10-17

Texas Shrimp Farming CoursePort Arkansas, Texas

Sea Grant College Program Office, Attn: Lynn Propes, 1716Briarcrest Suite 702, Bryan, Texas 77802-2700, USA Tel 409-845-7524; Fax 409-845-7525; email lpropes@unix.tamu.edu

16

Selected Aquaculture Internet ResourcesPD/A CRSP Web Site

Program information, technicalreports, and the newsletter Aquanewscan be found at the PD/A CRSPWebsite: http://www.orst.edu/dept/crsp/homepage.html. This site alsohas links to:

POND©, the decision supportsoftware for aquaculture;

EdOp Net, a resource for those insearch of employment, education andtraining opportunities in the field ofaquaculture; and many others

PD/A CRSP Central Database

The PD/A CRSP Central Database isthe world’s largest repository oftropical pond aquaculture data, whichhas been collected from CRSPexperiments since 1982. Currently,CRSP researchers at Oregon StateUniversity, Drs. John Bolte and DougErnst, are in the process of making thedatabase available directly via theWeb. Web users will be able to query

the database, extract particulardatasets of interest, and view theresults of their queries graphically. Thedatabase will be accessible from theCRSP home page, or at: http://biosys.bre.orst.edu/crspDB.

University of Idaho AquacultureInformation Service On-line

The University of IdahoAquaculture Research Institute hasmade an aquaculture databaseavailable via the internet. Theaquaculture information databaseoriginated in 1989 with a grantprovided by the United StatesDepartment of Agriculture. The grantwas administered by the WesternRegional Aquaculture Center inSeattle, Washington, which sponsoredthe Aquaculture Information Serviceand databases until March 31, 1994.

Thanks to a new sponsorship fromthe Northwest Area Foundation, theUniversity of Idaho AquacultureInformation Service (UIAIS) was able

to transfer all accumulatedaquaculture data to a new databaseserver connected to the Internet.

The aquaculture databases can beaccessed from the UIAIS’s homepage:http://www.uidaho.edu/ag/aquaculture/ or via telnet: telnetraven.csrv.uidaho.edu and typing fishat the login prompt. Or use the IPaddress for Raven: telnet129:101.119.222.

Phone: 208-885-5830Fax: 208-885-5968E-mail: aqua@uidaho.edu

AIT Aquaculture WWW Site

The Agri-aqua server at the AsianInstitute for Technology (AIT)maintains the AIT Aquaculture Website providing information onaquaculture and promoting the workof AIT Aquaculture.

http://www.agri-aqua.ait.ac.themail - aasp@ait.ac.th

Pond Dynamics/Aquaculture CRSPOffice of International Research and DevelopmentOregon State University400 Snell HallCorvallis OR 93771-1641

Director: Hillary S. EgnaAquanews Editor: Danielle Z. Clair,with assistance from John Baker

Aquanews is published by the ProgramManagement Office of the PondDynamics/Aquaculture CollaborativeResearch Support Program, Office ofInternational Research and Development,Oregon State University, 400 Snell Hall,Corvallis OR 93771-1641.

The Pond Dynamics/AquacultureCollaborative Research Support Programis funded in part by the U.S. Agency forInternational Development under CRSPGrant No. 4023–G–00–6015–00 and byparticipating U.S. and Host CountryInstitutions.

Oregon State University is an AffirmativeAction/Equal Opportunity Employer.