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2006
Year-ender news
1. Marine turtles released to Sulu Sea
2. AQD conducts planning workshop
2007 New Year's
news
3. AQD helps Myanmar enhance its health
management
skills
4. Meeting on stock enhancement
5. Meeting on disease surveillance
6. AQD to train biotech researchers, to start with
seaweeds
7. Good harvests in aquaculture projects
8. Three women researchers in aquaculture
9. Seeking the newest in aqua technology
10. AQD thanks Dr. Okuzawa and Dr. Primavera |
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(1) Marine
turtles released to Sulu Sea
On December 12, 2006, a 2.6 m long dugong was caught in
a fish trap near AQD's Igang Marine Station. It was
rescued, documented, and released 1 km off Tiniguiban
Island by station head Albert Gaitan and staff.
Three days later, five
marine turtles that had been in the care of AQD's
FishWorld for a month to a year were released in the
Sulu Sea. The event, called
"Panaw Pawikan," was
attended by AQD and Department of Environment and
Natural Resources (DENR) staff.
Two of the turtles had
been made pets or domesticated, three were caught by
fishers; and all five turned over by DENR to FishWorld
for rehabilitation prior to release. One had papillomas
on tail and neck, leeches on papillomas, and barnacles
between scutes of plastron.
The turtles' journey
commenced from AQD's main station pier in Iloilo, west
central Philippines, and continued for about 3 hours in
a large outrigger boat. All the turtles have been tagged
while in rehab. |
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The
dugong and turtles awaiting their release |
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(2) AQD
conducts planning workshop
For 2007, AQD plans to continue its program- or
commodity-based approach to research-and-development, to
seek collaboration and external funding, to tailor-made
its training courses to requesting institutions and
companies, and to maximize its website for information
dissemination.
The 2007 plan was ironed
out in a workshop held at AQD's Iloilo station from
October 30-31, 2006 attended by senior department staff.
Further, AQD Chief Dr.
Joebert Toledo tasked its core research staff to
continue publishing research results in peer-reviewed
journals as a starting point in technology generation
and as a proactive response to the feedback from the
industry. This ensures that AQD science can be
replicable and its validity scrutinized by a third
party, the scientific community itself.
To date, AQD has programs
on marine fish; crustaceans; molluscs; seaweeds;
freshwater aquaculture; stock enhancement and fish
disease (both funded by the Government of Japan), and
aquatic ecology (a new program). As worked out in a new
R&D framework, the programs cover research, technology
verification, training and information dissemination. |
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(3) AQD
helps Myanmar enhance its health management skills
There are two reasons why AQD staff was in Yangon,
Myanmar early this quarter.
First, there is a perception that despite the numerous
training courses conducted by AQD for the Southeast
Asian region, there is still a lack of human resource
for health management in aquaculture. This was an
observation made during the surveillance trips of the
Government of Japan Trust Fund's program on
Establishment of disease surveillance system for aquatic
animals that is spearheaded by AQD.
Second, Myanmar has been
experiencing fish kills and though its Department of
Fisheries (DOF) has facilities for disease diagnostics,
it is mainly used for shrimp viruses. Fish disease
diagnosis can be added to its capability, as there is
much enthusiasm in Myanmar to support aquaculture.
With these reasons, AQD
conducted two training-workshops on health management
for fish (January 29 to February 4) and for shrimp/prawn
(February 5 to 9).
A total of 33
participants were in both sessions ~ government
fisheries officers, fish farmers, shrimp farmers
belonging to Myanmar's Marine Shrimp Association (MSA),
and staff of feed companies.
AQD / GOJ-TF, DOF-Myanmar,
and MSA shared the cost of training.
On hand to lecture and
teach practicals on fish health were Dr. Gilda Lio-Po
and Dr. Leobert de la Pena of AQD; while shrimp/prawn
was taken cared of by Dr. Celia Pitogo, also of AQD, and
Dr. de la Pena.
The instructors
emphasized disease recognition using gross signs so that
participants who are directly involved in shrimp and
prawn farming can make use of the knowledge as a means
to give support to disease surveillance and reporting
from the farm level. |
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(4) Meeting
on stock enhancement
March was a special month for the AQD team handling the
program R&D of stock enhancement for species under
international concern.
While progress in the
two-year-old project was reviewed on March 12, the
meeting also saw the smooth hand-over of the project
from Dr. Koichi Okuzawa to Dr. Hiroshi Ogata as the
former's tour-of-duty as AQD's Deputy Chief ended March
2007. Dr. Ogata takes over as the new program leader.
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The program has
prioritized giant clam, abalone, and seahorse for stock
enhancement; it later added angel wing (or diwal), nylon
shell and Napoleon wrasse which are endangered in
Philippine waters.
Dr. Okuzawa noted that it
took a long time for the program to take off. The first
call for stock enhancement was made during the Kyoto
Declaration in 1969, the second by the Bangkok
Declaration in 2000 until finally, SEAFDEC launched the
program during the Millennium Conference in 2001.
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Team meeting of the stock enhancement
program in March |
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AQD immediately
incorporated stock enhancement in its R&D program in
2001, starting with refinement of seed production
techniques for abalone (Haliotis asinina), seahorses,
and top shell (Trochus niloticus). Two more studies were
supported by the International Foundation for
Science(IFS) (on the impacts of marine protected areas
and artificial reefs on coral reef fisheries) and
community's preparedness for resource management
interventions such as stock enhancement).
In 2002, seahorse culture
trials were expanded to seacages in preparation for
stock enhancement while giant clam, abalone, and
topshell (all hatchery-reared) were released and
monitored in the wild to study release strategies. A
technique for diet-tagging of abalone (which leaves a
green mark on the shell) was by then developed; this is
a convenient method to identify enhanced stock vis-à-vis
wild ones. AQD also published a flyer on
"Protecting
livelihood through stock enhancement" which is
downloadable from this website.
In 2003, potential sites
for release and stock enhancement of abalone, top shell
and seahorse were assessed. AQD also conducted a
training program on stock enhancement for BFAR's
fisheries resource management project personnel.
Meanwhile, IFS granted another study on the release
strategies for stock enhancement of abalone in Carbin
Reef, Sagay Marine Reserve (SMR), Philippines.
SMR is now one of the
project sites of the GOJ Trust-funded stock enhancement
program, started in 2005, that prioritizes and
consolidates related studies at AQD.
In addition to program
staff, the meeting was attended by representatives from
SMR and University of the Philippines in the Visayas |
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(5) Meeting
on disease surveillance
Five collaborating institutions met at AQD in Iloilo,
Philippines on March 16 to discuss the Regional fish
disease project that is funded by the GOJ-Trust Fund.
AQD spearheads the program, while Dr. Takaji Iida of the
National Research Institute of Aquaculture of the
Fisheries Research Agency, Japan serves as external
reviewer.
The meeting noted the
completion of one of the three studies in 2006 which was
a collaboration between AQD and the Fisheries Research
Agency (Japan) on the koi herpes virus (KHV). The
participants urge the publication of the results as soon
as possible.
AQD was also able to
successfully conduct another session of its internet
e-learning course on the principles of health management
in aquaculture, as well as conduct two on-site training
sessions on fish and shrimp/prawn health in Yangon,
Myanmar. |
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The participants |
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AQD Chief Dr. Toledo addresses
the meeting |
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For the new year 2007,
the rest of the studies will be continued, and the
meeting welcomed a new collaborator from the Research
Institute of Aquaculture (RIA 2) of Vietnam, Dr. Ly Thi
Thanh Loan, who will study the hemorrhagic disease on
cultured freshwater catfish in the Mekong Delta.
In attendance during the
annual progress and planning meeting were top managers
of SEAFDEC and AQD, staff of AQD's Fish Health Section,
and study leaders from the Inland Aquatic Animal Health
Research Institute of Thailand, the Research Institute
for Freshwater Aquaculture of Indonesia, Fisheries
Research Agency-Japan, and RIA 2-Vietnam. |
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(6) AQD to
train biotech researchers, to start with seaweeds
A supplemental agreement on the biotech program is
paving the way for AQD to collaborate and to train
government researchers on the use of biotechnology
tools.
It was signed January 12
by AQD and the National Fisheries Research and
Development Institute (NFRDI) of the Philippine
Department of Agriculture at AQD's main station in
Iloilo.
It tasked AQD researchers
to be the main investigators in collaborative biotech
studies, while staff from NFRDI will be seconded to work
on these studies. AQD will also seek collaborating
partners (Japanese experts and other scientists) while
NFRDI agreed to give an initial 2.2 million pesos for
the biotech program. |
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As the first offshoot of
the agreement, AQD began its biotech training for four
government and two university research staff. The course
was on Seaweed tissue culture and sporulation.
It kicked off February 19
and ended March 22 with the trainees successfully
learning the techniques on propagating seaweeds in the
laboratory by tissue culture, sporulation (spore
shedding), and protoplast isolation. These techniques
are useful to replace the decades-old cultivars that are
currently used by the Philippine industry. The old
seedstock is also vulnerable to the so-called
"ice-ice"
disease.
The training course is a
joint undertaking of AQD, USAID's Growth for Equity in
Mindanao, Western Mindanao Seaweed Industry Development
Foundation Inc, and BFAR's NFRDI and National Integrated
Fisheries Training and Development Center.
The trainors were Dr.
Anicia Hurtado and Ms. Ma. Rovilla Luhan of AQD's
seaweed program.
The biotech facility was
a grant from the Government of Japan to the Philippine
Government in 2001 through the full efforts of AQD. |
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AQD signs a supplemental
agreement on the biotechnology program with DA-NFRDI |
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AQD conducts biotech
training for seaweed researchers with funding
from GEM and BFAR |
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(7) Good
harvests in aquaculture projects
Research can really improve fish yields as proven in two
aquaculture projects. The exciting note here is that the
fish came from AQD's marine fish hatchery-nurseries, and
the feed given to the stock was formulated and milled at
AQD based on the nutritional requirements of the fish
and locally available feedstuffs. Hatchery and feed
development are technologies that had taken years to
develop.
On March 14, AQD
harvested its technology verification and production
study of grouper in marine cages in its Igang station in
Guimaras Island. This was after 7 months of culture; the
grouper were initially 77 g, stocked 12 fish per m3 in a
5 x 5 x 3 m cage, and fed at a rate of 2% of body weight
per day.
Epinephelus fuscoguttatus
was the stock, and a total 324 kg were taken for the
first partial harvest. The fish were 400 kg each by
then. Survival rate was 90%. Feed conversion at 2.7;
feed cost at P37 per kg. AQD was able to sell the fish,
live, at P350 per kg, almost as highly as tiger shrimp.
A month earlier, last
February 2, the first partial harvest of seabass (Lates
calcarifer) from brackishwater ponds was made
successfully. This was in the Antique, west Philippine
site of the Institutional capacity development project.
Like the grouper in cages, the market-sized seabass
weighed about 400 g each. Some 200 pieces or 83 kg were
transported and sold in Manila. The culture period was 5
months, with the stocking and care of seabass were done
by the group of 10 technicians who attended an on-site
training conducted by AQD in August last year. This
training was conducted to demonstrate and transfer
seabass culture technology from AQD. |
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Grouper was momentarily out of
the water as it was harvested and sold live |
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The verification cages at Igang
Marine Station |
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Harvest of seabass in the
cooperating provincial
government facility |
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Dr. Lebata-Ramos (rightmost) with
her dissertation
defense panel in the U.K. |
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(8) Three
women researchers in aquaculture
Dr. Jurgenne Primavera, AQD's senior researcher, was
elected Corresponding Member of the Natural and Medical
Sciences Section, Academie Royale des Sciences
D'Outre-Mer (Royal Academy for Overseas Sciences) of
Belgium.
Writing from Brussels,
the academy's Permanent Secretary Danielle Swinne
informed Dr. Primavera on January 24. The academy is a
non-government organization founded in 1928 to promote
scientific knowledge.
Back in 2002, Dr.
Primavera was also elected member of the Swedish Royal
Academy on Agriculture and Forestry. |
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Congratulations too to
AQD's newest PhD ~ Junemie Hazel Lebata-Ramos!
Her studies funded by the
European Commission, Dr. Ramos pursued her PhD Ocean
Sciences from February 1, 2003 through November 17, 2006
at the University of Wales Bangor in the United Kingdom.
She was advised by Dr.
Lewis Le Vay on her dissertation
"Stock enhancement of
the mud crabs Scylla spp. in the mangroves of Naisud and
Bugtong Bato, Ibajay, Aklan.
Back here at AQD, Dr.
Ramos is conducting stock enhancement trials of giant
clam at the Sagay Marine Reserve, Malalison Island, and
Igang Marine Substation.
Another lady in pursuit
of excellence is Ms. Eleonor Tendencia, AQD research
specialist II.
Ms. Tendencia is just
starting her doctoral studies at Wageningen University,
the Netherlands, on February 1.
She was awarded a
sandwich fellowship which is comprised of 3 periods ~
the first (course work) and third (writing and defending
thesis) to be spent in Wageningen for a total of 16
months. The second period will be for fish health
research to be done at AQD. |
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(9) Seeking
the newest in aqua technology
Five batches of visitors came to AQD in Iloilo,
Philippines to see explore possible collaboration and/or
to see what's the latest in aquaculture technology. The
visitors were guided by research staff around the
different hatcheries and biotech laboratories at AQD's
Tigbauan Main Station, toured to AQD's brackishwater
ponds in Dumangas, Iloilo and/or to AQD's marine cages
at Igang Cove, Guimaras. |
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Dr.
Richard Lee, a professor in the Skidaway Institute of
Oceanography in the University Systems of Georgia (USA)
visited January 25, and talked about the development of
mariculture techniques for the black seabass
Centropristis striata and raised concerns about the
dinoflagellate Hematodium which are parasitic to
crabs and other species.
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Dr.
Fumio Yamazaki of Hokkaido International Foundation (HIF)
looks over AQD's hatchery tanks with Deputy Chief Dr.
Koichi Okuzawa and Research Head Dr. Evelyn Grace DG
Ayson when he visited the Philippines January 25 to
February 3. Dr. Yamazaki is accompanied by Mr. Makoto
Ikeda as they toured AQD stations and project sites.
There are three HIF scholars at AQD who made the
arrangements for their tour.
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At the Sagay Marine Reserve in Negros, Philippines, Dr.
Yamazaki inspects the abalone cages that held young
abalone as part of AQD's stock enhancement program in
the area.
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Dr.
Manabu Ishikawa, a professor from Kagoshima University
in Japan, and Ms. Erlinda Naret, a researcher from the
University of the Philippines Visayas, visited February
26 and 27.
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Three
Malaysians from a private company, Bari Aquatech of
Kuala Lumpur, came for a 3-day visit, March 5 to 7. They
talked with AQD Chief Dr. JD Toledo and staff to explore
collaboration between AQD and Ibuzawa Corporation on
abalone, mudcrab, sea cucumber, seabass, and grouper.
They were Dr. Seng-Keh Teng, Scientific and Technical
Advisor; Dr. Ghazali Ismail, Scientific/Technical
Director , and Mr. Syadid Ahmad Zaharan, Project
Manager. |
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Seven training directors from all over the Philippines
were briefed by the AQD Chief and key staff when they
came March 9 to 10 to learn the latest in aquaculture
technology that they can, in turn, pass on to their
stakeholders.
The
Department of Agriculture's RFTC (Regional Fisheries
Training Center) directors included: Ms. Milagros
Morales of Aparri, Mr. Ismael Jerry Fermo of Palawan,
Ms. Lorna Cardano of Albay, Mr. Eduardo Suderio of
Cebu, Mr. Andrew Ventura of Davao Del Norte, Mr.
Norberto Berida of Samar and Mr. Pendatun Talib of
Zamboanga. |
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10) AQD thanks Dr. Okuzawa and Dr. Primavera
AQD wished two of its highest ranking officers
good-luck-and-happy-ventures as they leave AQD this
quarter.
Dr. Koichi Okuzawa, AQD's
Deputy Chief, ends his tour-of-duty at the end of March
and is moving back to Japan with his family. Dr. Okuzawa,
who considers himself a
"GnRH" guy after building a body
of work on growth hormone releasing hormone in marine
fish, was given due recognition by AQD Chief Dr. Joebert
Toledo. This was witnessed by AQD staff on February 23.
"Dr. Okuzawa made an
imprint in AQD by taking charge of the regional programs
on stock enhancement and disease surveillance which are
funded by the GOJ Trust Fund," Dr. Toledo said.
"Although my first year
was difficult with the transition AQD was going through,
I enjoyed my term. I thank the fish health researchers
and the stock enhancement team for their cooperation and
work. On the personal side, I enjoyed the project site
visits which included SCUBA-diving," Dr. Okuzawa said,
"and both my wife and I enjoyed the dancing and the
singing."
Honored with Dr. Okuzawa
was Dr. Jurgenne Honculada Primavera, AQD's most
world-renowned researcher. |
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Dr. Primavera as she receives
AQD's commendation from Chief Dr. Joebert Toledo |
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Dr. Okuzawa listens to his
well-wishers |
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Dr. JHP, as she is fondly
called by colleagues, retires from AQD at the end of
February after 30 years of service. Dr. Primavera said
that she has been lucky enough to join AQD in the
'70s.
She noted that the rural setting made her family's
lifestyle relatively relaxed, but yet AQD gave her
world-class work opportunities. She enjoined the young
set of researchers to be loyal to science (work hard,
report findings honestly) and to the institution.
Dr. JHP will still hold
office at AQD in the next two years for her project
under the Pew Fellows Program on Marine Conservation. |
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Current news>>
July 2007 news>>
June 2007 news>>
April-May 2007 news>>
2006 archive news>> |
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