Dr. Toledo and his counterpart Dr. Xu Pao, the FFRC Director, ironed out the areas of common interests with which to strengthen existing collaboration.

Identified are (1) feed development and disease control, particularly on the use of herbal extracts as feed additives or as immunostimulants, (2) breeding of freshwater prawn and tilapia, (3) manipulation of the water environment through the use of probiotics, (4) socioeconomic impact of aquaculture in the lakes of both countries, (5) training of one or two nominees by AQD in China, and (6) visit exchanges of staff involved in the above research and training areas.

Dr. Toledo and Dr. Xu signed the memorandum of understanding on April 26 in Wuxi.

Moreover, Dr. Toledo was invited to give a lecture on research highlights in aquaculture at AQD for the FFRC international training on integrated fish farming.

Thus, the conduct of the Strategic planning workshop last June 21 at the TID Conference Room. Attended by AQD's senior officials, including division and section heads, the activity aimed to assist top management in making effective decisions about the future directions of the institution.

Also discussed was the need for AQD to revisit its mandate (mission, vision, goals), and to formally define its priorities (program & activities).

The workshop saw each division presenting their strategic action plan based on the current vision, mission and goals. The resource person, Dr. Mae Hernando of UP Visayas, will then collate the results and make the final report/evaluation and recommendations for the department.

Prior to this, separate workshop sessions for each division were held last April 2-4, wherein each division submitted their SWOT analysis and strategic action plans.

The result: a memorandum of understanding between AQD and BFAR signed the day following the meeting, paving the way for a new beginning (see separate story on the MOU).

The one-day discussion was put in context by the AQD Chief Dr. Joebert Toledo who recalled AQD's regional mandate, the science-based technologies developed through 34 years of R&D, and the role of aquaculture in poverty alleviation. It is to be noted that the AQD community has expressed the need for better interaction with its focal agency (DA, BFAR) which is more intimately involved in its mandates compared to its funding agency (Department of Foreign Affairs).

BFAR Director Malcolm Sarmiento, on the other hand, first thanked AQD for the meeting initiative. He then reiterated DA Secretary Yap's blessing for the group to come up with strategies to maintain aquaculture's high growth (at 8.7% the highest among the agriculture subsectors). Aquaculture is even expected to pull up DA's target growth for the food-producting sector. Director Sarmiento also noted previous collaborations of the two institutions, including the technology caravans, environment-friendly shrimp farming, and mariculture park.

Next, AQD presented its programs with an eye towards explaining the technology gaps, present activities, and areas for possible collaboration. The mollusc program was presented by Mr. Armando Fermin; mudcrab & shrimp, Dr. Emilia Quinitio; marine fish, Dr. Felix Ayson; seaweeds, Dr. Anicia Hurtado; smallholder freshwater aqua, Dr. Ma. Lourdes Aralar; aquatic ecology, Dr. Neila Chavoso; training & information dissemination, Mr. Renato Agbayani.

There were a lot of clarifications requested from the BFAR side on AQD technologies, including AQD's formulated feeds. A tricky question was raised on patent, whereby Director Sarmiento expressed his view that although "franchising" is an institution's privilege, he didn't want the research community to forget the term "service."

Director Sarmiento also presented the concept of a "seaweed village ecozone" where all the requirements of planters will be within reach, from processing to marketing, even housing for workers and their families. The ecozone could be a model that BFAR can put up with AQD's help in Batangas or Quezon, for instance.

This opened up the discussion on "mariculture highways" that the government has put up or intends to in 25 sites all over the country. AQD participants in particular were concerned about baseline data that must be collected prior to setting up the parks so that environmental capacities would be determined. These data might just be in BFAR offices and not been collated to support a science-based legislation that would be needed to run the parks sustainably.

After the AQD portion, Dir. Sarmiento presented the BFAR programs. Seaweed, being the top export product, is still the number one priority. After BFAR staff was trained by AQD in seaweed tissue culture and sporulation early this year, Dir. Sarmiento said, a P3 million allocation was immediately given to BFAR's seaweeds development program.

He went on to discuss other projects not overlapping with AQD's, including massive reseeding of major inland bodies of water (4 million fingerlings per seeding is the target), tuna enhancement, establishment of tilapia fillet processing plant, mobile ice plants, and regulatory activities to name a few.

To conclude the day, BFAR Assistant Director Gil Adora expressed his satisfaction of the proceedings, noting that BFAR can pick up some of AQD's technologies immediately while others would be dealt with long-term. He thanked everyone for their participation.

To meet this objective, BFAR will select areas within its regional offices available for the conduct of a joint pilot techno-demo project.

AQD, on its part, will provide the needed expertise and technical assistance, including training of BFAR technical staff, in disseminating technologies it has developed.

Annual consultations will be conducted to review and set directions for this undertaking. Moreover, a Joint Program Committee will be created to oversee the overall implementation of the project. The MOU will be in force for at least five years, and may be extended by mutual consent of the parties involved.

Identified priority areas for collaboration, among others, include the establishment of milkfish satellite hatcheries; techno-demo hatcheries of siganid and grouper; establishment of additional seabass techno-demo farms; demo-hatchery of mudcrab; monitoring and assessment of abalone; development of seaweed tissue culture techniques and culture in mariculture zones; campaign for biosecure Litopenaeus vannamei farms; and techno-demo for the breeding and hatchery of seahorses.

The signing is but inevitable given AQD's and BFAR's shared mandates to promote sustainable aquaculture technologies that are economically viable, environment-friendly and socially equitable. The two institutions have in the past undertaken numerous joint and collaborative projects in pursuit of these mandates.

These options were presented to the now-forming JACOTA (Janguslob-Codingle-Tamulalod) cooperative on June 27. Thirty-four coop members, LGU reps, and AQD staff were in the meeting at Codingle, Dumarao.

Mr. Sandy Gonzaga, the Dumarao Mayor's representative, welcomed the new livelihood option that the farmers will learn from AQD and from the Office of the Capiz Provincial Agriculturist (PAO). As PAO staff Mr. Joey de la Cruz explained, the collaboration will make up the freshwater phase of the Institutional capacity development for sustainable aquaculture project. The Tapaz dam site was earlier considered for this phase but Dumarao's more urgent need was certified by the new Capiz Governor. Would-be aqua entrepreneurs from Tapaz are encouraged instead to join the on-site training for Dumarao.

NIA's Engr. Efren Bigkas and Ms. Elena Villanueva, on the other hand, talked about the river system in Dumarao and the affected families (NIA are compensating them for the damage).

AQD's Training&Info Head Mr. Renato Agbayani oriented the attendees about ICD-SA, emphasizing the on-site, season-long training that will go hand-in-hand with technology demonstration. Lessons from Pandan and other sites of ICD-SA will be applied here, to refine techno-transfer methods and ensure the success of the cooperative.

Meanwhile Mr. Fermin did the technical aquaculture presentation. "Hindi ba ma-anod ang mga cages?" was one of the questions, to which the reply was "Ihigot!" A few farmers offered their farms to be made into demo sites.

At the end of the meeting, the parties was agreed that the ICD-SA project will provide the nets, feeds and seeds; the coop will contribute labor and bamboo poles for the cage construction; and that the net profit will be the coop's.

BFAR-RFTC is currently implementing techno-demo projects for shrimp and crab culture in support of the government's thrust on food production, poverty alleviation and job employment for marginalized fisherfolk. Palawan is rich in marine resources and there is little aquaculture activity.

Ms. Sandy Madarcos of radio station DYPR interviewed Dr. Quintio and Dr. Estepa about the visit, which also provided them an opportunity to inform the listeners about the aquaculture research, development and extension activities of SEAFDEC/AQD.

Mr. Rommel de Juan, chair of the cooperative, said that they may need to improve the site, like digging trenches to prevent the cages settling down during low tide and enclosing the modules to prevent the poaching of stock. He also mentioned that other institutions have approached their coop to collaborate on expanding the seabass operation.

On the other hand, Ms. Kaylin Corre, head of AQD's Training Section who facilitated the on-site training of the coop members, noted that the coop may turn more profit if members can utilize locally available feed ingredients. AQD can handily run a course on farm-made feeds to reduce costs.

Pandan is one of the sites of AQD's Institutional capacity development for sustainable aquaculture project with the Congressional District of Antique.

The commodity garnering the most attention during the event was the Pacific white shrimp, a.k.a. Litopenaeus vannamei: the ban on its importation was lifted last January 8. Among the relevant presentations that tackled this were: regional perspectives on shrimp farming; status and challenges in white shrimp culture; SWOT analysis of the Philippine shrimp industry; updates on the management of WSSV disease in Negros Island; and use of probiotics and vaccines in shrimp culture. Certain players in the industry also took time to share their experiences in this field.

This isn't to say that other relevant and timely topics were ignored: AQD's Dr. Gilda Lio-Po, Dr. Felix Ayson, and Dr. Neila Chavoso discussed advances in the use of probiotics, applications of biotechnology in aquaculture, and transferable technologies from SEAFDEC and AQD's dream project, respectively. Updates on established (milkfish, tilapia, mudcrab) and up-and-coming (abalone, redclaw) aquaculture commodities were also discussed, as well as topics on coastal resource management, post-harvest technologies, organic aquaculture, and transferable technologies from UP-MSI, UPV nad PCAMRD.

AQD put up a booth where publications were sold (a total of P17,000) and posters highlighting AQD researches and activities were displayed.

Knowing that there exists many different groups and organizations within the industry, the organizers also urged the participants to sign a resolution for the creation of a unified aquaculture organization to further the industry's interests. If you wish to sign too, please email up_aquasoc@yahoo.com.

Another batch of Lakbay-Aral enthusiasts visited AQD last June 9. A total of 25 persons from San Vicente, Palawan joined the trip, composed of local government personnel headed by Vice Mayor Solomon Maagad, and the Bagong Siglo ng mga Mangingisda cooperative.

The delegates were able to visit AQD's hatchery facilities and feed mill, had an orientation on fish cage culture, and visited the Igang Marine Substation.

The group plans to enhance fish cage culture in their locality, which will be funded by the local government.

level too high would prove toxic to the organism, while too low a level may not support normal metabolism. Cysteine is a naturally occurring, sulfur-containing amino acid that is a building block to most proteins.

Also learned during the seminar is the possibility of a connection between the necessity of controlling cysteine and the regulation of hydrogen sulfide. H₂S, which smells like rotting eggs, is a smooth muscle relaxant and is produced in the brain in response to neuronal excitation.