News

ILOILO CITY, Philippines – From 12–14 March 2025, government personnel, experts, and researchers from across Southeast Asia convened to tackle key challenges in aquaculture and strengthen regional collaboration.

The commercial production of pompano in the Philippines may not be as big as that of tilapia or milkfish, but it is developing. And with development comes challenges. There are increasing reports of sea lice infecting pompano grown in fish cages.

A study, led by SEAFDEC/AQD Scientist Dr. Leobert de la Peña, demonstrated the efficacy of probiotics and a disinfectant against two of the deadliest shrimp diseases: acute hepatopancreatic necrosis disease (AHPND) and luminescent vibriosis.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Agrarian Reform–Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (MAFAR-BARMM) has partnered with SEAFDEC/AQD to train its extension workers and local fishers in marine fish farming from 24 to 28 February 2025.

Seven participants completed the International Training Course on Community-Based Freshwater Aquaculture for Remote Rural Areas in Southeast Asia, held at SEAFDEC/AQD’s Binangonan Freshwater Station on 13-27 November 2024.

Choosing a mate can be a complicated matter to humans. Many factors such as looks, personality, or status always come into play. For the freshwater goby however, finding a mate seems quite simple for it seems to come down to a matter of size.

SEAFDEC/AQD’s collaboration with Philippine government agencies and its construction of new research infrastructure took the spotlight during the 31st Philippine Technical and Administrative Committee (PTAC) meeting held in Quezon City, Philippines on 19 November 2024.

SEAFDEC/AQD researchers found and demonstrated a groundbreaking way to grow seaweed faster than traditional methods by using lab-grown, tissue-cultured seedlings.

The Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center/Aquaculture Department continues to expand its research complex in Tigbauan, Iloilo with the construction of three new aquaculture facilities including a feed mill, hatcheries, and grow-out tanks.

The course ran from 17 June to 23 July 2024. It was attended by four participants from the Philippines, two from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and one each from Singapore, Thailand, Viet Nam, and Cambodia.

An outbreak of WSSV has been recorded in the co-culture of sandfish and black tiger shrimp, which led the SEAFDEC/AQD fish health team to confirm whether sandfish can bioaccumulate WSSV.

The Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center/Aquaculture Department (SEAFDEC/AQD) hosted the Regional Sea Cucumber Roadshow 2024 West Visayas Session on 13–14 June 2024 at Tigbauan Main Station in Iloilo, Philippines.

Twelve participants from six Southeast Asian countries completed the Training Course on Fish Nutrition and Feed Development, held from 20 to 27 May 2024.

A 15-day hands-on training course on Fish Health Management, offered by SEAFDEC/AQD, was held from 15–29 April 2024, drawing 12 participants from different Southeast Asian countries.

Have you ever tried intermittent fasting? While some people alternate periods of fasting and non-fasting for various health reasons, researchers from SEAFDEC Aquaculture Department have found a different application for intermittent fasting. Not for themselves but for eels.

While the El Niño phenomenon brings about a cascade of environmental changes, it also presents an opportunity for milkfish production.

BARBAZA, Antique – A new batch of wild mackerel tuna was transported by an international research organization to its facility in Tigbauan, Iloilo as part of its bid to create a tuna farming industry in the Philippines.

SEAFDEC/AQD co-organized an “On-site Training in Using Concentrated Microalgae in Larval Rearing of Sandfish Holothuria scabra” attended by 18 trainees from various hatcheries in Eastern Visayas.

The population of the Hokkai shrimp Pandalus latirostris has been declining over the past years. Dr. Sayaka Ito, Deputy Chief of SEAFDEC/AQD, partnered with scientists from the Japan Fisheries Research and Education Agency (FRA) to study the shrimp in Akkeshi Bay and Lake Akkeshi in Hokkaido.

Scientists have found out that these stable isotopes interact differently with the environment compared to the same atoms of normal weight. This finding has led to methods involving isotopes that let us know details about what an organism eats.