| Network
of Tropical Aquaculture and Fisheries Professionals
(NTAFP) Formed
After
functioning separately for more than a decade,
the Network of Tropical Fisheries Scientists (NTFS)
and the Network of Tropical Aquaculture Scientists
(NTAS)-both coordinated by *ICLARM-have merged
to form the Network of Tropical Aquaculture and
Fisheries Professionals (NTAFP). The move, which
took effect at the beginning of 1998, was instituted
to consolidate efforts and resources in the management
of the networks by *ICLARM and to include professionals
from the private sector and nongovernment organizations
(NGOs) working in tropical aquaculture and fisheries.
With the increasing involvement of private individuals
and NGOs, be it for sustainable management of
resources or for income-generating activities,
professionals from these sectors can contribute
significantly to information exchange among the
network's members.
NTAFP
will continue to pursue the aim of bringing together
scientists and professionals who work in isolation
and have difficulty in accessing relevant information.
Specifically, the two networks aim to:
- enhance
communication among fisheries scientists working
on the assessment, conservation and management
of tropical stocks and among aquaculture scientists
engaged in tropical research, especially in
genetics, integrated agriculture-aquaculture
farming systems and coastal aquaculture;
- assist
the scientists in information and database searches,
research, distributing manuals and other literature,
data analysis and interpretation; and
- publish
some of the research findings of members in
the Fishbyte (formerly NTFS newsletter) and
Aquabyte (formerly NTAS newsletter) sections
of Naga, the *ICLARM
Quarterly. NTAFP will continue publishing
articles on fisheries and aquaculture-related
topics in Fishbyte and Aquabyte, respectively.
These will include papers on scientific investigations,
reports on case studies and news on topics that
include management, population dynamics, culture
and culture technologies, genetics, socioeconomics,
marketing, environmental impact, policy issues,
etc.
NTAFP
membership is open to scientists engaged in research
and professionals working on:
(1) assessment, conservation and management of
tropical stocks; and
(2) tropical aquaculture.
Network
members will be provided with selected literature
relevant to their field(s) of work, excluding
textbooks but including unpublished reports, data
sets and reprints of out-of-print papers. Where
possible, *ICLARM will act as distributor of manuals
and software prepared by other organizations and
individuals. Members will automatically be given
free subscription to Naga, to be sent by surface
mail. To facilitate information exchange among
members, Internet access and other forms of electronic
media are being explored as alternative and faster
means of communications and interaction among
members. Smaller thematic groups-based on identified
fields/areas of interest of the members-will be
formed within which members can organize discussion
groups on current issues on various topics and
be kept updated on the latest information via
the Internet. NTAFP is coordinated and funded
by *ICLARM. Efforts are currently being made to
source funding from donor agencies for enlarging
the activities of the network.
Membership
in NTAFP is free. The only expectation from members
is their willingness to discuss their work and
respond to inquiries from fellow members, for
a more interactive, two-way exchange of
information.
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