| Naga
- The *ICLARM Quarterly
Vol.
22, No. 3 (July - September 1999)
Editorial
There
are millions of children around the world who
seldom have the opportunity to enjoy fresh and
nutritious seafood as the young girls on the cover
are doing. In fact many of them have diets that
are low in nutrition, even when they do get enough
to eat. Aquaculture holds great promise for increasing
the availability of affordable food, protein and
nutrients for human consumption and a healthier
future for these children.
Aquaculture
has already been very successful towards increasing
the supply of fish and now supplies nearly 30%
of the food fish consumed worldwide. The scientific
advancements in aquaculture have led many
analysts to write about a ‘blue revolution’.
However,
at what costs will aquaculture grow? Some of the
environmental costs have already been realized
and some are still unknown. On the other hand,
eco-friendly aquaculture has also been shown to
exist. The development and expansion of aquaculture
must be and can be balanced with the need to protect
the integrity of existing ecosystems. The introduction
of new organisms or breeds into aquatic ecosystems
can sometimes have negative consequences. It is
important to study and assess the possible unintended
effects before the introduction of a new species,
especially if it is likely to affect biodiversity.
This
issue of the Naga has comments on three very different
experiences of introductions of exotic aquatic
organisms. One is an example of the successful
creation of a whole new food industry with no
negative side effects (the tilapia in Sri Lanka)
and one that has had severely negative consequences
(the golden apple snail in Japan). The third one
highlights a potentially interesting situation
for a case study on the adaptability, heritability,
taxonomy and genetic variability of the rainbow
trout in a number of distinct populations that
have developed through successive introductions
over the last century into a game fishery in India.
This microcosm of the rainbow trout in the Nilgiri
streams can provide useful information on the
genetic profile and taxonomic status of an important
aquaculture species that could be exploited on
a larger scale for human consumption.
As
an important element of its work, *ICLARM focuses
on the development of sustainable aquaculture
that will directly benefit poor people in developing
countries. Both in Africa and Asia we have carried
out research on resource flows on small farms
to increase their productivity by integrating
aquaculture into the system and using farm resources
and wastes more efficiently. Considerable research
and extension work has gone into developing inexpensive
techniques for small farmers to raise fish in
their household ponds and other unused seasonal
waterbodies, like ponds, ditches and canals. Raising
fish in ricefields has demonstrated benefits for
rice productivity as well as providing fish to
eat and sell. At a somewhat different level, a
high yielding strain of the tilapia has been developed
through selective breeding techniques. It promises
a significantly higher output of this fish that
is native to Africa but is now widely farmed in
Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. This research
also provides a methodology that can be applied
to other species for developing more productive
strains of fish for culture. Marine aquaculture
of giant clams, tropical sea cucumbers and pearl
oysters is being researched and established at
the village level in the Solomon Islands. Our
scientific and technical research and developments
are based on people’s needs and accessibility
to resources so that the benefits to poor producers
and consumers are maximized.
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