I wish to thank those who have generously contributed to the content of this paper, particularly Michel Vincke and Manuel Martinez of FAO (Rome), and Robert Rosenberry, whose Aquaculture Digest provided a fund of news items, only some of which are individually acknowledged in the text. My gratitude also goes to Rhona Wood who typed the manuscript. It is with particular pleasure that I thank Chen Foo Yan, whose regional project (NACA - Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia) is headquartered in the country pre-eminent in freshwater prawn culture, for providing the UNDP/FAO funds for publishing this review.
