The Overseas Development Administration (ODA) enjoys a close and cordial working relationship with NACA. ODA's policy towards aquaculture in SE Asia is to support the development of national institutions including some of those forming Regional Lead Centres or National Aquaculture Centres for NACA. ODA is also funding research and development studies into key aspects of aquaculture with a strong regional significance. In this regard British expertise and activities have focused on 3 main areas: (a) fish diseases diagnosis and control, (b) integrated fish farming, and (c) environmental assessment (including site selection and the ecological impact of aquaculture developments).
In addition, ODA has, and will continue to be strongly committed to aquaculture and fisheries training in the region at both practical and academic levels.
Leading institutions in Britain involved in aquaculture development in Asia include the Institute of Aquaculture at Stirling University, the International Institute of Fisheries Studies at Humberside and ODA's own natural resources institute, ODNRI.
ODA regards NACA highly as a regional network which can provide coordination with other donor inputs. Although ODA's work is mainly bilateral, steps have been taken to regionalise, where appropriate, the ODA aquaculture programme in SE Asia. These regional activities offer particular scope for close collaboration with NACA, and it is satisfying to note that past ODA cooperation with NACA has not been limited to dialogue, but has involved collaboration at a practical level, to the extent of joint missions in the field.
Now to some specific examples of ODA-NACA collaboration. There are five National Aquaculture Centres of NACA and a further four centres designated to serve as Regional Centres.
ODA is working alongside NACA to support two of these institutions:
Regional Lead Centre - National Inland Fisheries Institute (NIFI), Thailand. ODA has collaborated with NIFI for several years with support taking the form of joint research, field studies and a training course in fish diseases. In 1985-86, a joint investigation involving British and Thai Scientists, funded by FAO and ODA, provided the first comprehensive study of the ulcerative disease epizootic in SE Asia. This study reported to an FAO consultative meeting in Bangkok in August 1986, and ODA has acted on the recommendations from that meeting in agreeing with the Department of Fisheries in Thailand a new project to strengthen laboratory and manpower capabilities for regional fish disease diagnosis, in new facilities at the NIFI complex at Kasetsart, Bangkok.
In 1987 and 1988 ODA collaborated actively with NACA and NIFI to provide specialist fish culture consultants for further disease monitoring in Thailand, for the NACA fish disease training course at NIFI in 1987 and to subsequent regional monitoring and advisory visits a technical follow up to this course.
Also in Thailand, at the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), which is collaborating with NACA on aquaculture information systems, ODA is funding 3 faculty posts in aquaculture. This assistance has helped to make aquaculture the largest single field of study at AIT, where currently 8 M.Sc. scholarships in aquaculture are provided by ODA. A similar number of Asian students are trained each year at the Institute of Aquaculture, at Stirling University, plus many more at other fisheries Centres in the UK.
National Centre: Fisheries Research Institute (FRI), Mymensingh, Bangladesh
ODA has implemented a broad programme of aquaculture assistance in Bangladesh, including new projects identified with the FRI and Mymensingh University. Currently, an ODA mission from Stirling is assisting the presidential task force on fish diseases, and the FRI, to monitor and diagnose the current disease epizootic. Again, close collaboration with NACA, and FAO/UNDP, over this serious disease problem, has been a feature of ODAs activities in Bangladesh. ODA is particularly involved with fisheries manpower development in Bangladesh and provides training at AIT and Stirling for Government Fisheries Officers; in addition, in-country courses are due to start this year. Senior FRI staff are currently receiving Ph.D./M.Sc. training on UK scholarship at Stirling in fish diseases and fish genetics.
In several other countries in Asia, bilateral projects funded by ODA are targetted towards goals in aquaculture development shared with NACA, its participating countries, and other donors.
Examples include:
An aquaculture research and training link between Ruhuna University in Sri Lanka and Stirling University.
A new project in Indonesia to support coastal prawn farming on an environmentally sound basis.
A joint project with Central Luzon State University (and ICLARM) in the Philippines on fish genetics research.
A project providing staff training, equipment and curriculum improvement in aquaculture and fisheries at the Songkhla Fishery College, a vocational level training institute in southern Thailand.
A project in India to provide aquaculture research facilities, equipment and staff training to the Mangalore College of Fisheries.
To conclude, ODA has allocated a considerable part of its support to natural resources in SE Asia to aquaculture and related activities. This support includes regionally oriented programmes in fish diseases, environmental monitoring and integrated farming. ODA looks forward to continued and wider collaboration with NACA in these important fields and to developing bilateral involvement with many of the participating countries in the Network in specific projects and training programmes.
On behalf of ODA, I thank the organisers for the invitation to this meeting and wish the meeting and the future of NACA, every success.
