Report back on the Third country training program on Responsible Aquaculture Development - Philippines

In September 2000 I was fortunate enough to be chosen as the South African representative to attend the second session of the third country training program funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) held in the Philippines. The Aquaculture Department of the South East Asian Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC) hosted the program which and is based in Iloilo, Panay Island.

Representatives attended the course from 14 other third world countries which included trainees from the Asia, the subcontinent, Indonesia and Africa (South Africa, Tanzania, Nigeria and Kenya). The course, which lasted for 9 weeks, comprised of lectures, practicals and fieldtrips to aquaculture sites around the Philippines. With the theme on responsible aquaculture development we were lectured on various aspects of coastal resource management from site selection to community and social issues. One of our field trip assignments included interviewing the leaders of a small coastal community, identifying their problems regarding fishing/aquaculture and then offering possible solutions. I found the community structure in the Philippines quite fascinating in that there is far more community involvement at the lower government levels, making it a more bottom up approach.

The SEAFDEC aquaculture department has a number of satellite stations such as Igang Marine Station where they hold milkfish, grouper, seabass, snapper and rabbitfish broodstock in huge cages. The Dumangas Brackishwater Station is a technology verification station and has commercial size ponds which are used to test all research based/small scale experiments at operational levels before the information is published and released to local communities. The techniques for the farming of milkfish has been completed and work is now focusing on maximising marine prawn production while being careful not to repeat the past mistakes of damaging the environment. A new method of aquaculture or "aqua-silviculture" is now being investigated as a method of alleviating the damage to the environment. This involves using mangroves with aquaculture and not just chopping them down to build ponds. It has been shown to be successful with mudcrad growout and involves penning a portion of the mangrove off thereby allowing tidal interchange as well as providing natural habitat for the crabs.

Cage culture" SEAFDEC Igang Marine Station - A cage culture facilty used to hold milkfish, grouper, seabass, snapper and rabbitfish broodstock.

Other places visited included farms using genetically modified "super male" tilapia, a polyculture farm using chickens/tilapia/catfish, intensive prawn ponds and a seaweed growout project operating in a sheltered bay. The scale of aquaculture in the Philippines is far greater than here in South Africa although most of their aquaculture is on an extensive scale and uses large ponds or pens. Being given the opportunity to see the various farms broadened my awareness of the scale and of what is happening in the tropics.

The lectures at SEAFDEC were given by senior research staff, surprisingly of which most were women (it is not uncommon in the Philippines to find women in the most senior research positions). The Filipinos are a very friendly nation and I was warmly welcomed and looked after during my stay. During my time there I learnt and saw more about marine aquaculture than I could read in 100 books, made some good friends and developed some great contacts. There was never any problem with being taken hostage! The only time I came close to any danger was when I crossed the road (they drive on the "wrong" side) and when a typhoon hit during our stay in Manila.

What amazed me about the Philippines (and the tropics in general) is that if they want to culture something they do just that. No major hassles! I have come to appreciate why we battle in South Africa as our climate is highly variable.

Niall Vine (PhD student at the Department of Ichthyology & Fisheries Science, Rhodes University.)

Almost five months have passed now since the XVII^th ISS, and memories about the event are still bright in my mind as if it had happened yesterday. When I first heard about this symposium in 1999, I was not interested, but a seaweed identification workshop and an honours degree later, I became more interested. Late last year I got a bursary to do a project involving seaweeds, so I had to apply for funding to attend the Seaweed Symposium so that I could have a chance to get more relevant information about seaweed biology and cultivation. I got the money to attend the symposium and that was great.

It seemed like 28 January 2001 was never going to come but eventually I attended the conference at the University of Cape Town. Due to the world-wide economic importance of seaweeds, the conference attracts not only the researchers, but also several private and government organisations, as well as business people who use seaweed extracts for many purposes. So it was a well attended event. The main objective of the symposium is to give a detailed report about the latest developments and findings in seaweed research, cultivation and other seaweed related subjects. For me, personally, it was more than that, it was an ‘eye opener’ and awakening. The symposium laid the foundation for the project that I was going to start a month later. For me, it was the right symposium at the right time. I got to meet researchers who specialise in seaweed cultivation and they painted a very clear picture. I even met the Swedish team from Stockholm University, with whom we will be doing the project.

However, attending a symposium is not free, and attending an international one is even more costly. To be honest, I would not have managed to attend the symposium without some financial assistance and in that regard I completely relied on the money provided by NRF. This is why I feel like I owe NRF and the SANCOR community more than just this report.

I would like to thank the SANCOR Secretariat, Renee, the NRF for financial help, the Symposium Secretariat, Elizabeth, for organising things for me, my hat goes off to the organisers of the symposium, John and Rob, and lastly the sponsors of the conference for supporting the event.

 

Finally, I would like to ask young scientists to try and become part of events like these in the future. There were very few students who attended this symposium. Nevertheless, the ball is still rolling and I hope they will attend the next symposium in greater numbers. Let us face challenges for they will make us strong and ready for the future.

All in all the XVII^th ISS was an educational event and I really look forward to the next one.

Asanda Njobeni, Botany Department, UCT

POST-GRADUATE BURSARIES OFFERED

For

Bursaries are available next year for six students from South Africa to do two to three-year degrees in Fisheries Management through Universities in Norway. Students will be sponsored by NORAD (the Norwegian Agency for Development co-operation) and Marine and Coastal Management. Four of the bursaries are for the University of Bergen (M.Phil. degrees), and two are for the University of Tromso (M.Sc. degrees).

Bergen students will spend two years in Norway, and 13 months in Cape Town, receiving basic training and doing research projects under the supervision of scientists from MCM. Tromso students will spend almost two years in Norway, and eight months in Cape Town, doing basic training and research projects atMCM.

Minimum requirements are an honours degree in a discipline relevant to fisheries management (e.g. biology, statistics, applied mathematics, economics, fisheries law), and South African citizenship. To apply, send photocopies of academic qualifications and a comprehensive Curriculum Vitae to the address below. Please include letters of reference or recommendation from two professionals and the name, address and telephone number of a third professional willing to give a reference if necessary.

The deadline for application is 30 August 2001.

For further details contact Dr Su Painting (e-mail address: Painting@mcm.wcape.gov.za, telephone: 021 402-3352) or Dr J. Augustyn (Augustyn@mcm.wcape.gov.za, telephone: 021 402-3103). The fax number at Marine and Coastal Management is (021) 4217-406 and postal address is Private Bag X2, Rogge Bay, 8012.

 

Your contribution is essential.

For more information please contact:

The Student Corner’s Newsletter editor

Pavs Pillay (UCT)

Tel: 650—3613 (O/H) Email: ppillay@botzoo.uct.ac.za

 

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