Understanding sea cucumbers fisheries

Concerning with the Sea Cucumber Fisheries, the issue of sea cucumber was pending for discussion from the CITES COP-13 to COP-14 due to unavailability of a discussion document on biological and trade status of sea cucumbers. In ASEAN Region, sea cucumbers nonetheless have clearly represented an important fisheries; lack of attention to the management of these species; and their fisheries status is unknown. Along this line the Member Countries, at the ASEAN-SEAFDEC Regional Technical Consultation on International Fisheries Related Issues on 18 September 2006, in Phuket, Thailand, reaffirmed the directions provided by the Council at the 38^th Meeting and support the conduct of regional study on sea cucumbers fisheries, utilization and trade in Southeast Asian Region.

Along line with previous initiatives and policy directions made by SEAFDEC Councils, the Secretariat will continue its effort in executing activities related to regional study on sea cucumbers as well as monitoring these issues under the international movement particularly commercially-exploited species under the concerned of CITES, for further properly integrated into regional plan. It is expected that outcomes of the regional study on sea cumber fisheries, utilization and trade will be submitted to the 40^th Meeting of SEAFDEC Council and the 16^th Meeting of the ASWGFi for their consideration and support.

The Thirtieth Meeting of the SEAFDEC Program Committee, 26-28 November 2007

3. PROGRESS OF ACTIVITIES IN THE YEAR 2007 Project Activities

Project/Activity Title Duration Remarks 1. Monitoring Progress of Development NPOA-sharks

and Regional Study on Sea Cucumbers

2007

Vietnam, the Philippines, Cambodia are in developing process 2. Regional Expert Meeting on Sea Cucumbers - No progress

3. Regional Synthesis on Sea Cucumbers - On-going

4. Participation to other Relevant Regional/International Fora

- 5^th AEG-CITES May 100%

- CITES CoP14 June 100%

5. Production of Promotional Brochure and Materials for

Support the Member Countries Feb.-Nov. 100%

With the view to address and prepare the issues related to commercially exploited aquatic species at the CITES CoP-14, SEAFDEC in consultation with the Member Countries identified name of experts in the ASEAN Region to participate at the Ad-hoc Expert Advisory Panel for Assessment of Listing Proposals to CITES for Commercially-Exploited Aquatic Species held by FAO from 26 to 30 March 2007. Mr. Ahmad bin Ali from SEAFDEC MFRDMD was selected from the region to sit in the Panel. In addition, SEAFDEC also provided related information to FAO, of which pertinent to listing proposals to CITES for commercially-exploited aquatic species based on initiatives of ASEAN and SEAFDEC Member Countries.

At the 5^th ASEAN Expert Group on CITES held in Singapore from 9 to 11 May 2007, SEAFDEC dispatched two representatives from the Secretariat in order to present the Progress and Status of Issues Related to Endangered Aquatic Species and CITES under ASEAN- SEAFDEC FCG Mechanism and raise the concern of fisheries sector on conservation and management of related species especially proposed listing under CITES.

Consequently, two representatives from SEAFDEC attended the CoP14 of CITES held in the Hague, Netherlands from 3 to 15 June 2007. Posters and publications related to conservation and management of aquatic endangered species, under collaboration between ASEAN-SEAFDEC Member Countries and SEAFDEC Departments, were exhibited at the Conference.

Representatives of SEAFDEC were also a member of working group on sea cucumbers of the Convention in order to monitor the issues related to fisheries, provide substantive information base on SEAFDEC initiatives in collaboration with the Member Countries, as well as safeguard the regional interests.

In July 2007, SEAFDEC in close collaboration with the Member Countries namely Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand started conducting regional study on sea cucumber fisheries, trade and utilization in Southeast Asia and also established the ‘Regional Working Group on Sea Cucumber Fisheries’ for planning and coordination work on status, resources utilization, management and trade in order to assess possibility in the development of country’s initiative or action plan and policy recommendation. It is expected that compilation of Member Countries’ desk-study will be finished at the end of December.

In supporting the Member Countries for formulation of NPOA-sharks, SEAFDEC extended technical services and facilitated arrangement of the National Action Planning Workshop for the Conservation and Management of Sharks in the Philippines from 14 to 17 November 2007. The

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Workshop accomplished identification of issues, action plan, and strategies, much of which in line with the suggested content of NPOA-shark developed by SEAFDEC.

4. PROPOSED ACTIVITIES FOR THE YEAR 2008 4.1 Planning of the Project Activities

Project/Activity Title Duration Remarks 1. Monitoring Progress of Development NPOA-sharks

2007

Cambodia, Philippines,

Vietnam, 2. Regional Expert Meeting on Sea Cucumbers February - 3. Regional Synthesis on Sea Cucumbers Feb.-Apr. - 4. Production of Promotional Brochure and Materials

for Support the Member Countries Apr.- Dec. -

4.2 Expected Outcomes

With the view to assist and promote the development of NPOA-shark, SEAFDEC will close collaborate with the Member Countries; where the formulation of NPOA-shark is underdeveloped, in term of facilitation and providing technical service to ensure successfully formulating of NPOA-shark. Regional experts and SEAFDEC staffs could be mobilized for implementing such activities at the national level.

In order to address the issues related to ASEAN-SEAFDEC specific study at the regional level on sea cucumbers including species, utilization and trade, especially the possibility in the development of country’s initiative or action plan and policy recommendation, the Regional Expert Meeting on Sea Cucumbers will be organized around February 2008. The outcome of Regional Expert Meeting, synthesis of regional study as well as policy recommendations will be submitted the 40^th Meeting of SEAFDEC Council and the 16^th Meeting of the ASWGFi for consideration and support.

Collected information inclusive of actions taken by SEAFDEC would be circulated in SEAFDEC newsletters and/or other new developed materials through appropriate channels to fisheries authorities of member countries in the Southeast Asia and outside the region.

The Thirtieth Meeting of the SEAFDEC Program Committee, 26-28 November 2007

PROGRAM DOCUMENT

Program Category: Program under the ASEAN-SEAFDEC FCG Mechanism Program Title: Development of Fish Disease Surveillance System

Lead Department: Aquaculture Department Lead Country: Philippines

Total Duration: Five Years (2005-2009) Proposed 2007 Budget: US$143,000 1. INTRODUCTION

In the last two decades, aquaculture in Southeast Asia grew rapidly and contributed to the increase of food supply and well-being of the people in ASEAN region. However, due to careless health management, large number of infectious diseases emerged and the diseases are threatening sustainable aquaculture.

“The Plan of Action on Sustainable Fisheries for Food Security for the ASEAN Region”

adopted by the ASEAN-SEAFDEC Senior Officials as a result of the ASEAN-SEAFDEC Conference on Sustainable Fisheries for Food Security in the New Millennium: “Fish for the People”, held in Thailand in November 2001, has the following items related to fish-health issues for aquaculture in the region:

a. Reduce the risks of negative environmental impacts, loss of biodiversity, and disease transfer by regulating the introduction and transfer of aquatic organisms in accordance with the Regional Guidelines on the Responsible Movement of Live Aquatic Animals and Plants;

and

b. Improve capabilities in the diagnosis and control of fish diseases within the region by developing technology and techniques for disease identification, reliable field-side diagnostics and harmonized diagnostic procedures, and establishing regional and international referral systems, including designation of reference laboratories and timely access to disease control experts within the region.

To counter the disease problems and to implement the above-mentioned two items of the Plan of Action, the Government of Japan funded SEAFDEC for a regional fish disease project entitled

“Development of Fish Disease Inspection Methodologies for Artificially-Bred Seeds” from 2000 to 2004. The project focus was on development of diagnostic methods of important viral diseases of aquatic animals in the region. Researches on the development of standardized diagnostic methods, husbandry methods for disease control and a monitoring method for residual chemicals in aquaculture products were conducted and the outputs were disseminated to ASEAN countries. Thus, the project has paved the way for the development of the disease control and surveillance system for the region.

Various infectious diseases due to viruses, bacteria and parasites often cause high mortalities of aquatic animals cultured in the region and still give a serious impact on aquaculture production.

Moreover, new diseases are emerging due to the introduction of new aquaculture species to the region. Thus, taking necessary measures against those infectious diseases is an urgent and important issue to aquaculture in the region. The most urgent issue to be tackled for the development of healthy and wholesome aquaculture is to establish the network of resources and facilities for fish health diagnosis and human capacity building in the region. Therefore, the Aquaculture Department (AQD) of the SEAFDEC has proposed to extend the former project as a renewed project entitled “Development of Fish Disease Surveillance System” for five years from 2005 to 2009.

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Despite regional and international agreements and precautionary measures on transboundary movement of exotic fish and shrimps, alien species are introduced for aquaculture and disease problems continue to spread. These prove laxity in implementation of existing laws and regulations, absence of political will among concerned government agencies, or unbalanced prioritization between preservation of biodiversity and the economic gains promised by aquaculture of exotic species. Given that exotic species, and in some cases their diseases have been introduced into some parts of Southeast Asia, it is important to conduct surveillance and monitoring to know which areas are free of specific diseases. Information gathered by both passive and active surveillance will become important tools in managing aquaculture of native and exotic species.

2. PROGRAM 2.1 Objectives

The main objective of the program is to develop a surveillance system for diseases of aquatic animals in Southeast Asia through establishment of the network of resources and facilities for fish health diagnosis and human capacity building.

2.2 Program Description

This program consists of 4 components: (1) Research and Development (R & D) on refinement of diagnostic methods and development of new prevention methods for aquatic animal diseases, (2) Surveillance for important viral diseases of fish and shrimps in the region, and mobile clinics, (3) Training on advanced diagnostic techniques and distance-learning course, (4) Annual progress and plan meeting and international workshop on fish disease surveillance in the region.

3. PROGRESS OF ACTIVITIES IN THE YEAR 2007

Project/Activity Title Duration Remarks (%

completion) Research and Development (R & D) on refinement of

diagnostic methods and development of new prevention methods for aquatic animal diseases

All year around

70

Surveillance for important viral diseases of fish and shrimps in the region, and mobile clinics

All year around

70 E-learning and Hands-on training All year

around

80 Annual progress and plan meeting of 2006

International Workshop of Fish Diseases Annual progress and plan meeting of 2007

Mar 2007 Dec 2007 Dec 2007

40

Research and Development (R & D) on refinement of diagnostic methods and development of new prevention methods for aquatic animal diseases

This program component aims to refine established diagnostic methods for viral diseases of aquatic animals, and to develop new control prevention methods for fish diseases in the region, For example, AQD will try to develop immunological prevention methods for white spot syndrome, husbandry technique of grouper broodstock, with eggs, larvae and food fish screening for viral nervous necrosis (VNN), and prevention mechanisms of polyculture technique and probiotics.

The Thirtieth Meeting of the SEAFDEC Program Committee, 26-28 November 2007

(1) Development of control methods for viral nervous necrosis (VNN) of marine fish

• New batch of sea bass broodstock were screened, and 8% were found positive for the virus.

• VNN-virus for vaccination experiment is being propagated using E-11 cell line, and the vaccine is prepared by inactivating the purified VNN virus with 0.5% formalin.

• The infectious titers of the formalin-treated virus are currently being examined by cell culture assay.

• The toxicity assay of the concentration of formalin (0.1 ml of 0.5% formalin) with intraperitoneal showed non-toxic to sea bass.

• Sea bass, which will be used in the vaccination experiment, was confirmed to be VNNV and other viruses-negative.

• An infection study was conducted using VNN-negative grouper larvae, and the larvae were observed and the mortality was recorded.

• 50% mortality was observed 11 days post infection while 93% of the larvae were dead 14 days post infection; dead larvae were VNN-positive.

• Preparation of fixatives for electron microscopy is being modified.

(2) Development of immunological preventive methods for shrimp: Immunostimulation and vaccination strategies for WSSV prevention

• Vaccination test via intramuscular injection was conducted.

• Vaccination test via immersion was conducted.

• Both methods clearly improved survival.

• Diets containing the formalin-killed vaccine were prepared, and oral delivery of the vaccine by diets is being tested.

(3) Epidemiology of the white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) in different shrimp (Penaeus monodon) culture techniques in the Philippines

• Data on the occurrence of WSSV positive prawn/crab and the weather condition from 2000 to 2006 were collected and analyzed.

• Total annual prevalence of WSSV positive shrimp increased 10% in 2000 to 38% in 2006.

• The prevalence of WSSV shrimp/crab is correlated with monthly rainfall and temperature.

• A drop in temperature or rise in rainfall resulted in increased WSSV prevalence.

• Exposure to stresses could lead to WSSV infection. Exposure to temperature fluctuation of 3- 4°C in 12±5 h and salinities in the lower range (<15 ppt) for shrimp culture was identified as possible stressors.

(4) Pilot testing of the “indigenous probiotic” in grow-out shrimp ponds

• Re-isolation and mass production of indigenous probiotic is on-going.

• Pond dikes and gates including paddlewheels were repaired.

(5) Haemorrhage disease on cultured freshwater catfish (Pangasianodon hypophthalmus) in Mekong Delta (RIA2, Vietnam)

• The disease fish (n=67) were sampled at 3 sites.

• Viral isolation and identification was tried, but no virus sensitive to BF-2 cell line was detected.

• Bacterial isolation and identification was tried, and 3 species of Aeromonas, Edwardsiella ictacluri and Clostridium sp were detected.

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Surveillance for important viral diseases of fish and shrimps in the region, and mobile clinics

In this component, through the communication with national laboratories, AQD aims to establish a network of surveillance system in the region and play the role of a resource and/or reference laboratory for diagnosis of fish and shrimp viral diseases. These surveillance activities will be coordinated with “mobile clinics,” in which SEAFDEC-AQD Surveillance Team will make an on-site diagnosis and also assist in setting up a fish disease diagnostic capability/facility of SEAFDEC member countries.

(1) Monitoring and surveillance of transboundary pathogens in cultured shrimps and freshwater prawn

• Samples were collected and processed: mud crab, Penaeus monodon, P. indicus, P.

merguiensis, P. vannamei, Macrobrachium rosenbergii.

• Samples were collected at Buguey, Cagayan, Laguna, Nueva Ecija (luzon), Negros

Occidental and Oriental, and Myanmar.

• Tests were conducted for WSSV, IHHNV, TSV, GAV, YHV and IMNV

• 10% of the total samples have so far been infected with IHHNV.

• No samples were positive for other 8 viruses.

• For M. rosenbergii, WTD and WSSV have been monitored, and all samples were negative for both viruses.

• On the other hand, unexplained mortalities in hatchery-reared M. rosenbergii have been reported.

• On-site training Workshop on shrimp and prawn health management was conducted in Myanmar on 5-9 February 2007

(2) Surveys of giant freshwater prawn viral diseases, MrNV and XSV in Thailand (AAHRI, Thailand)

• Wild prawn samples were collected at 3 sites.

• The samples were tested for MrNV and XSV.

• XSV not detected from all the samples, and the samples from U-bonrachathani showed MrNV positive with 7.7%.

(3) Survey of viral diseases of Pacific white shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei, in Indonesia (Fish Health Research Laboratory, Indonesia)

• Sampling was conducted in six provinces: Lampung, Banten, West Java, Central Java, East Java, Bali.

• Analysis of samples is still in progress.

(4) Surveillance of emerging fish viral pathogens in some Southeast Asian countries

• Samples of common carp, koi, grass carp and silver carp were collected from Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Philippines and Vietnam.

• No significant parasitic infestations of the gills and systemic bacterial infection were observed.

• The specimens were processed and assayed for KHV, GCHDV and SVCV.

• To date, no virus was detected from samples of Philippines and South/North Vietnam,

Cambodia and Lao PDR. Sample from Myanmar is still ongoing..

• On-site training course on fish health management in Myanmar. (Jan 29 - Feb 4, 2007).

• Mobile clinic diagnostic tests on tilapia and rohu in fish farms in Myanmar indicated no significant parasitic infestation and bacterial infection.

The Thirtieth Meeting of the SEAFDEC Program Committee, 26-28 November 2007

In document Iloilo City, the Philippines 26-28 November 2007 (pahina 173-180)