Executive Summary: Sustainable Coastal Aquaculture Technologies in the Tsunami Zone
B. Principal Investigators:
Dr. Remedios Bolivar, Host Country PI, Freshwater Aquaculture Center/College of Fisheries, Central Luzon State University, Science City of Muñoz, Nueva Ecija, Philippines
Dr. Anicia Hurtado, Host Country Co-PI, SEAFDEC ADQ, Tigbauan, 5021, Iloilo, Philippines
Dr. Nelson Golez, Host Country Co-PI, SEAFDEC ADQ, Tigbauan, 5021, Iloilo, Philippines
Dr. Kevin Fitzsimons, US PI, University of Arizona
C. Objectives
a. Conduct a series of short courses in affected communities in Aceh Province demonstrating alternatives to monoculture of shrimp
b. Transfer techniques developed in the Philippines for seaweed, oyster, and tilapia-shrimp polyculture to Aceh Province.
c. Provide oversight and review of matching funds provided by Aquaculture without Frontiers for training in sustainable coastal aquaculture
d. Provide training to surviving farmers and to NGO volunteers who are providing restoration assistance
e. Determine if farmers receiving training adopt some of the techniques rather than returning to shrimp monoculture.
f. Determine if crop diversification and more sustainable farming techniques have improved household income.
II. Background and Needs Assessment Summary
The earthquake and tsunami that struck the Aceh Province of Indonesia impacted 30,000 households who had registered with aquaculture being the primary household livelihood. The vast majority of these families had small tambaks (ponds of less than one hectare) that were used for monoculture of penaeid shrimp. The survivors would like to return to aquaculture, but recognize that the removal of mangroves may have contributed to the scope of the disaster. Further, even before the tsunami they were impacted by degradation of water quality, diseases in shrimp, and low prices due to over-production. Similar situations existed in Thailand, however the government and aid agencies have rendered significant support for restoration. Sri Lanka also had significant impacts on coastal aquaculture, which have not been addressed.
Researchers at SEAFDEC have pioneered mangrove friendly shrimp farming technologies and have been active in publication and dissemination of these methods (Primavera 2000; Tadokoro et al. 2000). These include use of mangroves, seaweeds and bivalves as biofilters. In the earlier A CRSP, CLSU researchers worked with farmers to develop and document the tilapia – shrimp polyculture system that has spread through the Philippines. The University of Arizona has developed red algae (Gracilaria) farming techniques that are especially useful to integrate with a shrimp and/or tilapia production to remove nutrients from effluents (Nelson et al. 2001). Similar work in China (Yang et al. 2005), Colombia (Gautier 2002) and Thailand (Menasveta 2002) provides additional examples from several distinct environments.
A direct cash match of $41,000 will come from the Aquaculture without Frontiers (AwF) charity. (See letter attached). The donors to AwF requested that all donated funds be expended in Indonesia, but the organization has requested a partner to provide technical expertise for the restoration effort in conjunction with the Indonesian Department of Fisheries and several NGO’s. The PI’s will provide technical expertise and oversight for the expenditures of the AwF funds.
Changes to more sustainable farming should also translate into improved household income as additional products should be available for sale or consumption and costs for disease treatments and feed associated with monoculture of shrimp are reduced. A final survey will ask if the participants have improved household welfare by implementing the techniques taught in the workshops.
This study addresses issues in the adoption of aquaculture technology applicable to similar situations in other countries. It also addresses questions of coastal disaster rehabilitation and diversification of livelihoods. Through its links with the SEAFDEC, the project is connected with a regional and global research and development network. In particular, the results of the training will be presented at the WAS meeting in Busan Korea, May 2008.
E. Quantified Anticipated Benefits
a. The training will benefit tsunami survivors especially shrimp farmers who are looking for a more sustainable farming system. Participant lists will be collected at each training event in order to document those in attendance.
b. The researchers will benefit, as they will be able to synthesize their complementary knowledge and experiences to customize the sustainable coastal aquaculture system to the Indonesian situation.
c. Aquaculture without Frontiers and their donors will benefit as they need experts to oversee and direct the financial support.
d. In addition to this direct benefit to tsunami affected communities, a longer-term and more global benefit is to provide information to further develop sustainable coastal aquaculture in tropical conditions.
e. We expect to see that the training and implementation of sustainable coastal aquaculture techniques will improve household welfare.
F. Activity Plan
Location
The training efforts will occur in three villages (Ladong, Pedie, Buran) in Aceh Province of Indonesia. A demonstration project, supported by the matching funds, will be in operation in Ladong, near the Ladong Fisheries College.
Methods
We will conduct a series of workshops to train participants in tilapia, tilapia-shrimp polyculture, and seaweed culture techniques. The trainings will be conducted jointly in English by the project PI’s and in Indonesian Bahsa by the professional staffs of the Ujong Batee Aquaculture Center and Ladong Fisheries College.
Some instructional materials will be purchased from SEAFDEC and transferred to Aceh. Additional materials will be translated by Ujong Batee staff and photocopied or printed in Aceh.
Invitations and announcements will be distributed in the week prior to the workshops to each village. A small box lunch will be provided to each of the participants, per local tradition.
A follow up visit and survey of the farmers will be conducted in January 2008 to determine how many of the farmers have implemented the training received. The baseline condition will be considered a return to mono-culture of shrimp. Changes including culture of, or polyculture with tilapia, milkfish and/or seaweeds, or other sustainable improvements will be tabulated. Two questions on the survey will inquire if the household income has been increased, decreased or remained the same and second if the household welfare has been increased, decreased or remained the same.
G. Schedule
Project start date / June 1, 2007Selection of training materials / June 2007
Translation of selected materials to Bahsa / July 2007
Training and demonstration ponds / July 2007
Survey of application of training / January 2008
Presentation of results at WAS Busan Korea / May 2008
End date and final report / May 31, 2008
H. Literature Cited
Gautier, D. 2002. The integration of mangrove and shrimp farming: A case study on the Caribbean coast of Colombia. Report prepared under the World Bank, NACA, WWF and FAO Consortium on Shrimp Farming and the Environment.
Hongsheng Yang , Yi Zhou, Yuze Mao, Xiaoxu Li, Ying Liu and Fusui Zhang. 2005. Growth characters and photosynthetic capacity of Gracilaria lemaneiformis as a biofilter in a shellfish farming area in Sanggou Bay, China. Journal of Applied Phycology 17(3): 199-206.
Nelson, S., Glenn, E., Moore, D., Walsh, T, and Fitzsimmons, K. 2001. Use of an edible red seaweed to improve effluent from shrimp farms. Journal of Phycology 37 (s3): 38–38.
Piamsak Menasveta 2002. Improved shrimp growout systems for disease prevention and environmental sustainability in Asia. Reviews in Fisheries Science 10(3-4):391-402.
Primavera, J.H. 2000. Integrated mangrove-aquaculture systems in Asia. Integrated Coastal Zone Management. Autumn Edition 2000: 121-128.
Tadokoro, Y., Sulit, V.T. and Abastillas, R.B. 2000. Mangrove-Friendly Aquaculture: Final report of and papers presented to the On-Site Training on Mangrove-Friendly Aquaculture. Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center, Aquaculture Department, Tigbauan, Iloilo, Philippines.