Integrated farming is profitable

Growing fish with rice while maximizing land use can bring advantages to both crops as production is intensified. Details are given of the basic structure of rice field aquaculture, listing the major advantages and disadvantages of this system. Particular reference is made to the integrated farms at Culasi, Antique (Western Philippines) and at Barangay Igcocolo, Guimbal, Iloilo where agricultural crops other than rice are integrated with fish farming (tilapia -- Oreochromis mossambicus) and livestock rearing. An account is also given of the system at the AQD site at New Busuang, Kalibo, Aklan which evaluates the economic feasibility and profitability of farming mudcrab in tidal flats with existing mangroves.

Ecological limits of high-density milkfish farming

In the Philippines at present, milkfish farming in ponds includes a wide range of intensities, systems and practices. To make aquaculture possible, ecosystems are used as sources of energy and resources and as sinks for wastes. The growth of aquaculture is limited by the life-support functions of the ecosystem, and sustainability depends on matching the farming techniques with the processes and functions of the ecosystems, for example, by recycling some degraded resources. The fish farm has many interactions with the external environment. Serious environmental problems may be avoided if high-intensity farms are properly planned in the first place, at the farm level and at the level of the coastal zone where it can be integrated with other uses by other sectors. It is believed that the key to immediate success in the mass production of milkfish for local consumption and for export of value-added forms may be in semi-intensive farming at target yields of 3 tons per ha per year, double the current national average. Intensive milkfish farming will be limited by environmental, resource and market constraints. Integrated intensive farming systems are the appropriate long-term response to the triple needs of the next century: more food, more income, and more jobs for more people, all from less land, less resources, and less non-renewable energy.

Farming techniques for seaweeds

Details are given of farming methods developed by the SEAFDEC Aquaculture Department for 3 different seaweeds: 1) Bottom line culture method for Kappaphycus; 2) Pond culture of Gracilaria; and, 3) Gracilariopsis bailinae, the new seaweed on the block.

Crocodile farming: a multi-million dollar industry

Crocodiles have a long breeding life, which ranges from 25-30 years. There are 27 species and subspecies of crocodiles throughout the world, 18 of which are in danger of extinction, the rest being threatened with declining population due to overhunting and habitat destruction. Two known crocodile species exist in the Philippines: Crocodylus mindorensis (freshwater crocodile) and C. porosus (saltwater crocodile). Killing adult crocodiles, as is being done now, drastically reduces the potential population. Moreover, toxic wastes from mines, destruction of marshes and riverine habitats, and the conversion of their natural habitats for fishponds additionally threaten their populations. Estimates indicate that there are only about 100 Philippine crocodiles in the wild now. The Crocodile Farming Institute (CFI) was established in Palawan, in 1987, in order to save the crocodiles from extinction in the Philippines. It is now one of the components of the Palawan Wildlife and Conservation Center, and aims to conserve the 2 endangered species in the Philippines and also to develop and introduce a suitable crocodile farming technology that will help uplift the socio-economic well-being of the Filipino people. CFI believes in the potential of commercial utilization of crocodiles as a dollar-generating industry for the Philippines. It is a very profitable business and could be a multi-million dollar industry. A brief outline is given of the economic and marketing potentials of farming crocodiles in the Philippines.

Malaysian school engages in bullfrog and turtle farming

A brief description is given of the culture methods used in the Sepang Today Aquaculture Centre, a private aquafarming training school in Malaysia, regarding American bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana) and the soft-shelled turtle (Trionyx sinensis). Seed production, grow-out, marketing and future potential are discussed, referring to the school s training brochures for both culture methods.

Farming a new economically viable fish species: Kisinja (Barbus altianalis)

Kisinja (Barbus altianalis)is an indigenous omnivorous fish, of high economic value in Uganda. It was widely distributed in most lakes and rivers in the country but its stocks were depleted due to overfishing and degradation of its natural habitat. 1t can grow up to a maximum length of 120m and a weight of 15kg in the wild and grows faster, attains larger size than commonly farmed fishes in Uganda, including the Nile tilapia, the African catfish, and mirror carp. Kisinja is a highly valuable table fish with good taste and aroma especially when smoked. Increased production of Kisinja is therefore necessary to meet economic and nutritional benefits of the communities and conservation of the spedes.

Amolops bellulus: A new species of stream-breeding frog from western Yunnan, China (Anura : Ranidae)

We describe a new species of stream-breeding frog of the genus Amolops, Amolops bellulus, from the mountainous region of Lushui County, Yunnan Province, China, near the boundary between Yunnan and Myanmar. This species differs from all its congeners in a combination of morphological characteristics including the absence of a circummarginal groove at the tip of first finger, lack of a supratympanic fold, a white band along the upper jaw extending to shoulder, a black band starting from tip of snout along upper loreal region and extending to anterior flank of body, absence of a vocal sac, tympanum distinct and feebly concave, and the presence of vomerine teeth.

Establishment of a Chinese sturgeon Acipenser sinensis tail-fin cell line and its susceptibility to frog iridovirus

Chinese sturgeon Acipenser sinensis, a cartilaginous ganoid, is a 'living fossil' on a deeply isolated evolutionary branch. A cell line was established from Chinese sturgeon tail-fin tissue (CSTF) . These epithelial CSTF cells grew well in Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium at 25 degrees C. Karyotypic analysis revealed a normal diploid karyotype with 2n = 264 and large numbers of punctate chromosomes. A strain of frog iridoviruses [Rana grylio virus (RGV)] was used to test the susceptibility of this cell line to infection. Infection was confirmed by cytopathic effect, immunofluorescence and electron-microscope observations, which detected the viral antigens or particles in the cytoplasm of RGV-infected cells. Molecular analysis further suggested that c. 550 bp DNA fragment could be cloned from the RGV-infected CSTF cells' DNA with major capsid protein gene polymerase chain reaction primers. Furthermore, after transfection with pEGFP vector DNA, the CSTF cell line produced significant fluorescent signals indicating its utility in exogenous studies.

Improvement and observation of immunoelectron microscopic method for the localization of frog Rana grylio virus (RGV) in infected fish cells

In this paper, to understand the roles of amorphous structures which were observed within the viromatrix of Rana grylio virus (RGV), an improved immunoelectron microscopy (IEM) method was developed to detect the localization of RGV in carp Epithelipma papulosum cyprinid (EPC) cells. Infected EPC cells were fixed with 4% paraformaldehyde-0.25% glutaraldehyde mixture, dehydrated completely, and embedded in LR White resin. This method allowed good ultrastructural preservation and specific labeling with anti-RGV antibodies. The results of IEM showed that colloidal gold mainly bound to the capsids of viral particles at the stage of viral assembly, while during the viral maturation colloidal gold bound to the envelop of virions. In addition, within the viromatrix, the amorphous structures, including dense floccules, membranous materials and tubules, also had strong colloidal gold signals, revealing that those amorphous structures were participated in RGV assembly. In contrast, no significant gold labeling signals were obtained in negative controls. The present study not only provided further evidence that amorphous structures within the viromatrix were involved in the process of RGV assembly, but also developed an improved IEM method for studying the interaction between iridovirus and host cells. (C) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Characterization of an iridovirus from the cultured pig frog Rana grylio with lethal syndrome

Three virus isolates, RGV-9506, RGV-9807 and RGV-9808, were obtained from cultured pig frogs Rana grylio undergoing lethal infections. Previously, the first isolate, RGV-9506, was shown to be an iridovirus based on ultrastructural and morphological studies. In the present study, the original isolate, along with 2 recent ones, were more extensively characterized by experimental infection studies, histopathology, electron microscopy, serological reactivity, gel electrophoresis of viral polypeptides and DNA restriction fragments, PCR amplification, and nucleic acid sequence analysis of the major capsid protein (MCP) gene. The 3 isolates were shown to be identical to each other, and very similar to FV3, the type species of the genus Ranavirus (family Iridoviridae). These results suggest that RGV should be considered a strain of FV3, and indicate that FV3-like iridoviruses are capable of causing widespread, severe disease among cultured frogs.

Apoptotic activity of frog Bombina maxima skin albumin

Albumin, the most abundant protein components of blood plasma, is synthesized and secreted by liver cells in vertebrates. Recently, it was demonstrated that frog Bombina maxima albumin is also expressed in skin. Both B. maxima albumins from skin and serum (BmA-skin and BmAserum) have similar biochemical characteristics except that the former contains haem b. Present studies showed that BmA-skin exhibited cytotoxic activity on H9 and C8166 cells. Pretreated with hemin to induce erythroid differentiation, K562 cells lost their resistance to cytotoxicity of BmAskin. After treating cells with BmA-skin for 48 h, 50 percentage cytotoxic concentrations (CC50) of BmA-skin on H9, C8166 and hemin-treated K562 cells were 1.31±0.09, 1.59±0.08 and 2.28±0.06 μM, respectively. The cell death induced by BmA-skin was mediated by apoptosis of the tested cell lines, as demonstrated by nuclear morphological changes, DNA fragmentation and DNA hypodiploidy of apoptosis cells. At BmA-skin concentration of 2 μM, 27.3%, 19.7% and 17.8% of H9, C8166 and hemin-treated K562 cells were found to be apoptotic. In contrast, BmA-serum possessed no cytotoxic and apoptosis-inducing activity on all the cell lines tested, even with concentration used up to 15 μM. These results indicated that bound haem b in BmA-skin contributed significantly to its cytotoxic and apoptosis-inducing activity on the cell lines assayed.