Modeling the Asian Fish Sector: Issues, Framework, and Method

The paper presents a detailed approach to modeling supply and demand of the Asian fish sector. It discusses the salient features of the fish sector in Asian countries that need to be incorporated in a comprehensive model of fish supply and demand, as well as the usefulness of supply and demand modeling for disaggregated impact analysis. Empirical implementation through econometric estimation is outlined, based on the normalized quadratic profit function for supply, multi-stage budgeting and the quadratic LA-AIDS for demand, and modified Armington aggregation for foreign trade. The model structure and equations (in general form) for computing equilibrium and generating market projections on supply, demand, price, and foreign trade are stated and explained.Keywords: economic model, disaggregated impacts, supply, demand, Fisheries Economics, Special session

Determining high potential aquaculture production areas - Analysis of key socio-economic adoption factors

Global aquaculture production increased with an average rate of 10% per year since 1990 and 90% of aquaculture production comes from developing countries thus providing livelihood and income especially to marginal groups who have limited access to resources such as agricultural land and financial capital. Geographical information systems (GIS) based decision support models can facilitate the prioritizing of national research, development and extension strategies and targeting of development assistance for aquaculture because they can provide information to stakeholders as to where and under what conditions certain aquaculture technologies would be feasible. Factors that determine the adoption of aquaculture technologies by farmers include agro-ecological (rainfall, temperature, soil type, slope), socio-economic (land, labor, capital, infrastructure, inputs), and institutional characteristics (extension services, producers’ organizations). While maps can be used to display the agro-ecological factors, many important socioeconomic and institutional variables are not explicitly spatial (such as household land holdings or access to education and credits). To enable the integration of socio-economic variables in GIS models, we suggest a methodology comprising of four stages: (1) identification of key factors for successful adoption of target technologies on the micro-level, (2) development of indicators on the meso-level, (3) generation of geo-referenced meso-level indicator data sets for the target area, and (4) assignment of ranking/weights to the indicators. The paper outlines the conceptual framework applied and highlights some of the inherent methodological challenges. Results of the adoption analysis for aquaculture in Bangladesh and Malawi, representing different levels of aquaculture production intensification, are presented and discussed

Fundamental genomic unity of ethnic India is revealed by analysis of mitochondrial DNA

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) profiles of 23 ethnic populations of India drawn from diverse cultural, linguistic and geographical backgrounds are presented. There is extensive sharing of a small number of mtDNA haplotypes, reconstructed on the basis of restriction fragment length polymorphisms, among the populations. This indicates that Indian populations were founded by a small number of females, possibly arriving on one of the early waves of out-of-Africa migration of modern humans; ethnic differentiation occurred subsequently through demographic expansions and geographic dispersal. The Asian-specific haplogroup M is in high frequency in most populations, especially tribal populations and Dravidian populations of southern India. Populations in which the frequencies of haplogroup M are relatively lower show higher frequencies of haplogroup U; such populations are primarily caste populations of northern India. This finding is indicative of a higher Caucasoid admixture in northern Indian populations. By examining the sharing of haplotypes between Indian and south-east Asian populations, we have provided evidence that south-east Asia was peopled by two waves of migration, one originating in India and the other originating in southern China. These findings have been examined and interpreted in the light of inferences derived from previous genomic and historical studies

Increased Income from Seasonally Flooded Rice Fields through Community Based Fish Culture in Bangladesh and Vietnam

In extensive river floodplains and deltaic lowlands, floods lasting several months render the land unavailable for crop (often rice) production during the rainy season. Aside from crop production during the flood-free dry season, the land area can be utilized for fish production during the flood season. This can be done by enclosing parts of these floodwater areas to produce a crop of stocked fish aside from the naturally occurring ‘wild’ species. The WorldFish Center and its national partners recently tested (1) concurrent rice-fish culture in the shallower flooded areas and (2) alternating rice and fish culture in the deep-flooded areas of Bangladesh and Vietnam through a community-based management system. This paper presents the key results of this work, focusing on the economics of existing land use patters and the impact of community based fish culture on rice yields and income. Rice production was maintained, or even enhanced. Fish production was increased beyond the wild catch by about 600 kg/ha/year in shallow-flooded areas and up to 1.5 t/ha/year in deep-flooded areas, without reduction in wild fish catch. For the overall system on an annual basis, an additional income ranging from US$135 per hectare in southern Vietnam to US$ 437 per hectare in Bangladesh was achieved, which is an increase of 20 to 85 percent over the profitability of the previous systems involving cropping and fish capture. The results indicate that community-based fish culture in rice fields is technically feasible, economically profitable, environmentally non-destructive, and socially acceptable