Introduction

The Pond Dynamics/Aquaculture Collaborative Research Support Program (PD/A CRSP) conducts research that contributes significantly to the removal of major constraints to aquacultural development, thereby promoting economic growth and enhancing food security. This report describes the activities and accomplishments of the PD/A CRSP during the period 1 August 1999 to 31 July 2000.

The PD/A CRSP is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), under authority of the International Development and Food Assistance Act of 1975 (PL 94-161), and by the universities and institutions that participate in the CRSP. This cohesive program of research is carried out in selected developing countries and the United States by teams of US and host country scientists. Now operating under its fourth USAID grant since 1982, the CRSP is guided by the concepts and direction set down in the Continuation Plan 1996–2001, which was awarded funding under USAID Grant No. LAG-G-00-96-90015-00. This grant authorizes program activities from 1 August 1996 to 31 July 2001. An overview of CRSP history and how the program has evolved since its inception is provided in Appendix 1.

The activities of this multi-national, multi-institutional, and multidisciplinary program are administered by Oregon State University (OSU), which functions as Management Entity (ME) and has technical, programmatic, and fiscal responsibility for the performance of grant provisions. ME activities at OSU are carried out through a Program Management Office (PMO), which is supported in the task of program administration by three advisory bodies: the Board of Directors (BOD), the Technical Committee (TC), and the External Evaluation Panel (EEP). PMO staff as well as advisory group membership during the reporting period appears in Appendix 2.

Annual Highlights

• In the reporting period, the CRSP welcomed three new members to the Board of Directors (BOD) and two new members to the External Evaluation Panel (EEP). A complete listing of advisory panel members appears in Appendix 2.
  
• The BOD met during the reporting period via a conference call in October and in person in New Orleans in January 2000. Principal topics included how to disperse funds left in the FY00 allocation due to declined Ninth Work Plan awards, advice on a proposal to change the Philippines Project lead US institution to Florida International University, and a discussion of strategies for requesting a cost-extension from USAID.
  
• The PD/A CRSP Annual Meeting was held in New Orleans, Louisiana, 31 January to 2 February 2000, providing a forum for meetings among a number of program components: program researchers and administrators, the Technical Committee (TC), and theBOD.
  
• The 2000 TC membership election took place at the Annual Meeting. Newly elected to the TC were CRSP principal investigators Freddy Arias, Amrit Bart, Wilfrido Contreras-Sánchez, James Diana, Carole Engle, and external at-large member Damon Seawright; a complete listing of TC and Subcommittee members appears in Appendix 2.
  
• The Scope of Work for the in-depth 5-year EEP review was developed with input from the BOD, TC Co-chairs, and USAID and was approved by USAID in June 2000.
  
• Official meetings with the EEP took place by conference call in February and in person in Washington, DC, in March 2000.
  
• In June 2000 two members of the EEP, Kevan Main and David Cummins, participated in the first of three planned visits to CRSP research sites. PD/A CRSP Director Hillary Egna and USAID Project Officer Harry Rea accompanied the two EEP members to Thailand. While there the team met with CRSP researchers, students, farmers, and government officials at the Asian Institute of Technology and in Udorn Thani.
  
• As an add-on to the Thailand EEP visit, Egna and Rea visited several development groups, nongovernmental organizations, and fisheries agencies in Bangladesh to explore its potential as a PD/A CRSP regional site.
  
• New subcontracts with University of Georgia, lead US institution for the Honduras Project, and with collaborating US institution Auburn University were formalized in the reporting period. The CRSP also welcomed a new US institutional partner, Florida International University. Florida International University is the new lead US institution for the Philippines Project.
  
• In September 1999, a Memorandum of Understanding between Escuela Agrícola Panamericana El Zamorano, Honduras, and University of Georgia was executed. Also, a new Memorandum of Understanding for collaborative work on the Philippines Project between Central Luzon State University, Philippines, and Florida International University was near completion by the end of the reporting period. A complete listing of active memoranda of understanding appears on page 75.
  
• The CRSP produced an updated edition of the Eighth Work Plan Project Profiles and the first edition of the Ninth Work Plan Project Profiles. These publications contain administrative summaries of CRSP projects organized by work plan and present information on personnel, funding, proposal review statistics, work plan changes, and deliverables.
  
• Egna, Cormac Craven, and Deborah Burke co-authored a poster entitled "The Pond Dynamics/Aquaculture CRSP–Developed Technologies: Domestic Rewards and Returns," which was presented by Craven at Aquaculture America 2000, the annual meeting of the US chapter of the World Aquaculture Society, in New Orleans, Louisiana, in February 2000. The PD/A CRSP also donated a copy of Dynamics of Pond Aquaculture, edited by Egna and Claude Boyd, for an auction conducted by the National Aquaculture Association (part of Aquaculture America 2000) in New Orleans.
  
• The PD/A CRSP was featured in the third annual exhibition and reception on Capitol Hill, sponsored by the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges (NASULGC), in March 2000. The event was entitled "Agricultural Research and Education Serving the Nation: A University Exhibition and Reception on Capitol Hill."
  
• The Director participated in teleconference and in-person CRSP Council Steering Committee meetings throughout the reporting period. In addition, Egna attended a Board for International Food and Agricultural Development meeting and USAID Partners Conference, both in March 2000, in Washington, DC; and the June 2000 meeting of the Association for International Agriculture and Rural Development, also in Washington, DC. The Director also attended a July 2000 "Impact Assessment Workshop" in Washington, DC, at the invitation of the United States Department of Agriculture.
  
• As part of a joint CRSP Council Steering Committee activity, Egna co-authored a poster entitled "Collaborative Research Support Programs: A Vital Link between US Universities and Developing Countries," an abstract of which was submitted in March 2000 for a session entitled "Global Research and Education" as part of the Annual Meetings of the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America. The meetings, with a theme of Agronomy, Crop and Soil Sciences: Stars of the 20th CenturyBeacons for the 21st, will be held in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in November 2000.
  
• A paper co-authored by Egna, Matt Niles, and Claude Boyd, entitled "Research Priorities and Highlights: An Overview of the Pond Dynamics/Aquaculture CRSP," was presented by Boyd at the Western Regional Aquaculture Conference, held in Desert Hot Springs, California, in April 2000.
  
• The PD/A CRSP was a co-sponsor of IIFET 2000, the July 2000 conference of the International Institute of Fisheries Economics and Trade, held at Oregon State University. The CRSP participated by making it possible for four international scholars from CRSP host countriesMexico, Kenya, Thailand, and the Philippinesto travel to and present papers at the meeting. In addition, Egna chaired five sessions at the meeting.
  
• The PD/A CRSP participated in planning for co-sponsorship of ISTA 5, the Fifth International Symposium on Tilapia Aquaculture, to be held in September in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The co-sponsorship included travel support to ISTA 5 for three international scholars, from Malawi, the Philippines, and Thailand, and support for publishing the conference proceedings.
  
• Throughout the reporting period, Egna worked closely with USAID on a number of different issues, including a request for a cost-extension for the current grant; a proposal forand subsequent awarding of$200,000 for impact assessment and evaluation; a report on PD/A CRSP funding to Historically Black Colleges and Universities; input into a revision of the Strategic Framework and a review of the Office of Agriculture and Food Security Portfolio and R4 Report; and follow-up discussions related to Egna's proposal, "Improving Nutritional Status of Children under Five through Enhanced Micronutrient Availability, Access and Utilization," which had been submitted in the previous reporting period to the Center for Economic Growth and Agricultural Development, Office of Agriculture and Food Security, Global Bureau.
  
• Other professional activities undertaken by Egna in the reporting period included authoring a paper for the Handbook of Global Environmental Policy and Administration, Marcel Dekker, Inc., and serving as a reviewer for articles in the Journal of the International Water Resources Association and the Journal of Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis.

Research and Research Support Agenda

Research conducted by the PD/A CRSP since 1982 has helped to remove some of the constraints facing aquaculture development. Still, aquaculture continues to be hampered in several important areas. In developing the Continuation Plan 1996–2001, the CRSP undertook an in-depth constraints analysis. That analysis led to the identification of a number of major constraints that limit the development of extensive to semi-intensive sustainable aquaculture systems. Chief among these were:

• Inefficient and inconsistent aquacultural productivity
• Negative environmental effects resulting from aquaculture operations
• A poor understanding of social and economic factors
• Insufficient human capacity development
• Poor or outdated information management
• Limited networking capacities

The Continuation Plan 1996–2001 responds to the first three of these factors by setting a research agenda that addresses constraints to aquacultural productivity, environmental effects, and social and economic aspects of aquaculture. The second three constraints are addressed by a research support agenda committed to improving human capacity development, information management, and networking. To carry out that agenda, the program includes a Research Support component comprising three efforts:

• A project that manages the CRSP Central Database, the largest repository of standardized data related to aquaculture; and
• An Information Management project for reporting and disseminating project and program outputs via publications and a central website.
• Numerous human capacity development activities carried out by existing research projects.

The PD/A CRSPs multidisciplinary team of researchers and advisors represents a wide range of US and international aquacultural experience. During the reporting period, participating US institutions included:

• Auburn University
• Florida International University
• The Ohio State University
• Oregon State University
• Southern Illinois University at Carbondale
• University of Arizona
• University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff
• University of Georgia
• University of Hawaii
• The University of Michigan
• University of Oklahoma

Research activities were conducted at host country sites in Mexico, Honduras, Peru, Kenya, the Philippines, and Thailand, at the participating US institutions, and with collaborators in Colombia, Nicaragua, and Malawi. Memoranda of Understanding, representing formal ties between US and host country institutions, which were in place during the reporting period include those between:

• Oregon State University and the Universidad Juárez Autónoma de Tabasco, Mexico
• Oregon State University and the Department of Fisheries, Kenya
• University of Hawaii at Manoa and Freshwater Aquaculture Center, Central Luzon State University
• Florida International University and Freshwater Aquaculture Center, Central Luzon State University
• Southern Illinois University at Carbondale and the Instituto de Investigaciones de la Amazonia Peruana and the Universidad Nacional de la Amazonia Peruana
• The University of Michigan and the Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand
• University of Georgia and Escuela Agrícola Panamericana, Zamorano, Honduras

Research Program Framework

The Continuation Plan 1996–2001 program framework, and the foundation for the current portfolio of PD/A CRSP research projects, consists of two building blocks: research in sustainable production systems and research support activities.

The sustainable production systems research framework is organized into the areas of production optimization, environmental effects, and social and economic aspects. Each area is further subdivided into specific research themes, which are the thematic areas of research needed to remove constraints to the development of more sustainable aquaculture. The results framework for research areas as presented in the Continuation Plan 1996-2001 is summarized in Table 1, and the results framework for research themes is provided in Tables 2, 3, and 4. Research areas and their respective themes are listed here:

Research Area:	Production Optimization
Research Themes:	Pond Dynamics Feeds and Fertilizers Reproduction Control Aquaculture Systems Modeling New Aquaculture Systems/New Species

Research Area:	Environmental Effects
Research Themes:	Effluents and Pollution Appropriate Technology Reproduction Control Responsible Science Policy Geographic Information Systems: Planning, Policy, and Global Data Analysis

Research Area:	Social and Economic Aspects
Research Themes:	Marketing and Economic Analysis Adoption/Diffusion Food Security Regional Analysis: Human-Environment Interactions Decision Support Systems Product Diversification

Ninth Work Plan

The Ninth Work Plan of the Pond Dynamics/Aquaculture CRSP was developed by the CRSP Technical Committee and describes activities to be conducted by the CRSP from 1 August 1998 through 30 April 2001. CRSP work plans have typically covered two-year periods. This holds true under the Ninth Work Plan for individual investigations, but while the overall time frame is greater than two years, no one investigation extends beyond a two-year period.

Increasing the time period of the overall work plan was necessitated by the CRSPs substantially reduced USAID annual budget allocation for years 3 through 5 of the Continuation Planthus the start dates of Ninth Work Plan investigations were staged over a nine-month period to allow for funding of as much of the original research portfolio as possible.

Despite the staged funding approach, the budget cut also necessitated major revisions to the portfolio to ensure adequate coverage of the critical areas within the newly imposed financial constraints, such as the elimination of the Global Experiment (see below) and other studies and curtailment of several research support activities. Ninth Work Plan research is underway in Mexico, Honduras, Peru, Kenya, the Philippines, and Thailand, as well as in the US.

Earlier PD/A CRSP work plansthe first through the thirdspecified identical experiments (called Global Experiments) at all CRSP sites to provide a baseline for comparisons among sites. This approach was changed starting with the Fourth Work Plan when different but related experiments were also conducted at the various sites. The particular topics studied at each site were based on the research and information needs in each country, as identified by the Technical Committee.

The body of investigations funded under the Eighth and Ninth Work Plans reflects the broadening of research as was proposed in the Continuation Plan 1996–2001 as well as increased integration among sites. In addition to prime site activities, CRSP research now underway includes a cross-cutting, thematic approach for investigations that may be conducted at one or more PD/A CRSP sites and whose results may have wider application than results from prime and companion site investigations. All Eighth Work Plan research was concluded in the reporting period and is described, together with research funded under the Ninth Work Plan, in this report.

The Program Management Office tracks work plan schedule and methods changes to assure continuing accountability for program awards. Reflecting methods and schedule changes to the funded research under the Eighth Work Plan, work plan addenda were printed in Spring 1998 and Spring 1999. Additional changes to Eighth Work Plan research as well as changes to Ninth Work Plan research will be documented in a forthcoming work plan addendum document.

Program Impacts 1999–2000

• Eight Best Management Practices (BMPs) for two nongovernmental organizations were developed using soils data from CRSP pond dynamics research.
  
• On-farm trials in the Philippines verified the value of waiting an additional month to begin feeding tilapia in ponds. This practice resulted in a 17% increase in the net value of the crop with no loss of fish yield; farmers in the region immediately adopted the practice.
  
• CRSP researchers investigated several new aquaculture systems and species in this reporting period. Researchers in Thailand found that growing tilapia in ponds planted with lotus reduces nutrient levels in pond muds. Preliminary results suggest that polyculture of tilapia and predatory snakehead controls reproduction, allowing pond resources to be more optimally utilized by stocked fish. Researchers in Peru working with two fish species indigenous to the Amazon Basin demonstrated the species' economic suitability for pond culture and identified nutrition requirements for broodstock and optimal stocking densities for culture populations.
  
• Continued research in Mexico and the US on the persistence of the masculinizing hormone 17-methyltestosterone suggests that caution should be exercised by those handling the hormone. Research on an alternative hormone, trenbolone acetate, indicates that this hormone may reduce environmental hazards while still masculinizing tilapia effectively.
  
• Researchers in Thailand showed that adding Nile tilapia to intensive hybrid catfish ponds resulted in a drop of 40% in nitrogen and 60% in phosphorus in the effluent. No additional cost was associated with the addition of tilapia.
  
• Economic analyses of integrated pond systems in Thailand identified practices that are most appropriate given the amount of supplies and funding available. Organic fertilization with chicken manure is the most economically efficient practice for farmers with funding limitations; use of high-input green water technology is optimal when fingerling supply is limited.
  
• A survey of 146 farmers in Peru suggests that fish farmers view fish culture in a positive light, plan to build more ponds, and want more visits from extension workers.
  
• The CRSP assisted 35 US and 36 international students with funding, training, and research opportunities. Workshops to disseminate CRSP results were held in five countries and benefited more than 100 host country agency employees and 120 farmers. Researchers and students gave 39 presentations at scientific conferences in 10 countries.
  
• The CRSP-developed POND^© software remains popular; 1,140 users from all six major continents have downloaded the software from the project's website in this reporting period. Additions to the software include a user-friendly interface and the capability to assess population growth and fish biomass. Researchers also released AquaFarm^©, a tool for simulating a full range of processes in both semi-intensive and intensive systems.
  
• The CRSP website experienced a 50% increase in use over the previous year, with 450 visitors per week from over 60 countries. New publications were added to the website, with a total of 187 publications now available for downloading. Use of the Central Database website doubled in the past year to 1,700 visits, bringing the total number of visitors to 4,680.