ICLARM (International Center for Living Aquatic Resources Management) was founded in 1977 in Manila, Philippines, initially through funds provided by the Rockefeller Foundation, as an autonomous, non-government and non-profit organisation dedicated to aquatic resources research. In May 1992, it became a member of the Consultative Group in International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), an organisation committed to contribute to food security and poverty eradication in developing countries through research, partnerships, capacity building, and policy support, whilst promoting sustainable agricultural development based on the environmentally sound management of natural resources (www.cgiar.org). In February 2000, ICLARM Headquarters was relocated to Penang, Malaysia, where the Malaysian government leased 5.2 ha of land for the establishment of its campus in Batu Maung. ICLARM also adopted a new logo and name, ICLARM - The World Fish Center, following this move to Penang. Besides its headquarters in Penang, it has outreach sites in ten countries, namely the Philippines, Vietnam, Solomon Islands, Bangladesh, Egypt, Malawi, Cameroon, Jamaica, British Virgin Islands and New Caledonia.

　

ICLARM's mission is to enhance the well-being of present and future generations of poor people in the developing world through improved production, management and conservation of living aquatic resources, and has the following objectives:

Fisheries resources all over the world are under heavy exploitation. A study conducted by FAO (FAO 1992) and more recently by ICLARM (Silvestre et al. 2000), indicated the seriousness of the situation, and the need for finding more effective management options (see also Williams and Choo 2000). Worldwide, nett increase in fish production is most likely only through aquaculture, and then only if the right kind of farming is practised. Feeding fish or fishmeal to culture carnivorous species will farm down the food web and will not bring about nett increase in food production (see Naylor et al. 2000). ICLARM's research activities are targetted to address issues to recommend policies for sustaining fisheries resources and to ensure food security, especially food for the poor, and therefore they address the issues of depleting fisheries resources and ways to enhance production.

　

The World Fish Center's research program gives approximately equal weight to research on both fisheries and aquaculture, and, in keeping with its focus on people in development, places, increasing emphasis on socioeconomic and policy research. More than half the Center's research is undertaken in Asia and the Pacific region, where many of the states are dependent on fishing and fish-farming, but increasingly more projects are also located in Africa. Asia has the greatest number of the world's poor; however, poverty rates are higher in Africa and are anticipated to remain severe. The Center allocates approximately 58% of resources to Asia, 30% to Sub-Saharan Africa, 4% to the Caribbean and Latin America and 8% to West Asia and North Africa. Research activities are incorporated into four programs:

This program focuses on strategies to maintain biological and genetic diversity in natural populations and on techniques for improving breeds of fish. It has two components, namely: biodiversity and genetic resources research, and germplasm enhancement and breeding research.

　

This component pursues strategic research on biodiversity and genetic resources, and contributes to the development of research methods and policy. The development of a global database for finfishes, and the development of updated tools useful in fisheries management are given priority. FishBase, which provides information on 25,000 species of fish, can now be accessed through the internet. The FishBase team stationed in the Philippines is now linked to a new FishBase Consortium with FAO and European institutes. A database to provide information on the morphology and biology of fish larvae is being compiled - LarvalBase - the first version of which was posted on the web in 2000.

　

The focus of this component is to develop and apply breeding methods to improve strains of fish for aquaculture, build capacity among developing country partners and disseminate information to national aquatic research systems (NARS). Research to characterize the genetic diversity of important cultured species, such as several carp and tilapia species is under way. A project to evaluate the genetic impacts of the introduction of improved species for aquaculture in partner countries collaborating in the International Network on Genetics in Aquaculture (INGA), is currently being conducted.

　

The Center is conducting surveys on the heterogeneity of Sarotherodon melanotheron, a tilapia species widely used in fisheries and aquaculture in West Africa. Selection research is being conducted on Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) in Malaysia and Egypt. Offspring from the sixth generation of the GIFT fish have been transferred to Jitra, Malaysia; these fish will provide the base for further selective breeding for growth rate and qualitative traits. Additional countries in Africa will be using the Center's selection procedures to enhance indigenous species (e.g. Oreochromis shiranus in Malawi). A project is also underway, with collaboration with the University of Wageningen, to evaluate the benefits of selection for Nile tilapia in high and low input environments.

　

With national partners, a study to evaluate the genetic characteristics of carp species, their farming systems and the socioeconomic impacts in some Asian (Bangladesh, the People's Republic of China, India, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam) and African countries (Egypt, Ghana, Cote d'lvoire and Malawi) is ongoing. Research to develop national breeding plans to select for growh and disease resistance in the common carp (Cyprinus carpio) and silver barb (Barbedes gonionotus) is ongoing.

　

Projects under this Program are designed to conserve and manage coastal habitats, restore depleted stocks, improve the productivity of fisheries and valuable species on a sustainable basis, equip managers with the information needed for these tasks, and increase the capacity of NARS. The aquatic ecosystems given priority are coastal inshore and estuarine systems and coral reefs, and research components include coastal aquaculture and stock enhancement, marine protected areas, coral reef resources, fisheries resources assessment and management, and coastal management.

　

This component focuses on developing methods to increase the productivity of species associated with coral reefs through aquaculture, restocking and stock enhancement. Species currently given priority include the sandfish (Holothuria scabra), the giant clam (Tridacna sp.), the black pearl oyster (Pinctada margaritifera), and the trochus (Trochus niloticus), with experimental farms and stock enhancement sites located in the Pacific islands - the Solomon Islands, New Caledonia and Tonga, and in Vietnam.

　

Studies on the role of marine protected areas are carried out at two sites, at the Caribbean and at the Arnarvon Islands in the Solomon Islands. Following the Center's initial work in the Caribbean, a significant development has been the decision of the fishing community at Discovery Bay to recommend the extension of the fishery reserve to cover the entire shallows of the Bay, so that more aquatic resources could be protected. The establishment of the Marine Conservation Area (MCA) in the Arnavon Islands has resulted in an increases in the abundance, or prevented further decline in abundances, of Trochus niloticus and some species of holothurians. The study demonstrated that closure to fishing over long time frames is likely to be needed to restore populations of many tropical marine invertebrates to pre-exploitation levels. Complete closure of the MCA is difficult, even with the commitment and participation of the local communities. Mechanisms that allow communities to benefit from species that have recovered, while continuing to protect the other species, may be necessary to maintain their commitment.

　

The development of ReefBase - a global database of coral reef systems, their resources and use by humans, is one of the important outputs of this component. ReefBase was launched at the 9^th International Coral Reef Symposium in Bali in October 2000, and the ReefBase team has now developed an extensive group of collaborators to ensure that this project meets its objectives. Collaborators include the World Bank, National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP), the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS), World Conservation Monitoring Center (WCMC), the Global Coral ReefMonitoring Network (GCRMN) and ReefCheck. The immediate plans for ReefBase include the formation of a group, to advise on the following: the development of a new version with geographical information system input for use on the internet; the development of reef status summaries for all reefs; the development of regional databases; and the development of standard indicators of reef health and economic value.

　

Projects on coral reef resources undertaken by the Center are integrated into the International Coral Reef Action Network (ICRAN), a unique partnership with UNEP, WCMC, WRI, GCRMN, the International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI) and the Coral Reef Alliance (CORAL).

　

Under this component, several fisheries assessment software packages such as FiSat (FAO-ICLARM Stock Assessment Tools), and FiRST (Fisheries Resources Information System and Tools) were developed; the Center has supported and trained resource persons in NARS in the use of these packages. At the ecosystem level, Ecosim has been developed by partners in Canada (University of British Columbia) for evaluating human and environmental impacts on aquatic resources. The new version of this software also allows the following assessment: the prediction of optimal harvesting patterns based on economic, social and ecological criteria; the evaluation of the impact of uncertainty in the management process; the optimisation of the effect of protected areas, and the development of circulation models.

　

Results from the three-year, 8 county study on Sustainable Exploitation of Tropical Coastal Fish Stocks in Asia initiated in 1999, indicated substantive declines in catch rates and biomass, compared to earlier biomass levels in selected fishing areas. Analyses of trawl survey data shows assemblage boundaries at depths of about 50 m and 100m, and species composition changes in some countries, particularly declines in mean trophic level, due to the current high level of fishing effort.

　

Development of appropriate strategies for the productive and sustainable use of the coastal zone by various stakeholders, is a major challenge in many countries. ICLARM is actively working with NARS partners to integrate approaches to the coastal zone to reduce the risk of pollution and degradation of existing coastal resources.

　

The project on resource assessment, social issues and management of Honda Bay and Puerto Princess Bay, Palawan, Philippines, was initiated in February 2000. Rapid Resource Assessment (RRA) methods, and Participatory Rapid Appraisal (PRA) tools, were used to describe the prevailing situation in the two bays. The Center and Philippine partners provided training in integrated coastal management in Indonesia and Vietnam in 2001 and 2002. Through the training projects, the Center will establish networks of coastal management practitioners, will identify existing coastal management-related projects underway by governments and NGOs, and will design training to meet cultural, socioeconomic, institutional and biophysical needs.

　

The World Fish Center is developing new approaches to integrate biological, climatic and socioeconomic variables in the evaluation of best practices for the introduction of aquaculture into farming systems. The Center links its own field experience in integrated aquaculture-agriculture systems, developed in Asia and Southern Africa, with those of others. New initiatives are being taken to extend field activities to the humid rone of West Africa with CGIAR and regional NARS partners. Project sites are located in Bangladesh, Vietnam, Malawi and Cameroon.

　

This Program focuses on policies and options in fisheries, aquaculture and coastal resources management to ensure wider adoption and benefits of research by the poor in the developing world. The three main components of this Program are:

Research in this component focuses on the economic value of goods and services from aquatic resources, and the effects of macro-level policy on food security. Economic and ecological evaluation techniques for coral reef and wetland ecosystems will be given priority.

　

Research ongoing includes the project with the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and FAO; and the objective of the project is fo develop a model for the project "Fish to 2020: the effects of aquaculture". A joint project with INFOFISH "Database on prices and market for fish and seafood products in developing countries" is aimed to benefit the small-scale suppliers and producers of fish and seafood products in the developing countries. Another collaborative project with partners from the International Institute for Rural Reconstruction (IIRR), Philippines, Can Tho University, Vietnam, and Pakse Southern Agricultural College, Lao, PDR will assess, manage and monitor the local aquatic resources system for improved food security in the Mekong Basin.

　

This component evaluates the impact of research completed by the institute (ex post analysis) and, where appropriate, other technological impacts on the aquatic resources sector. Completed studies include the analyses of the impact of fisheries co-management initiatives and the potential benefit at the farm-level of introductions of genetically improved tilapia. The project will increasingly provide ex-ante analysis of research areas of potential importance to developing country fisheries, and to augment the Center's strategic planning process. ICLARM is strongly convinced of the need for continual in-house assessment of the impact of its own research, and that of others, which affects sustainable productivity and management issues in aquatic resources.

　

This component examines the linkage between society, economic and natural systems and policy to develop adaptive and flexible solutions for the sustainable use of aquatic resource systems. Current research in this area is conducted as part of a collaborative worldwide project on fisheries co-management strategies focusing on institutional aspects of sustainable governance. Institutional research extends to the governance of common property aquatic resources, especially inland fisheries in Bangladesh and the multiple use of the wetlands in the lower Mekong Basin countries.

　

Inputs from this component include the following: