Twenty nine participants representing competent authorities, academe and service providers completed the TILV 7-day intensive course from 18-24 June 2018.

A collaborative capacity building initiative between China's National Fisheries Extension Center and Sun Yat-Sen University and FAO, the TiLV course concluded successfully on 24 June 2018. Prof J He (SYSU) and Dr F Zang and Ms Q Li (NFTEC) were special guests during the opening and closing, respectively.

Some 29 participants (representing competent authorities, academe and service providers) from Brasil, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mozambique, Myanmar, Peru, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Viet Nam completed the course that was delivered by experts from China (Dr Y Hong, Prof A Li, Dr H Liu, Prof J Xia) and FAO (Dr K Tang/USA, Dr W Surachetpong/Thailand, Dr H Dong/VietNam, Dr M Jansen/Norway & Dr M Reantaso/FAO).

Seven sessions (consisting of 22 expert presentations, field visit, laboratory activities & interactive exercises) gave the participants the most current information on the biology, pathology, diagnostics, surveillance, farm level management of TiLV and emergency preparedness – and reinforced their capacity to prepare an action plan on TiLV.

Tilapias, the second-most important farmed finfish worldwide (with Nile Tilapia ranked 6th among the most important cultured species), are affordable, with widespread source of low cost but high quality protein and micronutrients. TiLV represents a serious threat to food security in countries where tilapias are farmed.

An enveloped, negative-sense, single stranded RNA virus, TiLV seems to have a narrow host specificity [farmed tilapia, e.g hybrid tilapia, Nile tilapia, red tilapia] and reported as well from several wild tilapines.

Histopathology, RT-PCR & RT-qPCR, and in-situ hybridization are recommended methods to identify TiLV; as well as fulfilling Koch's postulate for first time diagnosis. Syncytial hepatitis is the most common histopathological lesion found in TiLV outbreaks,

Although the precise mechanism for transmission is unknown, horizontal disease transmission is likely to be the main mode of disease spread. Vertical transmission also needs to be investigated.

Fourteen tilapia producing countries had TiLV reports (e.g. through local and international scientific literature, OIE notifications). As live tilapia is widely traded, TiLV may have spread significantly over the years since the first report in 2009; no information on the role played by the trade in uncooked tilapia products.

Tilapia producing countries are encouraged to assess risks, undertake surveillance to determine national TiLV health status, investigate unexplained tilapia mortalities and introduce risk management measures where deemed necessary. The status of TiLV in a country can be politically sensitive; it is recommended that competent authorities are immediately informed of any observation (field or research) before such findings are made publicly available.

Further info can be obtained via email to: Melba.Reantaso@fao.org

Group photo	Biological data collection in Dominican Republic

Bridgetown, Barbados – Wednesday, 16 May 2018: A team of Data and Statistics Experts from 16 Caribbean countries met to officially launch the work of the Data and Statistics Working Group recently endorsed by Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and Western Central Atlantic Fishery Commission (WECAFC).

The meeting attracted fishery officers, data collectors, data managers, researchers, stock assessors, policy officers, statistical and information analysts along with fisheries statistics managers. During the meeting, the FDS Working Group (WG) elected its first Convener, Ms. Nancie Cummings, NOAA) and Co-Convener, Mrs. Jeannette Mateo, of the Dominican Republic who would guide the activities of the WG during the coming intersessional period. In addition, the WG identified four main objectives which it deemed critical to forge science-based evidence for use in monitoring and stock assessment and informed decision making in the region.

Press release

Disseminating the Regional database content through the WECAFC Map viewer

ABSTRACT
This issue of FAN contains an invited editorial on Aquaculture and Trade, and four main sections on: (1) Global aquaculture updates with an article from statistician's desk providing some notes on FAO Reported Aquaculture Statistics; one article from the fish health specialist's desk on Progressive Management Pathway to Improve Aquaculture Biosecurity; one article providing information on the ninth session of the COFI Sub-Committee on Aquaculture and one contribution on a seminar held in FAO Headquarters on Aquaculture Opportunities in Small Island Developing States. (2) Aquaculture updates by region offers information on ongoing projects, activities and events by region particularly: three articles for Asia-Pacific; five articles for Europe; three articles for the Near East and North Africa; four articles for Latin America and the Caribbean; two articles for Sub-Saharan Africa. (3) There are three thematic articles on the following subjects: (i) Border Rejection Trends of Fishery and Aquaculture Products in European Union, United States of America and Japan; (ii) Aquaculture, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and FAO's Common Vision for Sustainable Food and Agriculture; (iii) Fish as a Poor People's Food. (4) Miscellaneous section contains two contributions with the following titles: (i) Necessary Elements for the Development and Management of Genetic Resources in Aquaculture; and (ii) A User-Friendly Tool for Investment Decision Making in Aquaculture. The three last sections focus on new staff profiles in the FAO Aquaculture Branch, new FAO aquaculture publications and Calendar of events.

PDF: http://www.fao.org/3/i9200en/I9200EN.pdf

Information: V. Crespi

This manual was produced to help artisanal fishers to understand how to best handle and process fresh sea cucumbers into quality dried beche-de-mer. Well-processed sea cucumbers fetch high prices but a lack of care in processing will result in low prices for fishers and exported products. The manual provides instructions on best-practice methods of how to handle, cut, cook, smoke, dry, store and sell tropical sea cucumbers. The manual includes a section on responsible fishing as it does not encourage an increase in fishing efforts, but seeks to make the best outcome out of the animals already harvest in harmony with FAO principles espoused in the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries. The original manual was published by the Pacific Community (SPC) and now available in several language including English, French and now Arabic.

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