Description

Abstract: The Pond Dynamics/Aquaculture Collaborative Research Support Program (PD/A CRSP) is a global research network organized to generate basic science that may be used to advance aquacultural development. One of a family of research programs funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), this CRSP focuses on improving the efficiency of aquaculture systems. The Pond Dynamics/Aquaculture CRSP began work in in 1982 in Thailand, and subsequently in the Philippines, Honduras, Rwanda, Indonesia, and Panama. Research continues today in Thailand, the Philippines, Honduras, the US, and until recently, Rwanda. At all the sites, the Goal is the same: to identify constraints to aquaculture production, and to design responses that are environmentally and culturally appropriate. The PD/A CRSP has conducted a Global Experiment for over ten years. The Global Experiment has served as an organizing framework for guiding parallel studies in diverse locales in the tropics. Researchers have conducted a series of standardized research trials at each site, establishing baseline data on physical, chemical, and biological processes as they relate to fish growth. The research network has focused on tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus), although some sites have devoted attention to marine shrimp and other locally significant species. This report examines the impact of he network’s investigations with tilapia.