Values and beliefs play a vital role in how people make choices, judgments, and undertake actions related to marine resource use. This information is vital for marine protected area (MPA) managers since values and beliefs influence behavior of the community members, which in turn affect the management operation of the MPA. Gender roles can influence the community's values and beliefs. MPAs affect women and men differently, and thus MPA implementation and management need to take this into account.

Milkfish is the most important fish species being farmed in the Philippines today with the province of Iloilo as a major producer. While demand for fish and other fishery products is increasing, provincial production is dwindling. This study attempts to investigate different milkfish attributes and how consumers value each of these attributes. The research was conducted in the province of Iloilo using primary data gathered by personal interview of 378 purchase-decision makers. Respondents were identified by two-stage random sampling. Hedonic price for each quality attribute was estimated using regression with robust standard errors. Quality attributes considered are: skin and outer slime characteristics, colour of gills, eyes and peritoneum, size, organic and place of origin labels, product form, provision of value-added services and market outlet. It was shown that consumers accord variability in prices to each product attribute. Consumers place a higher premium on colour of the eyes, provision of value-added services, product processing and place where the product is sold. Knowledge of specific features being sought by consumers is vital in ensuring that these product specifications are met. Collaboration of supply chain participants is essential to meet these desired market specifications.

Experiments were performed to compare the effect on survival patterns of early paralarvae of the East Asian common octopus, Octopus sinensis d'Orbigny 1841, fed with one of two species of Artemia. Comparison of predator and prey nutritional content (amino acids and fatty acids) revealed that O. sinensis paralarvae raised on Artemia are relatively deficient in b-alanine, cysteine, carnitine and 20:01 unsaturated fatty acid. Using Artemia tibetiana Abatzopoulos, Zhang & Sorgeloos 1998 as sole prey resulted in better survival than with Artemia franciscana Kellog 1906 but the latter has better supply and pricing reliability and consistency in hatching. Feeding paralarvae on A. franciscana supplemented with a microalgal culture resulted in a survival pattern similar to that when paralarvae were fed with unsupplemented A. tibetiana. Therefore, future feed development will be based around amino acid supplementation of A. franciscana grown with microalgae.

Temperature is an important environmental factor for aquatic animals especially fishes, in particular during the early life stages. The objectives of this study are to investigate (a) the effect of different water temperature (26, 28, 30, 32 and 34 C) on embryo development and newly hatched larvae of Siamese mud carp Henicorhynchus siamensis (Sauvage 1881) and (b) the effect of acute temperature change to the newly hatched H. siamensis larvae. The development was divided into two phases viz., firstly, from zygote to gastrula periods and, secondly, segmentation to hatching periods. The H. siamensis larvae did not successfully hatch at the incubation temperatures of 26 and 34 C. The development times of the three remaining temperatures were relatively closed at the first phase, in contrast to the second phase, which were quite varied. The hatching times at 28, 30 and 32 C were about 652, 485 and 457 min, respectively. The percentages of hatching success of the three respective temperatures were 73.762.37%, 73.901.44% and 61.4211.19%, respectively. For the effect of acute temperature changes, numbers of dead larvae were not significantly different between 30 and 28 C (P-value = 0.30), but there was a significant difference between 30 and 32 C (P-value < 0.01).

This study investigated the effects of chicken manure extract (CME) on the population growth, mixis induction and body size of the freshwater rotifer Brachionus angularis Gosse 1851. Four concentrations of CME (i.e.0.5, 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0 ml . L -1 ), each in triplicate, were used in glass jars containing 20 mL of sterilised pond water. Thirty clones (24 h old) of B. angularis were placed in each jar and the specified concentrations of CME were added except in the control jars. Chlorella vulgaris Beijerinck 1890 (2.5x10 6 cells . mL -1 ) was supplied daily in all jars. The treatments were incubated at 25 o C in darkness for 7 days without exchanging water. CME significantly (P 0.05) affect the unfertilised mictic females. The specific population growth rate was significantly (P<0.05) highest at 2.0 mL . L -1 of CME. The resting egg production decreased with increasing concentrations of CME. The lorica length increased at 3.0 mL . L -1 of CME but the lorica width was unaffected by CME. These results suggest that addition of 2.0 mL . L -1 of CME enhances the population growth and regulates lorica size; hence can be applied in the freshwater larviculture initiatives.

In the present study the relationships between morphometric variables of Chitala chitala (Hamilton 1822) (Osteoglossiformes: Notopteridae) larvae reared at a constant temperature (302C) from hatching to 30 days after hatching (DAH) were characterised through analysis of their allometric growth. The yolk sac and preflexion stage (TL = 13.24 to 16.90 mm) was distinguished by a precedence of sensorial, feeding, respiratory and swimming systems, and the accelerated growth of head (b = 1.36, r 2 = 0.94) and tail length (b=1.12, r 2 = 0.97). The flexion stage (TL = 17.89 to 25.35 mm) was characterised by a change in growth priorities. The body depth (b= 1.28, r 2 =0.86), snout length (b= 1.51, r 2 =0.95) and pectoral fin length ((b= 1.83, r 2 =0.87) showed positive allometry in this phase. At the end of the postflexion stage (TL = 25.97 to 30.45 mm) there is a tendency to isometry for all the growth coefficients including the head length (b= 1.07, r 2 =0.90) and the tail length (b= 1.0, r 2 =0.98), corresponding to transition towards metamorphosing stage for the acquisition of the juvenile form.

Demand for shrimp, particularly the eastern Pacific white shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei (Boone 1931), will continue to increase in Asian and worldwide seafood markets. Providing shrimp farms with a robust, healthy, and continuous supply of shrimp seed is a challenge that must be addressed to meet the demand. Shrimp feed during hatchery production still relies on live microalgae, despite many years of effort to find suitable full or partial-replacement diet alternatives. Successful mass production of microalgae for hatchery feed to obtain good quality shrimp seedstock depends on a number of environmental factors that determine the growth and nutritional values of various microalgal species. These factors include nutrients in the culture medium, light intensity, temperature, salinity, and pH. An overview of the use and the culture of microalgae in shrimp hatcheries is also presented and outlines the need for research for optimisation of algal diets for the rearing of L. vannamei seedstock in Asian hatcheries. Finally, the possibilities of using local isolates for hatchery operation are also highlighted.