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While this one-sided development approach has been and continues to
be the norm, an increasing number of development agencies are beginning to
evaluate the use of potentially invasive alien species and some are actively looking
for alternatives. For example, the Swedish International Development Cooperation
Agency (SIDA) recently commissioned a report to examine the pros and cons of
alien species in aquaculture. USAID sponsors the Pond Dynamics/Aquaculture
Collaborative Research Support Program (PD/A CRSP) and the Mekong River
Commission (MRC), both of which have projects exploring indigenous
aquaculture. Nevertheless, uncertainty and risk remain features of alien species
aquaculture in Southeast Asia. Furthermore, as culture improvement programs
for alien species grow in popularity, so will the uncertainty and risk of biological
invasion.
The following section provides summaries of the freshwater aquaculture
activities in being conducted in Southeast Asia by three development groups
supported by USAID PD/A CRSP, the WorldFish Center, and the MRC.
Pond Dynamics/Aquaculture Collaborative Research
Support Program
Since 1982, USAID has sponsored the Pond Dynamics/Aquaculture
Collaborative Research Support Program (PD/A CRSP) in an effort to "identify
constraints to aquaculture production, and to design responses that are
environmentally and culturally appropriate (CRSP 2002a)." U.S. scientists
collaborate with scientists in Bangladesh, Brazil, Cambodia, Laos, Honduras,
Indonesia, Kenya, México, Nepal, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Thailand, and
Vietnam to improve production efficiency, research the use of new species for
aquaculture, and strengthen the capacity of National Agricultural Research
Systems (CRSP 2002b). The ultimate goals of PD/A CRSP are to raise small
farmers' incomes and increase consumers' welfare by enhancing fish farm
productivity, and to improve the well-being of the rural poor, while conserving
or enhancing the natural resource base (CRSP 2002b). PD/A CRSP researchers
have used both native and alien species in their research.
Six countries in this assessment are served by PD/A CRSP Cambodia,
Laos, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines and Vietnam. Several alien species have
been cultured in these countries, including tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) and
Pangasius catfish (Pangasius pangasius). PD/A CRSP researchers seek to improve
aquaculture production by developing new feeding regimes and uses for wastes,
as well as working with host-country institutions to implement best management
practices. The majority of PD/A CRSP researchers conduct their research in closed
ponds, although some programs do rely on pens in rivers or open ponds (Clair
2003, Gutierrez 2003). According to the PD/A CRSP Management Entity, in the
last six to eight years the agency has gradually increased promotion of indigenous
aquaculture and lessened its reliance on commonly used alien species (e.g., carps
and tilapias). In the last two years, for instance, PD/A CRSP has investigated
the possibility of three times as many native species for aquaculture than during
their previous work plans.
Several of PD/A CRSP's projects in Southeast Asia have focused on
improving the production efficiency or reducing environmental effluents of alien
tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus), a species which has been invasive in some
ecosystems (Stockstad 2003, McCrary et al. 2001, McKaye and Ryan 1995, Msiska
et al. 1991). The PD/A CRSP Management Entity contends that PD/A CRSP
scientists have not been responsible for the introduction of new species, but have