No description available.

No description available.

The sustainability of grouper culture as an alternative livelihood option for coastal fishers was investigated in the southern provinces of Thailand. A sequenced approach using qualitative and quantitative research methods was used to explore factors that could undermine the potential for grouper culture to contribute to a sustainable livelihood. A study was initially conducted in 28 villages in 6 provinces in southern Thailand to provide baseline information on grouper aquaculture and fisheries, focusing on culture practice, the actors and institutions involved in grouper culture and beneficiaries. Factors contributing to the variation in levels of uptake of grouper culture between provinces was explored. This initial overview facilitated the description of the grouper culture system in terms of its boundaries, hierarchies, interconnections and processes and the development of a framework for the assessment of the sustainability of the grouper culture system. A case study approach was used to investigate in-depth the role and sustainability of grouper culture at the community and household level. Three communities were selected for study in Trang and Satun provinces. Research was guided by the sustainability assessment framework, which comprised five components: Livelihoods, Institutions, Environment, Markets and Production Systems. Data was collected using qualitative, participatory methods and a quantitative survey. The research found that grouper culture has the potential to contribute to a sustainable livelihood for coastal fishers in southern Thailand, although problems with fish disease and mortality, fluctuations in the availability of seed fish and water quality undermine the ability of most farmers to obtain the maximum benefit from grouper culture. Non-technical factors including motivation and incentive, access to financial capital and levels of social capital were also observed to influence sustainability of grouper culture. Grouper culture was found to be an activity in which members of all wealth groups could participate with institutional support, access to credit, and access to wild sources of seed and feed. It is unlikely to provide a suitable alternative to fishing, as the two activities contribute in different ways to the livelihoods of coastal households, but may support livelihood diversification.

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The following is a case study of the Northeast Fisheries Project, in Northeast Thailand, carried out jointly by the Canadian International Development Agency, its implementing agency and the Thai Department of Fisheries from 1986 to 1990. The formulation and events surrounding the project will be reviewed, with special emphasis on an experimental extension program which was pivotal to the project's success. Overall, the project did not succeed in meeting its objectives, and the purpose of this study is to examine the role of Thai values, social structure and bureaucracy, in contributing to this failure. Specifically, we will consider Thailand as a 'bureaucratic polity', the history and dynamics of patron-client relationships, and how these factors interact in the context of development projects and programs.

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No description available.

The edible mud crab, genus Scylla, is important to fisheries and aquaculture throughout the Indo Pacific region, but its taxonomic status has been confused for decades and a new classification has only recently been proposed. This project was undertaken to investigate the species status of mud crabs in Southeast Asia, with a view to deciding whether two sympatric morphs of Scylla found in Ban Don Bay, Surat Thani Province, Thailand, are two separate species. A further aim was to elucidate any possible pre-zygotic reproductive isolating mechanisms (RIMs) and ecological features that maintain the apparent sympatry between these two morphs. Mud crabs were collected from a primary site (Surat Thani, Thailand) as well as from six other locations in Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and Bangladesh. Crab samples from the latter sites were used selectively to provide a comparison to the primary study site. Descriptive taxonomy, multivariate morphometrics and allozyme electrophoresis were used to a) determine the number of species present within the crab samples collected; b) to ascertain which species they represent; c) to discover any geographical variation between locations sampled; d) to produce a possible phylogeny that summaries the relationship between Scylla species; and e) to look for pre-zygotic RIMs to explain the sympatry of the two morphs in Surat Thani. Findings from the present study reinforce the recent revision of the taxonomy of the genus Scylla into four species, S. serrata, S. olivacea, S. tranquebarica and S. paramamosain and provides new information on two of the four species which are dominant within Southeast Asia, including Ban Don Bay, Surat Thani Province, S. paramamosain and S. olivacea. Population studies showed both genetic and morphological differentiation between conspecific populations of S. paramamosain and S. olivacea, indicating stock structure for each species, although there is some disparity between morphological and genetic distances for S. paramamosain. This is discussed in relation to the effects of larval dispersal mechanisms and the subsequent recruitment of juvenile crabs. Phylogenetic interpretation of both genetic and morphological characters revealed that both S. serrata and S. olivacea are the most diverged of the four Scylla species; however, the direction of evolution is open to interpretation and the evidence for either S. olivacea or S. serrata as the more primitive species are discussed. Reproductive studies on the two mud crab species found in Surat Thani revealed no physical barrier to hybridization. Both species have a protracted breeding season which continues throughout the year. However, the size at first sexual maturity was significantly smaller for S. olivacea when compared to S. paramamosain. This and other potential mechanisms that may maintain these two species sympatrically are discussed. The clarification of four Scylla species, and the establishment of diagnostic genetic and morphological characters that can be used to identify them, means that research can now focus on both the ecology and life history of these closely related species. Such information is needed urgently with respect to fisheries management as well as to understanding the environmental requirements of each species in order to develop their potential for aquaculture.

Typescript. / Bibliography: leaves 267-273. / Photocopy. / Microfilm. / xi, 273 leaves, bound ill., map 29 cm