Project Name：Aquaculture Project

Project status：Projects in Operation

Cooperating Country：Palau

Project Description：

Palau, as an island nation, prioritizes expanding its aquaculture scale to boost food fish production in alignment with its national food security policy. This expansion aims to reduce reliance on capture fisheries and promote sustainable management of marine resources. This project supports the Palau National Aquaculture Center (PNAC) under the Bureau of Marine Resources (BMR) by increasing rabbitfish fingerling production, developing milkfish broodstock for artificial propagation, and studying local black tiger shrimp aquaculture. Additionally, the project focuses on building the technical capacity of local counterparts, ensuring the supply of high-quality rabbitfish fingerlings and black tiger shrimp fry for aquaculture, and improving the skills and production efficiency of aquaculture farmers to enhance overall aquaculture technology and output.

 

The key components of the project include: (1) Increasing fingerling production for aquaculture extension, with a target of producing 270,000 rabbitfish fingerlings and, following broodstock identification, 120,000 black tiger shrimp fry; (2) Developing a base of 50 milkfish broodstock to support future artificial propagation; (3) Strengthening the capabilities of the Palau National Aquaculture Center at the Bureau of Marine Resources through research and development in broodstock management and new species aquaculture (e.g., sea cucumber); (4) Conducting extension work to enhance the technical skills and production efficiency of aquaculture farmers; (5) Providing resource integration and policy advisory services to support sustainable aquaculture development.

Region：Asia-Pacific

Implementation Start Date：2021-01-01

Implementation End Date：2025-12-31

Project Objectives：

1. Production of Rabbitfish Fingerlings: Produce 270,000 rabbitfish fingerlings.

2. Production of Black Tiger Prawn Fry: Produce 120,000 black tiger prawn fry.

3. Development of Milkfish Broodstock: Develop 50 milkfish broodstock to establish a foundation for future artificial propagation of milkfish fingerlings.

4. Enhancement of BMR Aquaculture Center's Capacity: Strengthen the aquaculture capabilities of the Palau Bureau of Marine Resources (BMR) by training 2 technical staff from partner organizations. Training will include broodstock management (including milkfish, rabbitfish, tiger prawn, and sea cucumber), live food culture, artificial propagation, nursery management, feeding management, disease prevention, and aquaculture extension skills.

5. Establishment of Milkfish Broodstock Bank: Develop a milkfish broodstock bank, along with the development of location-specific breeding techniques, and produce one economic benefit and experimental analysis report.

6. Sea Cucumber Aquaculture Experiment: Conduct sea cucumber breeding experiments in Palau and assess the release benefits, producing one aquaculture experiment and investigation report.

7. Aquaculture Training Workshops: Hold 10 training workshops to improve aquaculture management skills, covering basic aquaculture concepts, correct work attitudes, feeding management, water quality management, growth sampling, nutritional needs, disease prevention, and harvest and profit-cost management.

8. Aquafarmer Outreach and Extension: Extend aquaculture practices to 18 aquafarmers for rabbitfish, tiger prawn, and sea cucumber farming.

9. Development of Stocking Registration Mechanism: Assist Palauan partners in establishing a stocking registration mechanism based on the project-assisted households.

10. Policy Advisory Services: Provide policy advisory services to assist Palauan partners in formulating fishery management policies.

11. Assessment of Fishery Resources and Management Policies: Assist Palau in understanding its existing fishery resources, evaluate fishery management policies suitable for Palau, and provide professional advice on government organizational structure, production strategy, and target species.

Executing Agency：

Taiwan Technical Mission in the Republic of Palau, in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and the Environment of the Republic of Palau

Current Progress：

By the end of December 2024, the key achievements of this project include:

1. Increase of fish and shrimp fry production:

(1) Rabbitfish fry: Produced 191,400 rabbitfish fry.

(2) Black tiger prawn fry: Produced 174,960 Black tiger prawn fry.

2. Development of milkfish broodstock:

Cultivated 44 milkfish broodstock for artificial propagation.

3. Enhancement of Bureau of Fisheries (BOF) technical capacity:

Provided training for 2 Bureau of Fisheries staff on aquaculture extension services for farmers, broodstock development, fry production, genetic resource preservation, artificial propagation of sea cucumbers, and grow-out management.

4. Aquaculture extension:

(1) Conducted 8 workshops to date, focusing on growth monitoring and farm management.

(2) Provided assistance to 15 aquaculture farmers culmulatively, with ongoing support for 7 of them. Technical assistance covered growth monitoring, pond environment management, and regional aquaculture promotion.

Project Performance：

1. To achieve a 100% increase in rabbitfish production by the project's conclusion.
2. To develope a tiger prawn breeding technology and a milkfish breeding system, while promoting a commercial production model for sea cucumbers, resulting in a 30% increase in additional income for local fishermen.

Project Contact：Ms. Wenning Liang

Phone：886-2-2888-6138

E-mail：w.n.liang@icdf.org.tw

Mission：Taiwan Technical Mission in the Republic of Palau