AMS biologists enhance their knowledge and skill in the larval fish identification

The SEAFDEC/UNEP/GEF Project on Establishment and Operation of a Regional System of Fisheries Refugia in the South China Sea and the Gulf of Thailand, in collaboration with the Research and Development Division of the SEAFDEC/Training Department, organized the Regional Training Course on Larval Fish Identification and Fish Early Life History Science from 16 to 27 November 2022. The training course, held at the Training Department in Samut Prakan/Thailand, aimed to improve fisheries biologists' knowledge and techniques to work on early life history science and identify larval fish species, considering that larval fish data are crucial in stock identification to indicate spawning locations and times and as an index of spawning stock biomass. Ichthyologists led by Dr. Yoshinobu Konishi, former scientist of the Seikai National Fisheries Research Institute, Japan, as well as other resource persons from the Department of Fisheries, Thailand; Kasetsart University, Thailand; University of the Ryukyus, Japan; and the University of Nottingham, Malaysia, joined as a team. In the end, twenty-six fisheries biologists from 8 ASEAN Member States (AMSs), including Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, and Viet Nam, possess an improved understanding of fish early life history science and skill in larval fish identification for further application for managing the fish stock at national and sub-regional levels through strengthened regional cooperation on larval fish networking.

The training course was designed to review of morphological development of larval fish characters, lecture, and practices on identification methods of the larvae and juveniles targeting six families such as Scombridae, Carangidae, Engraulidae, Lutjanidae, Siganidae, and serranid Epinephelinae from the Southeast Asian region. The course also included the lessons learned from Dr. Keita KOEDA, Lecturer from the University of the Ryukyus Japan, on Early life history studies of the subtropical marine fishes in Okinawa, Japan. In addition, a lecture by Dr. Cecillia Chu, a Researcher from the University of Nottingham Malaysia, on utilizing DNA barcodes to identify tropical larval fishes in Klang Strait, Straits of Malacca, and DNA barcode collecting and preserving technique. By the end of the training course, trainees presented the results/findings of species identification and morphological descriptions of examined larvae and juveniles in the class, indicating their increased capability in these fields to become Ichthyologists in the near future. Photographs and illustrations of morphological characters of the marine fish larvae from the training are documented and shared online. In addition, all trainees are invited to the Fish Larvae Network to support and share information on the fish larvae study.

@PCU, November 27, 2022