Mississippi State University_Development of Bighead Catfish (Clarias macrocephalus) Culture for Sustainable Aquaculture in Cambodia_Project Progress Summary_October 2020 to September 2021

Abstract

There are two main research objectives on which the project focused, namely: 1. To develop and scale cost-effective feeds for a sustainable culture of BC in Cambodia: At the beginning of the project implementation, the project team regularly organized coordination meetings among all key important partners such as Kansas State University, Texas A&M University, World Fish, and the Faculty of Fishery of RUA to discuss activities and research plan for the wet-lab installation in RUA. The project now is in the progress to achieve this objective. The team has reached some achievements such as selecting the location for wet-lab installation, developing and finalizing the blueprint of the wet-lab, finalizing the list of materials, and purchasing materials in-country and outside the country. About 80% of materials were purchased and the project team expects to get all materials and get ready to start the wet-lab installation in the following quarters. 2. To strengthen the infrastructural and human aquaculture research capacities of local institutions: This year the project facing the Covid-19 pandemic. To respond to covid-19, the project team in Cambodia worked closely with the key project partners to provide two virtual trainings to RUA faculty and students and the project team focusing on: (1) Formulating and Preparing Aqua Feeds and (2) Managing a Research Facility to build the capacity of local institutions. There were nine participants (all males) for each training including one project staff, two faculty members, and six students. Dr. Rodrigue Yossa, Scientist-Fish Feeds, and Nutrition facilitated training, Co-PI. The project delayed conducting the training of the RUA personnel on the operation of a wet-lab in Malaysia. Another hand-on training will be provided to RUA personnel or other key relevant partners after the completion of the wet-lab installation in the next quarters.