ACIAR Project FIS/97/73 - Library - Network of Aquaculture Centres ...

• Mike Rimmer travelled to Vietnam and Thailand in November – December 1999 toinvestigate opportunities to more closely involve Vietnamese aquacultureinstitutions in the Asia-Pacific Grouper Network. Mike spent several days at theNACA headquarters in Bangkok working with Mike Phillips and Sih Yang Sim onaspects of the ACIAR project and related activities (APEC projects and up-comingworkshops).• Kev Williams travelled to Vietnam and Indonesia in January – February 2000. TheVietnam component was funded by DFID to evaluate opportunities to replace trashfish in aquaculture with formulated feeds. Kev also visited RICF Maros, Sulawesi,Indonesia, for discussions on the ACIAR grouper project activities.• Mike Rimmer travelled to the Philippines (SEAFDEC AQD) and Indonesia (RSCFGondol, Bali, and RICF Maros, Sulawesi) in April 2000 to visit partner laboratoriesand to participate in the APEC–NACA–GOI–BOBP Sea Farming Workshop heldin Medan, Sumatra, Indonesia, on 17–19 April 2000.• The second project meeting will be held in Cairns, Queensland, Australia on 24–27July 2000 and will be attended by project leaders from the partner laboratories.Budget discussionThe initial distribution of funds was held up by the delay in finalising the ProjectMemoranda of Understanding with Indonesia and the Philippines. The initial sixmonthlyallocation was distributed in January 2000. The second six-monthlyallocation was forwarded to the participating laboratories in May 2000. An acquittalfor the first year of the project is appended (Appendix 8).ConclusionsDespite delays in implementing the formal project arrangements, participatinglaboratories are to be congratulated for commencing work on the project immediatelyon its commencement. In several cases, this has meant that the laboratories have hadto absorb the initial costs of the research while waiting for the ACIAR funds to bedisbursed.As this report demonstrates, significant progress has been made in a number of areas ofthe project. Overall the project is very close to on-target, although a few areas areslightly lagging – this is particularly the case with the training activities.ACIAR Project FIS/97/73 – Annual Report – June 2000 32