During the 8th Asian Fisheries Forum that took place in Kochi, India the BIOMIN Research and Innovation Network (B.R.A.I.N.) sponsored the awards for the best oral presentations during the Special Symposium on Shrimp Aquaculture in Asia organized by NACA (Network of Aquaculture Centers of Asia Pacific).

This initiative intended to incentive those working on innovative and sustaining intervention areas related to this industry in the Asian region. The implementation of better management practices for disease control, food safety, coastal management and sustainable farming is an important issue to improve shrimp aquaculture productivity and profits, and a vision shared and promoted by BIOMIN. The winners of the prize were Mr. Pham Ba Vu Tung from the Research Institute of Aquaculture in Vietnam that presented the work entitled “Lessons learned from 4 years strengthening of participatory water management for rice-shrimp farming in the Mekong Delta” and Mr. Thampi Samraj & Mr. A.K Panda from the Gandhi Center for Aquaculture in Chenai, India, which presented the work “A study on the prevalence of MBV and WSV in wild caught P. monodon broodstock in east coast of India” Both works are a good example how research and field operations can improve sustainability and regional development of the shrimp industry.