Between 1979 and 1990 five booklets in FAO's Better Farming Series dealt with freshwater fish farming in ponds, pens and cages. Written and illustrated by Tom Laughlin, with technical contributions from many FAO headquarters and field staff coordinated by the Inland Water Resources and Aquaculture Service, these booklets have been popular with aquaculture training and development staff as extension tools.
Now compiled into the Handbook on small-scale freshwater fish farming, this wealth of simply presented and illustrated information becomes available in an improved format. Pond, pen and cage location, construction and management are covered in outlines that can be modified to suit local conditions.
The handbook is primarily intended for extension workers, technicians and teachers, to help them in presenting their knowledge of freshwater fish farming to small-scale farmers. For example, the handbook can be used as a trainers' aid in conjunction with the five original booklets' which can be distributed among trainees. The simple English employed in the text lends itself to easy translation into other languages, while the diagrams can be easily reproduced or enlarged for screen projection. The handbook ends with a set of questions that could be used to test the comprehension of trainees.
Requests for permission to issue this handbook in other languages and to adapt it according to local conditions and needs are welcomed, as are suggestions for its improvement when reprinted. Correspondence on these topics and requests for further copies of
the handbook and the five original booklets in the Better Farming Series should be addressed to the Director, Publications Division, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00100 Rome, Italy.