The World Fish Center is an international scientific research organization that aims to reduce poverty and hunger by improving fisheries and aquaculture, especially for developing countries. It is a member of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR).

The Center achieves its goals through research, partnership, capacity building, and policy support. It promotes sustainable development and use of living aquatic resources based on environmentally sound management, while its projects aim to improve productivity, protect the environment, save biodiversity, improve policies, and strengthen national programs in fisheries and aquaculture.

Through partnerships with various institutions, the Center studies freshwater systems and marine habitats, the latter including coral reefs, coastal waters, brackish water ponds, lagoons, mangroves, and occasionally soft-bottom shelves, upwelling shelves, and open oceans. Major projects include selective breeding of a new strain of the Nile tilapia, increasing incomes in flood-prone rice ecosystems, applied research on integrating aquaculture with agriculture and livestock for mixed farming systems, and developing integrated coastal management (ICM) training tools.

Aquatic resources research has great potential in terms of benefiting poor people and helping in the conservation of such resources and the environment. The World Fish Center has offices in 10 countries and is currently conducting research projects with collaborations in 50 countries and with 39 regional and international organizations.

http://www.worldfishcenter.org

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