ABSTRACT
Mangrove crab growers in the Philippines still rely on wild-caught late instar to early juvenile mangrove crablets, as supplies from hatcheries are limited. Any batch of crablets caught from the wild is a mix of the three native species under the genus Scylla. Scylla species have different growth rates. Since grow-out culture depends heavily on species' growth, growers should be able to distinguish the species as early as the juvenile stage, which is taxonomically difficult. This study was done to consolidate low-cost traditional identification techniques for juvenile Scylla from fishers of the Philippines for future validation. Focused group discussions were done in fishing communities from Bataan, Pangasinan, and Cagayan on the island of Luzon. The study was continued through online surveys, as travel was restricted due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Results indicate that 70.58% of respondents identify the species of crabs by looking at their claws and 55.88% observe the color of the crabs. Almost half, or 41.17% of respondents, consider the width and size of the carapace. Unique methods in certain Philippine regions include observation of the behavior patterns, carapace texture, rate of weight gain, and seasonality. Validation of the traditional practices identified in this study would result in a reliable "at-a-glance" method of identifying juvenile Scylla in the Philippines, which would shorten the culture period, improve production gains, and manage local populations. © 2021 The authors. Published by the National.
ABSTRACT
Based on the context of Thanh Hoa province, the research proposes the model of policy - related factors from the action of government (at all level) influencing on the survival and the development of SMEs. The research was conducted by collecting data from 512 SMEs in Thanh Hoa province. The results indicate that tax supporting policy and the preferential policies of the bank were crucial factors affecting the development of enterprises during the Covid 19 pandemic, directly. Other factors included insurance policy, capital support packages of Government, the act of public administration and the role of professional association which were considered as important elements affecting the enterprise’s development. Based on the results, the study proposes policy implication in order to support SMEs overcome difficulties during the coronavirus pandemic. © 2020 by the authors;licensee Growing Science, Canada. This is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).