WWW.WAS.ORG • WORLD AQUACULTURE • JUNE 2016 45 Williams 2000). Lack of education among farmers and lack of government help and oversight make it difficult for specific guidelines to be adhered to and thus for economic aid to be made readily available. Training. Currently farmers ignore even the simplest principles of aquaculture. Training could include, for example, methods to detect and identify diseases prior to choosing appropriate treatments. Farmers should understand the importance of using the correct drug at the right time and in appropriate doses. Training in water quality management, feed management, proper accounting and record keeping, and new methods of trout husbandry would encourage farmers to follow government-imposed rules and guidelines. The most receptive farmers of the Hermel area should be chosen first to be trained in sound aquaculture practices. Then they can assist outsiders to train other local farmers. Education and aquaculture experience improves short-term farm profits and increases long-term economic development of aquaculture in rural areas (Burbridge et al. 2001). Educated and experienced farm managers could create innovative practices and operations that would transform them from people who apply ecology on the scale of their ponds to people who participate in the expansion of the aquaculture sector and in the social development of their community. For example, in Hermel, the first person with the innovative idea of establishing a trout farm created an industry along the banks of the Assi River. Increased training and education could increase the prevalence of associated industries such as feed manufacturing, processing, value adding, transportation and local ecotourism. Research. Institutions of higher learning and governmental research facilities in Lebanon have very low budgets and need additional support. Research should focus on the scientific, technical and socio-economic aspects of aquaculture. The main challenge for future planners of the Hermel area is to integrate the improvement of ecological, technical and social aspects of aquaculture along the Assi River. This should be done within the cultural and social context of the region because this is the primary precondition for sustainable community development. Although farmers ask for assistance in the form of free feed and seed, they should be helped with education, technical expertise, access to good quality feed and seed at a reasonable price, development of markets for their product, and access to infrastructure, such as storage facilities, processing plants, good roads and dependable electrical power. Aquaculture would then stimulate socioeconomic development in the area by increasing wealth, food security, ecotourism, and employment opportunities. Notes Patrick Saoud*, Department of Biology, Faculty of Arts & Science, American University of Beirut, Lebanon. * Corresponding author. I.P. Saoud, Dept. of Biology, American University of Beirut, Bliss St., Beirut, Lebanon, Phone: + 961 1 350000 ext. 3913 ; Fax :+ 961 1744460, e-mail: is08@aub.edu.lb Nadim Farajalla, Department of Landscape Design and Ecosystem Management, Faculty of Agricultural and Food Science, American University of Beirut, Lebanon. Yara Daou and Antonio Garza de Yta, Comisión Nacional de Aquacultura y Pesca, Sagarpa, Mexico. References Ahmed, M. and M.H. Lorica. 2002. Improving developing country food security through aquaculture development: Lessons from Asia. Food Policy 27:125-141. Barrett, G., M.I. Caniggia and L. Read. 2002. “There are More Vets than Doctors in Chiloé”: Social and community impact of the globalization of aquaculture in Chile. World Development 30(11):1951-1965. Brummett, R.E. and M.J. Williams. 2000. 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