States enacted a volume of labor legislation in 2006 which was significantly less than that enacted in 2005. The decrease was due in part to the fact that only 44 States and the District of Columbia met in regular session during 2006, while the remaining 6 States (Arkansas, Montana, North Dakota, Nevada, Oregon, and Texas) were not scheduled to meet in regular session. (All 50 States had met in regular session in 2005.) Several of the 6 States that did not meet in regular session did, however, convene in special sessions dedicated to various issues of special interest. At the time this article was submitted for publication, 42 of the 50 States, along with the District of Columbia, had enacted or amended labor legislation of consequence during 2006 in the categories that are tracked. Although they met in regular session, Mississippi and Nebraska did not enact significant legislation in the fields covered. (1) In addition, representatives from the Government of Guam responded by providing information regarding significant labor legislation enacted in their locality during the past year. Such information had not been received from Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands at the time this article was submitted.

Currently, more than 30 categories of labor legislation introduced and then enacted by the States are tracked by the Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor: agriculture, child labor, State departments of labor, employee discharge, drug and alcohol testing, equal employment opportunity, employee leasing, employment agencies, family leave, garments, genetic testing, hours worked, human trafficking, immigrant protection, inmate labor, living wages, minimum wages, offsite work, overtime, plant closings, employee preference, prevailing wages, right to work, time off, unfair labor practices, wage payments and collection, whistleblowers, worker privacy, workplace security, workplace violence, and other labor-related issues that might be of general interest. Not every enacted piece of legislation that falls into one of these categories is discussed in this article; among the laws that are excluded are those which (1) amend existing State law, but are strictly technical in nature, (2) affect a limited number of individuals, (3) require or distribute a study of an issue, or (4) deal with funding related to an issue.

Volume aside, the legislation that was enacted by the States addressed a significant number of employment standards areas and included many important measures. Minimum-wage legislation was the "hot-button" issue this year, with an increasing number of States enacting laws that raised their required minimum-wage rates, thus continuing a trend of expanded State activity in this area. Issues such as workplace security, a variety of prevailing-wage issues, equal employment opportunity, wages paid, time off, drug and alcohol testing, child labor, human trafficking, and protection for immigrants were included in new or amended legislation enacted during 2006. The issue of human trafficking legislation has had increased activity in the States for the last couple of years. Some of the legislation enacted established a definition of human trafficking, other laws established minimum and maximum penalties for those convicted of human trafficking activities, and still others permitted victims of human trafficking to seek civil damages and remedies from individuals who subjected them to the unlawful trafficking.

This article does not cover legislation in the areas of occupational safety and health, employment and training, labor relations, employee background checks (except for those dealing with potential national security issues), economic security, and local living-wage ordinances.

As of January 1, 2007, State-required minimum-wage rates were higher than the Federal minimum-wage standard in 29 states and the District of Columbia. (By way of comparison, on January 1, 2006, 17 States and the District of Columbia had minimum-wage rates greater than the Federal standard.) Of the 45 States with minimum-wage laws, only Kansas, at $2.65 per hour, has a rate lower than the Federal rate of $5.15 per hour. The five remaining States that do not have a required minimum wage are Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Tennessee.

The next section briefly summarizes, by legislative category, a number of the bills that resulted in laws enacted or amended by the State legislatures during the past year. Following this summary is a comprehensive description of each State's legislative activities, subdivided by the labor legislation category, that were enacted or amended during the course of the year.

Agriculture. California revised the Employee Housing Act regarding group quarters for agricultural housing, while Florida amended the safety requirements for farm labor vehicles used to transport nine or more workers.

Child labor. Employers, parents, and guardians in Connecticut may now all be assessed a monetary penalty for employing, or permitting the employment of, a minor in violation of the hours-worked standards in manufacturing, mechanical, or mercantile establishments. Employers in Indiana who violate the hours-worked requirements of the State labor laws will receive a warning letter for a first violation. Additional penalties for subsequent violations may result in the revocation of the child's employment certificate and the assessment of monetary penalties against the employer. Artistic or creative service contracts executed on behalf of a minor in Louisiana shall now require that 15 percent of the gross earnings of the minor under contract be placed in a trust fund created for the benefit of the minor. Currently, more than 30 categories of labor legislation introduced and then enacted by the States are tracked by the Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor: agriculture, child labor, State departments of labor, employee discharge, drug and alcohol testing, equal employment opportunity, employee leasing, employment agencies, family leave, garments, genetic testing, hours worked, human trafficking, immigrant protection, inmate labor, living wages, minimum wages, offsite work, overtime, plant closings, employee preference, prevailing wages, right to work, time off, unfair labor practices, wage payments and collection, whistleblowers, worker privacy, workplace security, workplace violence, and other labor-related issues that might be of general interest. Not every enacted piece of legislation that falls into one of these categories is discussed in this article; among the laws that are excluded are those which (1) amend existing State law, but are strictly technical in nature, (2) affect a limited number of individuals, (3) require or distribute a study of an issue, or (4) deal with funding related to an issue.

Volume aside, the legislation that was enacted by the States addressed a significant number of employment standards areas and included many important measures. Minimum-wage legislation was the "hot-button" issue this year, with an increasing number of States enacting laws that raised their required minimum-wage rates, thus continuing a trend of expanded State activity in this area. Issues such as workplace security, a variety of prevailing-wage issues, equal employment opportunity, wages paid, time off, drug and alcohol testing, child labor, human trafficking, and protection for immigrants were included in new or amended legislation enacted during 2006. The issue of human trafficking legislation has had increased activity in the States for the last couple of years. Some of the legislation enacted established a definition of human trafficking, other laws established minimum and maximum penalties for those convicted of human trafficking activities, and still others permitted victims of human trafficking to seek civil damages and remedies from individuals who subjected them to the unlawful trafficking.

This article does not cover legislation in the areas of occupational safety and health, employment and training, labor relations, employee background checks (except for those dealing with potential national security issues), economic security, and local living-wage ordinances.

As of January 1, 2007, State-required minimum-wage rates were higher than the Federal minimum-wage standard in 29 states and the District of Columbia. (By way of comparison, on January 1, 2006, 17 States and the District of Columbia had minimum-wage rates greater than the Federal standard.) Of the 45 States with minimum-wage laws, only Kansas, at $2.65 per hour, has a rate lower than the Federal rate of $5.15 per hour. The five remaining States that do not have a required minimum wage are Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Tennessee.

The next section briefly summarizes, by legislative category, a number of the bills that resulted in laws enacted or amended by the State legislatures during the past year. Following this summary is a comprehensive description of each State's legislative activities, subdivided by the labor legislation category, that were enacted or amended during the course of the year.

Agriculture. California revised the Employee Housing Act regarding group quarters for agricultural housing, while Florida amended the safety requirements for farm labor vehicles used to transport nine or more workers.

Child labor. Employers, parents, and guardians in Connecticut may now all be assessed a monetary penalty for employing, or permitting the employment of, a minor in violation of the hours-worked standards in manufacturing, mechanical, or mercantile establishments. Employers in Indiana who violate the hours-worked requirements of the State labor laws will receive a warning letter for a first violation. Additional penalties for subsequent violations may result in the revocation of the child's employment certificate and the assessment of monetary penalties against the employer. Artistic or creative service contracts executed on behalf of a minor in Louisiana shall now require that 15 percent of the gross earnings of the minor under contract be placed in a trust fund created for the benefit of the minor.

Fishing for Gold: The Story of Alabama's Catfish Industry. By Karni R. Perez. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 2006. xv+263 pp. Bibliographical references, index. Paper $22.95.

Over the past forty years, the channel catfish became increasingly associated with the American South's popular culture, particularly in areas related to foodways and recreation. The species' ascendancy from its demure standing in the region's folk culture to its more sweeping acceptance as a dietary staple is broadly attributable to the rise in southern states-principally Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, and Georgia-of catfish farming. It is a largely untold story, one rooted in agricultural areas seeking to economically diversify amidst the challenges confronting rural communities in post-World War II America.

Relying principally on oral testimony, Kami Perez tells the Alabama chapter of this regional fisheries history through the personal experiences of farmers, processors, merchants, fisheries scientists, and government officials who shepherded the industry from its infancy in the early 1960s through its subsequent economic and environmental accommodation. The strength of Perez's experience-based approach to the topic is its capacity to convey, with striking ethnographic detail, the motivation displayed and circumstances encountered by the industry's various participants. Initially seen as a supplementary income source for rural landholders whose soil held sufficient clay for pond construction, catfish farming attracted some who were interested in developing hatcheries for fingerling production while others simply wanted to maintain growout ponds for family use, fee-fishing, or to supply local food markets. Regardless of the depth of one's involvement, Perez conveys that all were caught up in the sweep of improving pond construction and management, handling and processing eggs, fingerlings, and mature stock, and promoting appropriate options for marketing and consumption.

As Alabama's catfish industry grew, it was able to retain a family-business orientation, but it was also increasingly affected by large institutional structures in the state and some whose influence went well beyond its borders. In the industry's early years, catfish farmers worked primarily among themselves in learning what types of environmental context and fish cultural approach could support egg production and cultivation, feeding patterns, and healthy growth. These developments, along with greater capital investment, led to far more extensive relations between catfish farmers and Auburn University's Department of Fisheries and Allied Aquaculture, the U.S. Soil Conservation Service, and feed companies such as Ralston-Purina, to say nothing of other investors and state programs that wanted to capitalize on the industry's volume production and gradual orientation to value-added markets. The ecological reach of Alabama's catfish industry grew exponentially as operations fell within the grip of corporations such as ConAgra and Hormel, and, in terms of government actions, its results figured in U.S. Agency for International Development and Peace Corps plans for exporting viable fish cultural schemes to developing nations.

The strength of Perez's work is its detailed documentation of a grass-roots enterprise and the manner in which state and federal government assistance, university research, and relations with nationally prominent corporations bolstered its fortunes. Indeed, it is doubtful if Perez's scrupulous accounting of these relations-particularly the problems and successes they present-could have been so vividly reconstructed without the book's heavy reliance on oral history. Readers will find the environmental implications of these relations compelling, but the book lacks an analytical framework for assessing them. Important environmental issues such as water quality, fish health, and fish waste are raised, but primarily in the context of improving fish production and financial profit. With little analysis of broad environmental impact, particularly the shadow cast by agribusiness on this industry, this book adheres to a straightforward narrative of the industry and leaves significant assessments for future researchers. To its credit, Fishing for Gold is among the first efforts to substantially document the history of catfish farming in the United States, and provides valuable information for subsequent research that will more fully explore the industry's environmental legacy.

Discussion of sexuality and its expression is commonplace. Looking in a newspaper or turning on the television provides evidence of this. It is also a topic of discussion among academics from various backgrounds. However, in relation to people with learning disabilities, such discussion is often framed in negative terms and is concerned with such things as abuse, HIV and STIs, 'unwanted' pregnancy and challenging sexual behaviour. There is little published research into the question of how men and women with learning disabilities experience their sexuality or sexual identity. This study sought to explore how a group of men with learning disabilities in South Wales experienced their sexuality and sexual identity, using an interpretative phenomenological analysis. It found that, although the participants saw themselves as sexual beings, their opportunities for expressing their sexuality were often limited and controlled by others. It also found that the participants saw themselves more in terms of their 'differences' from other men than of their similarities. Recommendations for changes in practice and policy that may facilitate the appropriate expression of sexuality by men with learning disabilities are made.

The study was undertaken between 2001 and 2003 in Wales and formed the basis for my PhD submission. During the 1990s there was a resurgence of academic interest in sexuality among disparate groups including cultural anthropologists, sociologists, social psychologists, historians and nurses. As a result, numerous books and articles were published, in relation to the subject both generally and more specifically in the field of learning disability.

However, in the field of learning disability such discussion tended to pathologise sexuality. For example, much of it was concerned with abuse, HIV and challenging sexual behaviours. Even when discussing issues such as parenting and homosexuality, both issues that may be regarded, by some, in a positive light, emphasis was often placed on possible negative implications (Edmonds & Collins, 1999). For example, in relation to parenting, despite evidence that people with learning disabilities do not have more children than the 'norm', do not necessarily have children with learning disabilities and can develop parenting skills (Tymchuk et al, 1987), parenting is frequently seen as something that should be avoided; if pregnancy does occur, it is likely to result in the child's being removed from the woman with a learning disability (Sheerin, 1998; Baum, 2000). Likewise in relation to homosexuality, discussion has been presented in a manner that reinforces the view that it is pathological (Cambridge, 1997; Cambridge & Mellan, 2000). For example, the focus of literature was not generally on supporting people in same-sex relationships, but on concern about the vulnerability of men with learning disabilities engaging in samesex relationships to such things as abuse and HIV.

Additionally, my own experience as a registered nurse for people with a learning disability was that most carers would rather ignore the issue of sexuality until such a time as a 'problem' arose. Such experience is also reported in the literature (Thomas & Woods, 2003).

Although normalisation had been taken up in the UK in the early 1970s (Chappell, 1992) and the United Nations had made a declaration on the Rights of Mentally Retarded Persons in 1971, it appeared to me that one 'right' that was not being strongly argued for was the right of people with a learning disability to express their sexuality and to experience personal and intimate relationships.

At the time the study commenced, government policy and legislation appeared confused. On the one hand, support for such a right could be found in the Human Rights Act 1998, in the 'standards of care' issued for adult placements under the Care Standards Act 2000 and in the White Paper Valuing People (DoH, 2001). On the other hand, documents relating to sexual health promotion, such as the Strategic Framework for Promoting Sexual Health in Wales (National Assembly for Wales, 2000), while recognising that the sexual and reproductive health needs of people with learning disabilities were not being met, made no suggestions as to how this situation might be improved. Moreover, the Sexual Offences Act 1956 (which remained in force until May 2005) was highly restrictive regarding the right of people with learning disabilities to engage in sexual behaviours. This situation was interesting and awoke a desire to explore it.

Additionally, personal experiences also played a part. They were not solely those related to working with men and women with learning disabilities. Self-awareness of the possible impact of being unable to express sexuality had upon such things as selfesteem and feelings of fulfilment also played a part.

The study, although small in scale, is significant because of the lack of literature on how men and women with learning disabilities experience their sexuality and sexual identity, both in the UK and in Western society more widely.

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers continuing education stipend will be given to the Engineering Division member who submits the best essay on how the applicant will benefit professionally from an SLA continuing education course.

The winner will receive $1,000 for expenses incurred while attending any CE course offered at the 2007 Special Libraries Association Annual Conference in Denver. It may be applied to travel, food, and one night's accommodation. Award applicants must be members in good standing in the SLA Engineering Division for at least one year as of January 1, 2007.

The winner will be required to submit an article to SciTech News within 12 months of completion on how the course helped him or her either in library applications or professionally.

Applicants should submit a one- to three-page (double-spaced) essay on how they will benefit professionally from the specific continuing education course. The applicant's full name should be at the top of each page. In addition, the applicant's full name, address, telephone number, and e-mail address should be included with the submission.

Following the implementation of key actions resulting from Valuing People (DoH, 2001), people with learning disabilities resident in hospital will be relocated into the community. This paper examines psychological, social and quality of life indicators applied to a group of 50 service users, 36 of whom are soon to be relocated into community housing. The methodology employs a range of psychometric measures in order to describe intellectual and social functioning, mental health, levels of challenging behaviour and quality of life and choice opportunities. The aim was to compile a profile of the individuals as a group in order to inform service planning and provision. Results illustrate that the group contains a range of individuals with complex and enduring needs. A discussion of the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead for these individuals and the services that support them is presented. The study presents an opportunity to re-apply this methodology in future years in order to evaluate whether community living has brought tangible benefits to the group.

Valuing People (DoH, 2001) states that a hospital cannot be considered as a home for people with learning disabilities. As a consequence, all hospitalbased residents must be relocated into community accommodation within a stringent time frame. The philosophical underpinning of Valuing People is that people with learning disabilities should be integrated with the general population and participate in everyday community living experiences. An ultimate aim of this process is that people with learning disabilities should be supported in fulfilling their potential as citizens, not just experiencing, but also contributing to, the richness of community living.

Recent studies have sought to evaluate the first wave of hospital relocations that took place in the 1980s. A study by Forrester-Jones and colleagues (2002) reports qualitative findings from 196 participants who report positive effects in relation to living environment, the social milieu and independence. However, problems including bullying, an unsatisfactory social regime, poor physical accommodation and personal feelings of loneliness and boredom were also cited. MacLeod and colleagues (2002) examined the effects of relocation from hospital residence to community placements. The authors hypothesised that a comparison of baseline and follow-up measurements would illustrate an increase in adaptive behaviours and a fall in challenging behaviours. In fact the reverse was true; the authors found a simultaneous increase in challenging behaviours accompanied by a decrease in adaptive behaviour levels.

Cummins and Lau (2003) take a cautious view, stating that relocation of people with learning disabilities into the community qualifies simply as community exposure rather than true integration. It is clear that further research is required in order to identify key factors that facilitate community integration for people with learning disabilities. A focus on both the quantifiable and the qualitative experience of people with learning disabilities as they move is also required (Emerson et al, 2000). Longitudinal research strategies capable of examining the experiences of people with learning disabilities across time are also necessary in order truly to capture the significance of this transition. Such information will aid service commissioners and service providers to retain a long-term focus, as well as providing a framework through which to address the needs of remaining service users who live in hospital or campus settings and those who are detained in private psychiatric hospitals.

This study aims to take a first step in describing psychosocial baseline information relating to adults with a learning disability housed in a residential hospital comprising six units. The study includes eight residents housed in a low-secure forensic unit. These residents are unlikely to be relocated in the near future, as they are detained under various categories of the Mental Health Act and require ongoing rehabilitation. A further six service users were likely to remain in hospital in order to receive ongoing assessment and intervention. These service users were included in the study in order to provide a complete profile of the hospital's residents and to provide comparison information across the participant groups. The study aims to describe the characteristics of the residents and outline their ongoing support needs across a number of areas of functioning. In addition to a learning disability, the client group exhibit a range of challenging behaviour, mental illness, sensory/physical disability and forensic risk management needs.

A request to the International Federation of Perioperative Nurses (IFPN), by some nurses in Papua New Guinea led to Kate Woodhead and Phyllis Davis running a workshop in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. They set out to help the perioperative nurses establish their own organisation to advise the government on policy which affected their service, and to serve as a forum for perioperative education and motivation. This article describes the process, the enthusiasm which greeted them and the mechanisms by which the Papua New Guinea Perioperative Nurses Association came into being.

One of the most pleasurable pieces of work which I have undertaken as president of the International Federation of Perioperative Nurses (IFPN) was to be involved in the start of a perioperative organisation for the islands of Papua New Guinea (PNG). The country lies north east of Australia, south of the equator and comprises a string of small islands with the main island being the eastern half of New Guinea Island. The country is dominated by a central spine of high mountains (

Fortunately for me English was spoken by all the nurses, although they spoke to each other in a language called Pidgin, which borrows words from a number of different languages, particularly German and English.

The Lonely Planet Guide (2006) did not give me much comfort when doing my homework before travel. It describes Papua New Guinea by warning of petty crime, banditry and isolated instances of violence, much of it concentrated in Port Moresby, the capital, where it was planned we would be staying.

The first approach from PNG to the IFPN for assistance was to my predecessor, Carolyn Webster, in 2001. This came by way of a letter, which was passed to me for exploration. A number of companies working in the Asia-Pacific Rim were approached to see if they would help IFPN with the project. Funding was eventually identified during a visit to Australia in 2003. Johnson and Johnson Australia agreed to fund a colleague and I to run a workshop for the nurses. Following this offer, a formal proposal was developed and accepted by Johnson and Johnson. During the same conference that funding was offered, following some collaboration with the Australian College of Operating Room Nurses (ACORN), a great many colleagues approached me to share their knowledge of working in perioperative practice in PNG. This helped to understand the potential conditions that we would find there.

A colleague, Phyllis Davis, known to AfPP members for her excellent Daisy Ayris Memorial Lecture in 2002 (Davis 2003), was to travel with me, and coordinate the PNG Project. With hindsight, this was a wise decision as her enthusiasm for the task, as well as her ability to raise further funds linked into the region's medical device companies, has been invaluable. Together we developed a project plan by email as Phyllis lives in Sydney, Australia.

The first, vital element of this plan was to contact PNG's Ministry of Health, chief nursing officer (CNO) and other officials, in order to give the workshop credibility and enable nurses to be given study time to leave their posts for two days. By chance, during the International Council of Nurses Conference in Geneva in 2003,1 met the CNO of Papua New Guinea and told her of the project plan. Soon, we were in regular email contact and she supplied many names and addresses for local hospitals and health officials. Letters were subsequently dispatched.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Phyllis and I booked hotel rooms and a small conference room for the workshop online and made our own travel plans. We finally arrived and were met by the perioperative nurses that had written initially to Carolyn. They were excited that we had arrived, and had spent the morning picking Bougainvillea blossoms and sewing them into welcome garlands with black silk from theatres. After such an extended planning phase, it was wonderful to finally arrive, in May 2004.

The enthusiasm from the nurses was evident when we asked to be shown their operating theatres in the main referral hospital in Port Moresby. Many colleagues approached me to share their knowledge of working in PNG.

The plan had identified that between five and eight local perioperative nurses would attend the two-day workshop to explore and set up, if possible, an organisation which they had expressed a desire to have in the country. Imagine our surprise when 28 nurses showed up! A bit of hasty re-organisation of the room and the catering arrangements had to be done, but otherwise, it was a case of 'the more the merrier!' We were amazed that the hospitals had allowed so many nurses to be present, and many had travelled for hours to get to the capital and attend the event. Indeed, many hospitals had funded their travel and accommodation too.

IDENTIFYING GOALS

We spent the next two days brainstorming: working out the details of membership categories, structure of the organisation, the name and other vital minutiae. The majority of the work was done by small groups, who fed back to all and, with much debating, a consensus was gained. Phyllis and I facilitated the groups, encouraged and motivated where there appeared to be insurmountable problems and wrote endless notes.

The study was conducted to determine the feasibility for growing-out of the spotted babylon juveniles (Babylonia areolata) to marketable sizes with the large-scale operation of 20.0 x 20.0 x 1.5 m earthen ponds at Petchaburi province, Thailand. The production and economic analysis for monoculture of spotted Babylon were compared with the polyculture with sea bass (Lates calcarifer). Each pond was stocked with juveniles of 0.3 g initial weight at a density of 200 snails [m.sup.-2]. This study provides good results in growth and production of spotted babylon in earthen ponds. The average growth rates in body weight were 0.67 and 0.51 g [mo.sup.-1] for snails held in the monoculture and polyculture with sea bass, respectively. At the end of the experiment, total yield of spotted babylon held in the monoculture and polyculture with sea bass was 10,520 and 10,450 kg [ha.sup.-1], respectively. Based on farm data, stocking data and harvest data used in this study, total cost per production cycle of the monoculture and polyculture with sea bass were $19,184 and $23,245, respectively. The cost of producing spotted babylon marketable sizes in this grow-out farm design was $5.69 per kg and $6.95 per kg for the monoculture and polyculture trials, respectively. At a farm gate price in 2003 of $9.00 per kg resulted in a net return of $11,124 and $14,691 for the monoculture and polyculture with sea bass, respectively. The present study indicated the technically feasible, and economically attractive for monoculture and polyculture of B. areolata to marketable sizes in earthen ponds.

Recently, there has been considerable interest in the commercial culture of spotted babylon, Babylonia areolata, in Thailand resulting from a growing demand and an expanding domestic market of seafood, and a catastrophic decline in natural spotted babylon populations in the Gulf of Thailand. From an aquaculture point of view, the spotted babylon had many biological attributes, production and market characteristics necessary for a profitable aquaculture venture and it was considered a promising new candidate of aquaculture species for the land-based aquaculture industry in Thailand (Chaitanawisuti & Kritsanapuntu 1999). At present, the successful culture of spotted babylon juveniles to marketable sizes was operated in large-scale production using the flow-through seawater system in concrete/canvas ponds. However, this culture technique had many considerations in disadvantages of the culture purposes. Basically, it needed the high investment of pond construction, buildings and facilities, large area for pond construction, and operational costs, but the production and low economic returns is not high enough for commercial operations (Chaitanawisuti et al. 2002a, 2002b). Because many marine shrimp ponds (Penaeus monodon) have been abandoned or rested because of diseases, poor management and environmental degradation for a long time in Thailand, this study was then focused on the potential and feasibility for a pilot growing-out of the spotted babylon juveniles to marketable sizes in earthen ponds. This study may provide an opportunity to develop a sustainable aquaculture system for growing out of spotted babylon juveniles to marketable sizes in earthen ponds and may result in the best use of many abandoned/rested shrimp ponds in coastal areas of Thailand. However, lack of economic data can be an important constraint to the successful development of spotted babylon aquaculture operations. A financial investment analysis which tied biological, production, cost and market price variables has been used to make decisions about culture methods, feasibility and potential for commercial operation of this enterprise. However, polyculture techniques have been used to increase production of fish and shellfish in culture ponds. Several marine shellfish species have been shown in polycultures, augmenting harvests through wider use of available food and space, whereas minimizing the negative effects of species--specific competitions and exometabolites. In addition, the polyculture of shellfish with fish presented some possibility that could benefit the local aquaculture operation (Hunt et al. 1995). A lack of economic data can be an important constraint to the successful development of spotted babylon aquaculture operations. A financial investment analysis which tied biological, production, cost and market price variables has been used to make decisions about culture methods, and feasibility and potential for commercial operation of this enterprise. Thereafter, the land-based aquaculture operation for growing-out of spotted babylon in earthen ponds was developed for commercial purposes in Thailand. The objective of this study is to present the growth, production and economic consideration for monoculture of juvenile B. areolata, and their polyculture with sea bass, L. calcarifer, using large-scale production of earthen ponds.

The Elderly Accommodation Counsel (EAC), Association of Retirement Housing Managers (ARHM) and the Advice, Information and Mediation Service (AIMS) collaborated on this booked published in May this year.

Its premise is that as people grow older their housing needs often change. The book guides the reader through the housing options available to older people and answers common questions about retirement housing including:

* making life easier if staying in your own home

* choices (the benefits - and possible downside - of retirement housing, what is available, resources needed)

* living in retirement housing (what it's like, scheme managers' role, legal rights)

* renting retirement housing (local council, housing association or private)

* leasehold retirement housing (management organisations - their tasks and charges, buying, moving and re-selling)

* legal aspects (how to complain, ombudsman services, your rights, lease 'jargon buster').

Complete with case studies and useful contacts, this book provides all the vital information needed to help people make an informed decision. It covers England only. To order, contact: