Authors'Commentary 161 The second task was to model the current system with the monoculture of milkfish present. Since the natural milkfish food supply was removed by placing the animals in pens, feed must be purchased and added to the system. The idea was to see the effect of exogenous feeding on water quality. They compared the results of their model to actual observed water quality data from Bolinao. Next, teams were asked to model a remediation scenario. They chose the species they wanted to include in their polyculture system and modeled the effects on water quality, harvest, and economic value. They were asked to discuss the harvesting of each species and what parameters they would use to determine the value of the harvest. The last modeling challenge was to maximize the value of the total harvest while maintaining sufficient water quality levels for corals to grow. The end result of modeling was to write recommendations to the Pacific Marine Fisheries Council regarding the management of the bolinao milkfish aquacultureindustry. This is where the teams evaluated theecologicalpros and cons of the species chosen for their particular polyculture system, the economic ade-offs of improving water quality, and how long the remediation of Bolinao coral reefs can be expected to take. A major goal of this contest problem was for teams to relate the modeling choices they made to realistic ecological and biological processes. Teams were asked to use realistic parameters for their models based on actual ecological and physiological data and to justify any assumptions made. Fundamental un derstandings of primary production, trophic interactions, and energy transfer were essential for building and critiquing their own models This years ICM problem is based on research being done by the World Bank and Global Environment Facilitys Coral Disease Working international group of scientists has been working to understand the ecological consequences of this fish farm industry on coral health. The first phase of the project was to identify some of the mechanisms by which fish pens are negatively impacting corals. This is the final year of phase one, and much progress hasbeenmade As weenterphase two of the project, wemove forward with a goal of testing and implementing alternative methods of farming in this area. Polyculture is one of the alternatives currently being discussed References Hinrichsen, D. 1998. Coastal Waters of the World: Trends, Threats, and strategies Washington, DC: Island Pres United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization(FAO). 2006. State of WorldFisheriesandAquaculture2006.http://www.fao.org/docrep/ 009/a0699e/A0699E00.htm.Authors' Commentary 161 The second task was to model the current system with the monoculture of milkfish present. Since the natural milkfish food supply was removed by placing the animals in pens, feed must be purchased and added to the system. The idea was to see the effect of exogenous feeding on water quality. They compared the results of their model to actual observed water quality data from Bolinao. Next, teams were asked to model a remediation scenario. They chose the species they wanted to include in their polyculture system and modeled the effects on water quality, harvest, and economic value. They were asked to discuss the harvesting of each species and what parameters they would use to determine the value of the harvest. The last modeling challenge was to maximize the value of the total harvest while maintaining sufficient water quality levels for corals to grow. The end result of modeling was to write recommendations to the Pacific Marine Fisheries Council regarding the management of the Bolinao milkfish aquaculture industry. This is where the teams evaluated the ecological pros and cons of the species chosen for their particular polyculture system, the economic trade-offs of improving water quality, and how long the remediation of Bolinao coral reefs can be expected to take. A major goal of this contest problem was for teams to relate the modeling choices they made to realistic ecological and biological processes. Teams were asked to use realistic parameters for their models based on actual ecological and physiological data and to justify any assumptions made. Fundamental un￾derstandings of primary production, trophic interactions, and energy transfer were essential for building and critiquing their own models. This year's ICM problem is based on research being done by the World Bank and Global Environment Facility's Coral Disease Working Group. This international group of scientists has been working to understand the ecological consequences of this fish farm industry on coral health. The first phase of the project was to identify some of the mechanisms by which fish pens are negatively impacting corals. This is the final year of phase one, and much progress hasbeenmade. Aswe enter phase two of the project, we move forward with a goal of testing and implementing alternative methods of farming in this area. Polyculture is one of the alternatives currently being discussed. References Hinrichsen, D. 1998. Coastal Waters of the World: Trends, Threats, and Strategies. Washington, DC: Island Press. United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO). 2006. State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2006. http: //www. fao. org/docrep/ 009/aO699e/AO699EO0.htm