Aquaculture America 2017
Category:UpdatesSan Antonio Marriott Rivercenter
SAN ANTONIO 19-22 FEBRUARY
Aquaculture’s favorite Charity, Aquaculture without Frontiers (AwF), will be represented twice on the program.
On Tuesday 21 February AwF will be presenting ‘Pardon Our Progress – AwF Women/Gender’, at 11.45 in the Women in Aquaculture Session being held in Salon B. This presentation will highlight how the network started, some of its activities and where it is heading specifically mentioning some of the challenges and opportunities. The Network has grown to 600+ and is available for anyone to join in discussions and share information – connect to:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/awfwomen.
On Wednesday 22 February the Aquaculture without Frontiers‘ Session ‘Development, Welfare and Poverty Alleviation’ starts at 11am in Room 11, so please come and see what is happening and how you might help with engaging in some corporate social responsibility and Aquaculture without Frontiers (AwF) – www.aquaculturewithoutfrontiers.org.
Albert G.J. Tacon Key Note
We are very pleased that the main presentation will be from AwF Director, Albert G.J. Tacon. Albert (Aquatic Farms Ltd in Hawaii) has been working for many years with Marc Metian, International Atomic Energy Agency – Environment Laboratories, Monaco, and he leads the session with Food matters: fish, income and food supply – a comparative analysis. This will set the scene for our discussions by highlighting global information and will compare the role played by fish and fishery products in the diet of the world’s poorest and richest nations using data from the latest FAO food balance sheets, and attempts to provide guidance on suggested dietary changes for the improved health and well-being.
Aquaculture without Frontiers (AwF) was created at a WAS event in 2004, and it continues to honor its strong affiliations with WAS and its members. AwF has been collaborating and organizing activities to tackle food security issues by helping communities and individuals to establish their own aquaculture arrangements in order to alleviate hunger and to provide a much needed income so they can survive and grow.
After lunch in Room 11 on 22 February 2017 will be the place to be if you want to engage and learn about activities on aquaculture/seafood associations, research, funding and promotion – especially linking with positive actions relating to seafood and health.
Forging New Frontiers: Roundtable of Associations
If you are involved in the aquaculture industry, an Association member or just interested in research and funding of research then this is the session for you starting at 1.30pm. The opportunity will be for Associations to come together and share ideas and concepts and perhaps reach some consensus on future direction.
An on-line survey with all the associations we have located has been organised and the survey results will be made available at the meeting. If you have not heard from us and want to engage then don’t hesitate to email Roy.D.Palmer@seafoodprofessionals.org.
Caird Rexroad III, National Program Leader, USDA Agricultural Research Service and David C. Love from the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future will be talking about this subject.
The team from John Hopkins Center has investigated much of the research and will discuss the findings of an analysis of nearly 3,000 aquaculture grants awarded by 10 federal agencies from 1990 to 2015.
David points out that whilst the U.S. contributes only a small portion to global aquaculture production; it has made significant public investments over the past few decades into aquaculture research and extension, which support industry development. Federal programs and policies have played a significant role in moving the field of aquaculture forward, in part by awarding internal and external research grants to federal agency staff, academic institutions, companies, and nongovernmental organizations.
These presentations will be followed by a discussion where we would hope to achieve some outcomes which will help us all move forward. Then another important subject relating to promotion will follow in the same room.
TIME | TITLE | NAME |
1.30PM | STAKEHOLDER DRIVEN RESEARCH IN THE USDA | Caird Rexroad III |
1.45PM | AN ANALYSIS OF ONE BILLION DOLLARS OF AQUACULTURE GRANTS MADE BY UNITED STATES FEDERAL GOVERNMENT 1990 to 2015 | David C. Love |
2.15PM | Q&A and Outcomes | Roy Palmer & David C.Love |
Seafood & Health (G.I.L.L.S) ‘Promoting Seafood Consumption‘
There is a clear health benefit to eating more seafood, and less red meat, which is why the USDA’s latest dietary guidelines encourage more seafood consumption. Clearly aquaculture is the key to making this happen.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) puts great emphasis on supporting and growing aquaculture because it not only generates a sustainable food supply, it also leads to economic and jobs growth, especially in third world countries where it is most needed.
FAO’s latest “State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture” report states that global per capita fish consumption has risen to above 20 kilograms a year for the first time, thanks to stronger aquaculture supply, among other factors.
But in the U.S. seafood consumption has declined since its historic high in 2006 and lags far behind much of the world in per capita consumption.
Increasing seafood consumption is an imperative for many countries but changing people’s habits is difficult so it is important for the aquaculture industry and relevant others involved considering steps to support the great advantage that the health marketing angle gives seafood and how this is backed by scientific research.
In this session we have been fortunate in attracting a full range of excellent presenters from both academia and industry and they will bring you the latest information so that you can get a greater understanding of what the issues are and how you can engage.
TIME | TITLE | NAME |
3.15pm | SELENIUM HEALTH BENEFIT VALUES CONFIRM OCEAN FISH CONSUMPTION PREVENTS MERCURY TOXITY | *Nick V.C. Ralston & Laura J Raymond |
3.45pm | FACTS ABOUT SHRIMP AND CHOLESTEROL | Darryl E. Jory & Roy D. Palmer |
4pm | SHAPING CONSUMER PERCEPTIONS OF FARM RAISED SEAFOOD | Nancy Peterson |
4.15pm | AQUACULTURE, FOOD SYSTEMS, AND PUBLIC HEALTH | David C. Love |
4.30pm | SEAFOOD HEALTH FACTS: MAKING SMART CHOICES TO BALANCE THE BENEFITS AND RISKS OF SEAFOOD CONSUMPTION | John Ewart & Doris T. Hicks |
4.45pm | PROMOTING SEAFOOD CONSUMPTION: A TOOL FOR IMPROVING NUTRITION, HEALTH AND REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT – PUBLIC POLICY AND PRODUCERS EFFORT | Roy D Palmer |
Nick V.C. Ralston (along with co-author Laura J Raymond) from University of North Dakota will kick off this important session. Nick has been at the forefront of understanding the benefits of selenium in both seafood and humans. Their group recently completed an EPA sponsored study of the mercury and selenium contents of over 14,000 ocean and freshwater fish samples collected from all over North America. Additionally their EPA sponsored work also funded further development of the Health Benefit Value (HBV), the only reliably accurate criteria for assessing risks associated with mercury exposures as well as beneficial effects associated with improved dietary intakes of selenium, long chain omega-3 fatty acids, and other essential nutrients.
WAS Director, Darryl E Jory, will bring everyone up to date relating to cholesterol and the negativity that surrounds that especially when it comes to shrimp consumption. It has long been promoted by many in the health community that shrimp is bad for your health due to the high level of cholesterol. This has been challenged through a number of excellent scientific studies but unfortunately the myths continue to be raised. Darryl has worked with Roy Palmer in gathering evidence and will highlight why in the case of shrimp, the cholesterol story is different to the myth. This will hopefully impact the many people who are denying themselves the enjoyment and nourishment that a ‘feed of shrimp’ can give and will emphasize the need to promote this important information.
Interestingly, the article published in April 2016 on GAA’s popular Advocate aquaculture website, the “Facts about shrimp and cholesterol” written by Jory/Palmer has received more page-views than any other on the website by a long way.
Next we will hear from Nancy Peterson, an experienced seafood marketing specialist, who says there has never been a better time for all of us to support growing seafood consumption. Nancy raises the concerns about public conversation about farm raised seafood and especially the largely negative media and social media. The need for a strong, unified voice representing the industry’s perspective is essential but how can the industry pull together to address these issues?
David C. Love from the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future follows this with a presentation that will address how the aquaculture industry and NOAA can help meet public health goals for seafood consumption by working with supply chain partners and other federal agencies that focus on seafood access and use across the food system.
John W. Ewart (along with co-author, Doris T. Hicks) from Delaware Sea Grant Marine Advisory Service will then tell us about the Seafood Health Facts website (SFH) which provides healthcare, seafood industry professionals and consumers with straightforward, science-based information about the pros and cons of including seafood in a balanced diet and current media issues. The website was developed by Cornell University and the New York Sea Grant Extension Program in collaboration with Oregon State University and the Universities of Rhode Island, Delaware, Florida and California in 2011. John will detail how this program is being expanded.
Finally the Association of International Seafood Professionals, Roy Palmer, will highlight the success of the work done overseas. Mexico is a great example, as they created Public Policy which decreed they would increase seafood consumption in their country by 3 kgs pp pa over 5 years – they achieved the goal in 3 years and are now building on that momentum. Roy has also been assisting in Saudi Arabia where they are planning to increase seafood consumption and will highlight some lessons that could be learned by any country or industry wanting to head down this path.
IMPORTANT NOTE: there is no link between Aquaculture without Frontiers (AwF) – www.aquaculturewithoutfrontiers.org and Aquaculture without Frontiers CIO based in UK. Aquaculture without Frontiers (AwF) has been operating since 2004 and is Charity Incorporated in California #2671553. Exempt from State and Federal [section 501(c) (3)] taxes as a public charity.