Category Archives: Updates

Literature Review on potential contribution of fish-related activities to food and nutritional security and poverty alleviation

The objective of this document is to review the literature that has been published so far on the potential contribution of fish-related activities (aquaculture and fisheries) to food and nutritional security and poverty alleviation. This body of literature – which is found essentially in the aquaculture/fisheries literature, but also for some parts in the nutrition literature – turns out to be relatively heterogeneous and scattered, relying on different types of indicators and data. This information, which has been generated by different methodologies, applied at various scale (household, community, national levels), offers therefore very limited possibility for rigorous comparison or aggregation across projects, location or countries. 

Rebuilding the Tambaks in Aceh

Rebuilding the Tambaks in Aceh is a video by Visual Backstories that features Pak Mohammad, a charismatic leader in his village, who works with local and international experts to bring back aquaculture, or rather a polyculture system, to the brackish water ponds (tambaks) following the devastating tsunami on Boxing Day, 2004.

AwF Director Kevin Fitzsimmons is shown touring the various reconstruction projects undertaken with funding from a number of aid agencies, foundations, and non-profits, including Aquaculture without Frontiers (AwF).

The people of Aceh have transformed the devastation into once more productive ponds, rebuilding their lives and communities in the process.

Feeding the 9 billion: The tragedy of waste

By 2075, the United Nations’ mid-range projection for global population growth predicts that human numbers will peak at about 9.5 billion people. This means that there could be an extra three billion mouths to feed by the end of the century, a period in which substantial changes are anticipated in the wealth, calorific intake and dietary preferences of people in developing countries across the world.

Such a projection presents mankind with wide-ranging social, economic, environmental and political issues that need to be addressed today to ensure a sustainable future for all. One key issue is how to produce more food in a world of finite resources.

Today, we produce about four billion metric tonnes of food per annum. Yet due to poor practices in harvesting, storage and transportation, as well as market and consumer wastage, it is estimated that 30–50% (or 1.2–2 billion tonnes) of all food produced never reaches a human stomach. Furthermore, this figure does not reflect the fact that large amounts of land, energy, fertilisers and water have also been lost in the production of foodstuffs which simply end up as waste. This level of wastage is a tragedy that cannot continue if we are to succeed in the challenge of sustainably meeting our future food demands.  Read more …

Experienced aquaculture project supervisor wanted in Mozambique

The Manda Wilderness Community Trust (MWCT)  is seeking an experienced aquaculture project supervisor to work in the Lago District, Niassa Province, Mozambique.

Description of Role:

• Manage and organize the work schedules and progress of an 18 member community association
• Design and adjust short-term and long-term plans on a grassroots and rural aquaculture project
• Take frequent camping trips to the picturesque village of Litanda
• Learn and improve Portuguese and Nyanja language skills
• Help bring improved nutrition, capacitation and leadership skills to the community association, Litanda village and surrounding communities 
  Read More

AwF special session at Aquaculture 2013 in Nashville, USA

If you are going to Nashville, TN for the Aquaculture 2013 conference, please join us on Friday 22 February at 3:30-5:30 PM for the Aquaculture without Frontiers Special Session chaired by co-executive director, Dave Conley.

Session Agenda:

3:30:  Dave Conley – AQUACULTURE WITHOUT FRONTIERS: PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE

3:45:  Kevin Fitzsimmons – AQUACULTURE WITHOUT FRONTIERS FARMER TO FARMER PROGRAMS

4:00:  Patricia Moraes-Valenti – POSSIBILITIES OF AwF COLLABORATION WITH BRAZILIAN ORGANIZATIONS WORKING ON POVERTY ALLEVIATION

4:14:  Dave Little – TILAPIA HATCHERY STRATEGIES IN ASIA – SPANNING THE INTENSITY CONTINUUM

4:30:  William N. Mebane – LOW RESOURCE TILAPIA CULTURE IN HAITI, LIMITATIONS, OPPORTUNITIES, AND POSSIBLE STRATEGIES FOR INTENSIFICATION

4:45:  May Myat Moe Lwin – AWF’S ROLE IN DEVELOPING MYANMAR’S AQUACULTURE POTENTIAL

5:00:  Roy Palmer – MARKETING AwF INTO THE FUTURE

5:15:  Dave Conley & Roy Palmer – Q&A SESSION + TILAPIA AQUACULTURE IN HAITI WORKSHOP 2011: HIGHLIGHTS AND OUTCOMES 

Appeal for Nandeesha Medical Assistance Fund halfway to goal

The appeal to help pay for the medical expenses incurred by Dr. M.C. Nandeesha’s family in the struggle to save his life has raised a total of USD 42,295 to date; this is 55% of our target amount of USD 77,000.

The appeal, launched December 21^st, is a combined effort by Aquaculture without Frontiers, World Aquaculture Society, Global Aquaculture Alliance, Asian Fisheries Society and Network of Aquaculture Centers in Asia-Pacific.

We have heard today from our colleague, Prathapa Chandra Shetty in Dubai, that Mrs. Rajeshwari Nandeesha is slowly recovering from the unimaginable and sudden events in her life. Now that she is back in Bangalore, after having participated in the Funeral Celebrations at Nandeesha’s home town, she has started looking at the many letters and emails received from Nandeesha’s friends and colleagues around the world. She is overwhelmed by the support and kind messages of condolence that she has received. She wants you all to know that she has no words to express her gratitude for the kind of support she has received during these difficult times and that she is extremely grateful to everyone.

We encourage you, if you have not done so already, to help us achieve our goal of collecting USD 77,000 by making a donation either online via the WAS website or by cheque. Details are provided by clicking here.

Dr. M.C. Nandeesha, 1957-2012

It is with a heavy heart that we announce the passing of our dear friend and colleague, Dr. Mudnakudu Nandeesha, who succumbed on Dec 27th to complications resulting from a severe heart attack he suffered on November 23rd.

Words do not adequately express our feelings at his loss but the Board of Directors would like to express our deepest sympathy to his wife and family at this time of their greatest sorrow. Know that Nandeesha was loved and respected by many in the aquaculture and fisheries community in India, Southeast Asia, and beyond.

We encourage you to make a donation to the Nandeesha Medical Assistance Fund in his memory. In addition to the loss of her husband, Mrs. Nandeesha must now deal with a substantial medical bill resulting from a month-long effort to save his life. Let us all offer our help and comfort in this time of need.

The Board of Directors, AwF

Farewell Dr Nandeesha by Dr Mohan Joseph Modayil

Donations sought for Dr. Mudnakudu Nandeesha

Prof. Mudnakudu Nandeesha

Prof. Mudnakudu Nandeesha, widely and affectionately known as “Nandeesha” is a special officer at Tamil Nadu Fisheries University in India, recipient of the World Aquaculture Society fellow award in 2012, board chairman for the Indian Branch of the Asian Fisheries Society and Aquaculture without Frontiers, and member of the Best Aquaculture Practices Standards Oversight Committee at the Global Aquaculture Alliance.

Nandeesha recently suffered a massive heart attack. Due to complications, he is now hospitalized in critical condition in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.  He is on a heart/lung machine and dialysis and may need a heart transplant. The cost of his ongoing treatment has surpassed the resources available to him and his family.

Aquaculture without Frontiers, World Aquaculture Society, Global Aquaculture Alliance, Asian Fisheries Society and Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia-Pacific are therefore collecting monetary donations to assist Nandeesha. 

Student fundraiser nets $700 for AwF at AQUA 2012 in Prague

AwF director David Little and Benedikt Frenzl, president of the EAS student section, reported that the student fundraising raffle netted $712 for AwF’s mission in support of poverty alleviation through aquaculture.

Björn Suckow from ttz Bremerhaven won the first prize, a book donated by Nigel Balmforth, Senior Publisher: Life Sciences at Wiley-Blackwell.

Turker Bodur from Akdeniz University in Turkey won the book Tilapia Aquaculture in the Americas II, published by the World Aquaculture Society (WAS).

Other prizes included 3 more books on aquaculture and a T-shirt donated by WAS. 

Tilapia aquaculture in Haiti workshop proceedings now available

After the devastating earthquake in Haiti in 2010, a number of individuals and groups had informal discussions to explore various options for the recovery and redevelopment process. Of specific interest was how aquaculture might be implemented to feed the people and develop commercial enterprises that would enhance the long-term food security of Haiti.

A one-day meeting was organized to take place in New Orleans, LA on the day prior to the start of Aquaculture America 2011. The meeting, organized and supported by Novus International, the Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole, Aquaculture without Frontiers, and the World Aquaculture Society, attracted over 50 representatives from various organizations with interests in helping the Haitian recovery.