Category Archives: Updates

EAS Honorary Life Membership for Patrick Sorgeloos

Patrick Sorgeloos

At the opening plenary session of the AQUA 2012 event, co-organised in Prague by the European and World Aquaculture Societies, Patrick Sorgeloos, AwF Director, and Director of the Laboratory of Aquaculture and the Artemia Reference Center of the University of Ghent in Belgium, was presented with an Honorary Life Membership of EAS.

Honorary Life Membership is the highest EAS award and is given to those persons that have had a marked impact on the development of European aquaculture. Since 1981, EAS has bestowed this award on only 10 persons, including such names as Eric Edwards, Bernard Chevassus-au-Louis, Peter Hjul, Colin Nash and more recently, Courtney Hough and Pascal Divanach.  Read more …

Aquaculture without Frontiers: Empowering and giving hope through aquaculture

Aquaculture without Frontiers (AwF) was the brainchild of one person following a career spent in researching, travelling and being a part of developing the aquaculture industry as we know it today. AwF roots lay strongly within the World Aquaculture Society family as the concept was formulated by this individual on the back of a presentation and paper delivered at World Aquaculture 2003 in Salvador, Brazil. The person is, of course, Michael New OBE, CBiol, FSB, BSc, ARCS, FIFST; Past-President of WAS and EAS, and current Chairman for AQUA 2012 in Prague.

Back at that 2003 meeting Michael said “The NGOs that are involved in aquaculture development for the poor are sometimes religious, sometimes lay; sometimes branches of international organizations, often national or local. However, it is clear that they need help to utilize the potential of aquaculture efficiently and, as individuals, I feel that we should be ready to assist. However, the aquaculture sector does not have any NGO that appeals directly to the public (our consumers), nor do we raise any funds for aquaculture development from the public. We may sometimes wonder where are our ‘Friends of Aquaculture’, our ‘BluePeace’, our ‘World Aquaculture Fund’, our ‘Aquaculture Defense Fund.’ I think it is most unlikely that we could persuade the public to support a lobbying organization for aquaculture, especially as we have suffered so much criticism (fair and unfair) from aquaculture’ movement would be perceived simply as a defensive negative reaction to criticism. However, I believe that there is a niche for an aquaculture NGO.”

You can read the rest of this article by AwF Director Roy Palmer published in the September issue of World Aquaculture Magazine by clicking here.

McGill Conference on Global Food Security – October 16-18, 2012

Fifth Annual McGill Conference on Global Food Security – “Food Prices and Political Instability”

Join speakers from Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas as they gather at McGill University from October 16-18, 2012 for the Fifth McGill Conference on Global Food Security. The Conference will kick off on October 16 with a Public Lecture featuring a keynote speaker, followed by two days of presentations and panel discussions.

International experts, scholars, and policy makers will present their unique perspectives on Food Prices and Political Instability, their on-going efforts to provide a better quality of life for 2-billion of the world’s poorest, and engage in a dialogue to find long-term solutions.

The 2012 McGill Conference on Global Food Security promises to inspire, engage and address the many risks and threats to food security that profoundly impact millions around the globe.

Come and be a part of this unique 3-day event! Held at McGill’s New Residence Hall, participants will have the opportunity to hear the distinct perspectives of our panel of experts. Each session will invoke thoughtful discussion and debate. We are pleased to announce that there will once again be a student panel at this year’s conference.

Don’t miss the opportunity to participate in this exceptional event.

Registration is now open. Seating is limited; pre-registration is required.

Registration fee includes lunches, breaks and a networking cocktail.

For more information and to register to this event please visit the conference website

Program

Registration

Email : globalfoodsecurity@mcgill.ca

AwF Directors meet in Prague at AQUA 2012

While attending AQUA 2012 in Prague, several AwF Directors took the opportunity to meet and discuss issues of importance to the organization. Michael New, OBE, founder and patron of AwF, also attended.

Roy Palmer supplied the group photo below.

From Left: Roy Palmer, Jose Fernandez-Polanco, Geoff Allan, Patrick Sorgeloos, Kevin Fitzsimmons, Peter Edwards, David Little and Michael New. Missing: Pierre Erwes and Sungchul (Charles) Bai

New AwF-Arizona Farmer to Farmer Grant

AwF and the University of Arizona have been awarded a second project to support Farmer to Farmer assignments to work with small scale aquaculture in Kenya and Mexico.

AwF volunteers will travel to Kenya and Mexico to assist local AwF partners to share techniques for sustainable aquaculture. Special emphasis will be on best management practices with freshwater and brackish water fish culture.

The funds are from the US Agency for International Development.

AwF’s Past-Chairman, Kevin Fitzsimmons, will co-ordinate the project. Registered AwF volunteers, who are also US citizens and interested to assist the project should contact Dr. Fitzsimmons.

A copy of the proposal outlining the work to be undertaken can be viewed by clicking here.

Student-organized fundraiser for AwF at AQUA 2012 in Prague

AwF director David Little has coordinated with European Aquaculture Society (EAS) and World Aquaculture Society (WAS) student groups to organize a raffle with proceeds to benefit AwF’s mission of alleviating poverty through aquaculture.

The students wanted to have a clear use for the funds raised and have selected the 1000 day movement to draw attention to the importance of nutrition in early childhood development.

Benedikt Frenzl, president of the EAS students and a student at the University of Stirling, created a flyer to promote the raffle and the objective of the fundraiser – The 1000 Day Initiative: Making the link between aquaculture and the vulnerable. The slogan being used is Fish – Our contribution to a healthier nutrition for children. A copy of this flyer will be in each delegate’s conference bag.

Please support this great initiative as generously as you can afford, and thank these students for rising to such a challenge.

AwF Financial Summary 2003-2012 now available

The Board of Directors is pleased to announce that a financial summary of the income and expenditures of AwF from its founding in 2003 until May 31, 2012 is available on our website. To view the report, click here.

In reviewing this summary, we hope that those that have supported AwF over the years will be encouraged to continue, knowing that we have achieved so much with the donations they have provided. For those just learning about AwF, we hope you will be inspired to contribute generously to enhancing our capacity to fulfil our mission.

Aquaculture Elsevier Conference, 3-7 November 2013, Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, Spain

The Aquaculture Elsevier Conference: To the Next 40 Years of Sustainable Global Aquaculture, will be held 3-7 November 2013 at the Palacio de Congresos de Canarias in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, Spain.

This conference will not only celebrate the last 40 years of outstanding science accomplishments in aquaculture it will identify the top science challenges for the next generation of global aquaculture. The conference will be essential for helping assist in a generational change to new leaders for the next science accomplishments needed to double global aquaculture production. You should attend if you are at the cutting edge of science understanding genetics, diseases, feeds, ecological interactions, and sustainable systems.

Sessions

• Aquaculture hatcheries: Science advances and future research needs
• Combining marker assisted selection with classic selection programs
• Transdisciplinary research needs for the expansion of aquaculture in rural economies
• Raw materials and feed ingredients needed for the future of aquaculture
• Interactions of aquaculture and the environment
• Research institutions and research strategies in aquaculture

Abstracts now being accepted, please visit conference website.

Vietnamese fish farms seek greener model

In the last five decades, world fish supply has outpaced global population growth, and today fish provides more than 4.3 billion people with about 15 percent of their intake of animal protein, according to FAO’s latest State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture report. In 2010, people consumed about 128 million tonnes of fish. Stimulated by higher demand for fish, world fisheries and aquaculture production is projected to reach about 172 million tonnes in 2021, with most of the growth coming from aquaculture – one of the fastest-growing food producing sectors.

A new report from the Food for 9 billion series explores the search for a more eco-friendly fish farming model in Viet Nam: Scaling up: Vietnamese fish farms search for eco-friendly formula

After nine years AwF (UK) consolidates its activities

After the concept of Aquaculture without Frontiers was discussed at a World Aquaculture Society conference in Brazil in 2003, AwF was registered in the UK [AwF (UK)] and in the USA [AwF] and was launched by its founder, Michael New OBE, at the WAS conference in Hawaii in 2004.

Recently the trustees of AwF (UK) decided to close its charity in Great Britain in order to consolidate all the activities of our not-for-profit organisation within the international AwF. All the remaining funds of AwF (UK) were transferred to AwF in June 2012. Michael New remains the Founder and Patron of AwF, which is managed by a fifteen-member international board of directors.