AwF – Aquaculture without Frontiers
The final report of our AwF-Nepal Phase II project was received and is now posted on our projects page; you can view it by clicking here.
Highlights of the report include:
Within the limited project funding of US$15,290 (+Overhead), a total of 90 fish ponds were constructed in two years’ time to benefit more than 400 direct family members. Although the target was to reach 100, it is still 90% successful which is quite high.
To commemorate their Silver Jubilee, the Asian Fisheries Society Indian Branch (AFSIB) is planning a Global Symposium on Aquatic Resources for Eradicating Hunger and Malnutrition – Opportunities and Challenges from 4 – 6th December , 2012 in Mangalore, India.
The number of participants is limited to 600 and you are encouraged to register early. Click here for Symposium details and visit the ASF website for further details and registration info.
Do you wonder how we measure poverty? Do you know how we do it, but have a hard time putting it into simple words?
This 3 minute video explains the methodology that we used, how it works and why it is important. Watch this video to find out.
Come to our website to learn more about poverty and equity!
The World Bank’s mission is to reduce poverty. Timely research and analysis help guide the Bank’s investments and measure success. Our poverty economists keep human welfare and equality at the forefront of all Bank activities, while working directly with member governments to develop sound economic and social policies.
Aquaculture America 2012 - Las Vegas, Nevada - February 29 - March 2
If you are planning to attend Aquaculture America 2012 in Las Vegas, USA on 29 February – 2 March, please come by the AwF booth (#528) in the trade show to meet with Dave Conley, executive director, and/or several other directors that will be at the conference – Sungchul (Charles) Bai (S. Korea), John Cooksey (USA), Jose Ferrnandez Polanco (Spain), Kevin Fitzsimmons (USA), John Forster (USA), and David Little (UK).
The AwF Board of Directors recently approved a strategic plan to guide the activities of the organization for the next 3 years and we would like to speak to members of the aquaculture community about our focus and top priorities. We also want to find out from current and potential supporters what we can do to engage them more in our mission, as well as discuss collaborative opportunities, project development ideas, and fundraising.
William Mebane of the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, USA will be giving a guest lecture titled Implementing Low Resource Fish Farming Methods in Haiti: Progress, Pitfalls and the Future? about the Aquaculture Learning Center (ALC) in Marigot, Haiti. This AwF funded project, in collaboration with Novus International and others, has been reported previously in January 2012, July 2011 and February 2011.
Turning Points in Modern Aquaculture is a 15-minute video produced by the Aquaculture Service of the FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Department for the Global Conference on Aquaculture 2010 and the Fifth session of the COFI Sub-Committtee on Aquaculture held in Phuket, Thailand in October 2010. With film clips taken from various countries and photos contributed by many – depicting the range of people, species, environments, systems, practices as well as opportunities and challenges facing aquaculture, this video takes viewers to a historical journey to the major turning points in aquaculture development since the early and first aquaculture practice by a Chinese named Fan Li two millennia ago.
We would like to draw your attention to an article recently published in the Oct-Dec 2011 issue of Aquaculture Asia Magazine. The article titled Peter Edwards writes on rural aquaculture: Visit to the AwF funded small-scale aquaculture project in Nepal details the visit made by Peter in November 2010, which we reported on at that time.
This 9-page article describes in text and wonderful photos the work, progress, challenges and outcomes of the project to date. We highly recommend that you take the time to read this article.
Please note that Peter Edwards volunteers his time to serve on the AwF Technical Advisory Group.
Aquaculture Learning Center (ALC) – Marigot, Haiti
The vision of a school-based Aquaculture Learning Center is becoming a reality thanks to hundreds of Haitian labor hours, the dedicated faculty at the Henri Christophe High School, and the financial help of AwF, Novus International and others. Our mission during our most recent trip to Haiti was to stock the basin with its first load of fish and to hire and train a select group of “employees” to maintain the system and care for the fish. Paramount during this phase of the project was the establishment of standard operating procedures and a method for internet-based record keeping and reporting which will allow us to monitor and guide our new aquaculturists during this critical start-up phase.
We have received two (2) more field trip reports and the final report for the US-AID funded Farmer-to-Farmer Programme. You can access them on our Projects page or by clicking on the links below.
AwF volunteer, Nicolas Mazurier, visited two areas in Nepal recently to see how the AwF-funded projects were progressing and to provide feedback so that we may improve our future activities in this region. Background reports on AwF activities in Nepal can be found on our Projects page and Completed Projects page.
Nicolas observed that generally farmers were pleased with their efforts to farm fish for food and supplementary income but were being challenged by some specific issues such as pond size being too small to be commercially viable, water shortages in some areas, and predation by snakes and birds.