Category Archives: Updates

Celebrating National Volunteers Week (NVW)

Aquaculture without Frontiers (AwF) relies heavily on people who are prepared to devote time and effort to the cause – without this most generous gift we could never have achieved anything like what we have over the years. We salute all volunteers but we are especially keen to support our own people during this special week.

National Volunteers Week is celebrated in North America 23-29 April but is celebrated at other times in other countries e.g. in Australia it is 8th -14th May.

During this period, we reflect on our three-year engagement with Volunteers for Economic Growth Alliance (VEGA) which is an umbrella organization consisting of economic development organizations that integrate highly skilled volunteers into programs mainly funded through the USAID program. VEGA is involved in many and varied projects that involve one or more of the member organizations. We have not reached the lofty goals that we would have hoped in collaborating with all the VEGA members to be their ‘aquaculture’ experts but we will not stop trying.

During NVW we would like you to:

• Join in at least one of our established social media platforms and invite a friend to join
  • Twitter account @AwFVols
  • LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/groups/3950994
  • Facebook – AwF Aquaponics Club – https://www.facebook.com/awfaquaponics/
  • Facebook – AwF Women’s Network https://www.facebook.com/groups/awfwomen/
  • Facebook – AwF Global Indigenous Network https://www.facebook.com/groups/indigenousAwF/
  • Facebook – Ornamental Aquaculture Club https://www.facebook.com/groups/526444844203976/
  • Facebook – AwF Students Network https://www.facebook.com/groups/1149157495123851/
  • Facebook – AwF Latin America https://www.facebook.com/AwF-Latin-America-1798941360318244/?fref=ts
• Post to social media above a relevant photograph (highlighting what volunteering means to you) during the NVW to share
• Send to us a single word or phrase that means ‘volunteer’ to you, e.g. ‘giving’, ‘satisfaction’ or ‘Yeah!’ From all the input, we will create a word cloud to add to the website, giving us a combined sense of everyone’s contribution.

Throughout the week check the stories in our Volunteer section.

San Antonio – Women in Aquaculture

Roy Palmer was invited to speak at the “Women in Aquaculture” Session highlighting how AwF’s Women/Gender Network had now expanded to almost 700 members.

He mentioned that women are generally not included in aquaculture policy agendas and it was necessary for all countries to give some priority to gender in practical and policy programs. Whilst the 2014 voluntary guidelines for securing sustainable small-scale fisheries does incorporate some gender equality activities it should be noted that this does not cover aquaculture. Additionally, present guidelines and certification schemes for responsible aquaculture do not include gender specific terms.

San Antonio Activities

Albert Tacon

A feature for Aquaculture without Frontiers at the American Aquaculture event in San Antonio, Texas 19-22 February 2017 was the presentation by AwF Director, Dr Albert GJ Tacon (Aquatic Farms Limited, Kaneohe, Hawaii). Albert and his co-writer, Dr Marc Metian (International Atomic Energy Agency, Environmental Laboratories, Monaco) dedicated the paper “Food Matters: Fish, Income and Food Supply” to Aquaculture without Frontiers in order to show the importance of fish and fishery products in human nutrition and global food supply.

Albert said: “Hunger and food security remain as one of the most devastating problems facing the world’s poor and continues to dominate the health and socio and economic development of the world’s poorest nations and peoples.”

The AwF Session incorporated a number of discussions, including Dr Antonia Garza de Yta (Mexico and Latin America), Dave Conley (the new relationship with the African Association of Agriculture Economists), Dr Marty Riche (Kenya and other African countries) and Roy Palmer (India and Asia).

AwF celebrates all Women involved in Aquaculture on International Women’s Day

Since we started the Women/Gender Network we have learnt such a lot about the fantastic work that so many women are doing globally in aquaculture – some of whom have been recognised by our Woman of the Month award and have inspired us so much that we wish to share their stories with a wider audience. International Women’s Day on 8 March seems the perfect opportunity, so check out what these amazing Women have done by viewing International Women’s Day 8 March 2017, (or PDF version or visit our website).

African Partnership To Benefit Aquaculture

The African Association of Agricultural Economists (AAAE) will partner with volunteer aid organization Aquaculture without Frontiers (AwF) to improve outcomes in disadvantaged communities by focusing efforts on sustainable aquaculture.

The new agreement links both organizations to closer collaboration and will see AwF working towards including economic profiling in its projects designed to measure the outcomes of its work.

Dr Edward Mabaya, President of AAAE, on signing the agreement said “AAAE has a vast network of agricultural economists working across Africa.   Through this agreement, we will tap into this network to provide applied research support in areas such as impact assessment, value chain analysis, monitoring and evaluation of aquaculture projects.”

Aquaculture America 2017

San 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. 

WAS-APC Travel Award for Women’s Participation at APA17 Kuala Lumpur

AwF thanks WAS-APC for the donation of USD500 in return for AwF facilitating the selection process of their Travel Award for Women’s Participation at APA17 in Kuala Lumpur 24-27 July 2017.

WAS-APC is providing the opportunity for female aquaculture people to attend Asia Pacific Aquaculture 2017 from 24-27 July 2017.  Funding for this opportunity is provided by WAS-APC, and Aquaculture without Frontiers is facilitating the selection process.

There are two (2) grants available x USD600 which are aimed to assist with accommodation and travel and WAS-APC will organise and pay registration for the event.

Applicants need to complete the application form and will be assessed against the following selection criteria:

New Year Release

“Never look back, except for an occasional glance, look ahead and plan for the future. Success is not built on past laurels, but rather on a continuous activity. Keep busy searching out new ideas and, experimentally, keep ahead of the times, or at least up with them.”     Dorothy Draper

To all:

• our volunteers
• the people who have helped us
• the AwF Women of the Month and to the many others who have inspired us

and

• our collaborators, supporters and friends

We say a massive and humble

THANK YOU…

Let us make 2017 our best year yet

From Directors of Aquaculture without Frontiers – USA, Australia and Latin America

You can also Support AwF by shopping at AmazonSmile via the following link:
http://smile.amazon.com/ch/68-0596251

Elite Trainer – Exemplary impacts in the Aquacultural Sector

Karen Viverica

World Aquaculture Society Director and President of Aquaculture without Frontiers Latin America, Dr Antonio Garza de Yta said ”I cannot believe there could be anyone more qualified as AwF’s Woman of the Month than Karen Veverica” – AwF’s Woman of the Month for November.  He added “Karen is the BEST trainer I have ever seen or worked with.”

Dr John A Hargraves, Editor, World Aquaculture Magazine was quick to back this with his comments on Karen “I enthusiastically endorse Karen’s nomination for AwF Woman of the Month. I’ve known Karen for more than 25 years and she is a terrific choice. She is one of the best practical aquaculturists I know (man OR woman). She has an incredible wealth of practical knowledge that I’ve repeatedly encouraged her to pass on in some kind of major publication, such as a book or production guide. In particular, her work in Africa has been exemplary and indicative of a long-term commitment to aquaculture development on the continent”.

AwF International Council Formed

AwF has formalized the working relationships between the different AwF Groups to ensure that there is consistency and cohesiveness in the worldwide operations of AwF as a charity. At present there are three (3) affiliated AwF organisations around the world – USA (Americas region), Australia (Oceania region) and recently Latin America (based in Mexico).

The new executive group is the ‘Aquaculture without Frontiers International Council’. All national and regional offices have decided to follow an agreed global campaign strategy but work independently within their regional/local context and in seeking the necessary financial support from donors, programs and grants to fund their work, etc.

We need organizations in different countries to create tax benefits for donors and to be eligible for any local funding. Whilst countries talk about global engagement, it is very clear that most are only funding and engaging their own registered organizations and people – it is true to say that aid funding is more strategic than it has ever been.

The AwF International Council will comprise our global Executive Director and two members from each organizational board (USA, Australia and Latin America) on a rotation basis of three (3) years. Each of the current regional organizations is responsible for its own funding with consideration being made by them in funding the Executive/Secretariat on a fair and equitable basis.

Any new regional group must seek, and be granted written approval, from the International Council before using the organization’s brand, logo, etc. There will be only one website (www.aquaculturewithoutfrontiers.org) and all of the social media in which the organization members engage must also be approved by the AwF International Council.

The current AwF International Council comprises Dr Albert Tacon, Dr Meryl Williams, Dr Antonio Garza de Yta, Citlali Gomez Lepe, Katherine Hawes, Dave Conley and Roy Palmer.