Category Archives: Updates

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.

Capstone Project sees Re-launch of Website

“As I went through the ‘aquaculturewithoutfrontiers.org‘ website, I was delighted to see all valuable articles on aquaculture world in it,” was a comment we received totally out of the blue and, as a result of this, we now have a new person who is going to volunteer to add his skills to AwF. This is the benefit of an active website for sure.

Aaron, Yujia, Alistair, Roy, Gabrielle, Andrew, Jericho

This was an early success from the recently concluded Swinburne University of Technology Undergraduate Capstone Project ‘AwF Communications Infrastructure Improvement Project’. We are very grateful to the team consisting of Aaron Lim, Alistair Woodward, Jericho Mendoza (Team Leader) and Yujia Wang and supervised by Andrew Forbes, who got involved in this task.

Ornamental Actions Assist Women and Trade

Dr Amonrat Sermwatanakul

We are delighted to announce Dr. Amonrat Sermwatanakul as our WoM for October (delayed in respect for the much revered King of Thailand); a well-deserved nominee as she is the National focal point for fisheries in Thailand having over 30 years’ experience in aquaculture extension and research.

Amonrat is renowned for her outstanding work empowering women to improve their livelihoods by developing ornamental fish farms.  As an expert in ornamental fish Dr.Sermwatanakul has transferred her knowledge by initiating training courses not only for ornamental fish farming but online marketing for small scale fish farmers.  This has had a tremendous impact allowing women to sell their fish all over the world.  Her entrepreneurship in the online world also led to the creation of ‘DrNoi.com’ a social networking think tank and global communication tools for the ornamental fish industry. This site assists not only fish farmers but retailers and exporters.

Creation of a Legacy of Aquaculture Research Programs

Hillary Egna at Work

Since the early 1980’s Dr Hillary Egna has built a legacy of aquaculture research programs focused on helping small-holder aquaculture so it is with enormous pleasure that we honor Dr Egna as AwF’s Woman of the Month for September 2016.

Hillary’s outstanding contribution to aquaculture began some 30 years ago after she was appointed Director of the Pond Dynamics/Aquaculture CRSP (PD/A CRSP), she began to apply for competitive research grants. The PD/A CRSP ended in 1987, yet coming from a background in private consulting in fisheries, Hillary took a chance and wrote a proposal making her the youngest and one of only two women to be lead Principal Investigator (PI) of a CRSP, a collaborative research program under USAID’s sponsorship. In the heavily male-dominated environment of ac ademia and aquaculture of the 1980s, she overcame challenges to establish a reputation for delivering innovative solutions. Through a series of independent grants and collaborations, Hillary has created an international aquaculture R&D center under which she provided organizational continuity.

AwF WoM put the heat on Climate Change

L-R Meryl Williams, Doris Soto, Madhumita Mukerjee, Roy Palmer in Bangkok

AwF was pleased to announce Dr Madhumita Mukherjee as woman of the month for August 2016 at the ‘FishAdapt: Global Conference on Climate Change Adaptation for Fisheries and Aquaculture’ in Bangkok yesterday.

Three AwF WoM ensured that certain important items will remain high on the Climate Change agenda. Meryl (January 2016) took up the case for Gender, Doris (June 2016) for Local Environment Monitoring Systems and Mukherjee (August 2016) for Mangroves.

Development of women in both the fishing and aquaculture industries has been Madhumita’s goal for a long time. She is currently working as Additional Director of Fisheries (Technical Head), Govt. of West Bengal but has also acted as Director of Fisheries, Govt. of West Bengal, India.

Championing safe aquaculture produce

Betty in Nicaragua

Betty More and her husband Bill have been immersed in seafood since they were married in 1961 and together they have formed a formidable force in the aquaculture sector. Aquaculture without Frontiers wishes to acknowledge Betty’s amazingly resilient contribution to aquaculture and with great pleasure gives Betty More the Woman of the Month award for July 2016.

One of the problems in the early days facing the aquaculture industry was a lack of transparency. The work that Betty did (in supporting Bill and others) has enabled industry engagement in certification with all the bells and whistles of an independent standard. On the journey Betty has been a great support to many hundreds of people in developing countries who struggled with the paperwork and the systems. Well versed at the highest level in food safety Betty has ensured many organisations have been able to get over the line.

Vakkom and Beyond

S.Venuji, President, Vakkom Grama Panchayat and Roy Palmer with letter authorizing project

Following the approval of the Vakkom Project ‘Empowerment of unemployed local women of Vakkom Panchayath, Kerala State, India through aquaculture intervention’ and with support of Rabo Share4More Foundation; our Kerala partners, Organic Life; the President, S.Venuji, Vakkom Gramapanchayat; the State Government of Kerala through the Hon Minister for Fisheries and Traditional Industries, Smt. J. Mercykutty Amma and, above all, the people of Vakkom Gramapanchayat.

It is important to say that this would not have happened without the introductions and massive efforts by Dr. Dinesh Kaippilly and the time and promotional skills of Dr. Janine Pierce, who also got some members of her family engaged to assist.

Project Background

Vakkom is a small coastal village located at Thiruvananthapuram District, the capital of Kerala. Three sides of the village are surrounded by the backwaters of Anchuthengu which is connected to Arabian Sea through the estuary. The lake is being inundated daily by tidal waters and gets a high rate of water exchange from the sea. The village has a great tradition of Art and culture. Vakkom has a population of around 17640 people among which 7996 are males and 9644 females with an effective literacy rate of 95% for males and 83% for females. The population density in the village is 3150 per sq.km.

Championing Aquaculture through International Leadership

Doris Soto

Aquaculture without Frontiers has great pleasure to announce Dr Doris Soto as our ‘Woman of the Month’ for June 2016.

Doris has worked tirelessly within a male dominated global government organisation not only promoting aquaculture but also endeavouring to create a culture that is more conducive to women’s involvement. Along her journey she has built a solid reputation for developing and increasing capacity and capability enabling the advancement of food security for disadvantaged people.

Graduating from the “Universidad de Chile”, Santiago, in Biology-Limnology in 1979, Doris then moved to University of California, Davis, San Diego State, where she obtained her Ph. D. in Ecology under the Joint Doctoral Program between San Diego State University and University of California-Davis.

Leading the battle against ‘invisible malnourishment’

Shakuntala Haraksingh Thilsted

AwF’s woman of the month award for May goes to Dr Shakuntala Haraksingh Thilsted for the exceptional contribution her work has made in creating food-based systems to overcome micronutrient deficiencies in low-income countries across Asia and Africa. Shakuntala is currently Research Program Leader, Value Chains and Nutrition at WorldFish.

With fishing community in West Bengal, India

Shakuntala’s work focuses on the potential of small nutrient-rich fish in combating and preventing vitamin and mineral deficiencies, in particular, vitamin A, iron, zinc and calcium. She has carried out work in Bangladesh, Cambodia, West Bengal and Nepal, together with government institutions, universities and NGOs. In Bangladesh, deficiencies of these nutrients are widespread effecting more than 20 million people, particularly women and young children. Intergenerational malnourishment occurs as pregnant and breast feeding women and their children are unable to access essential micronutrients due to social and economic factors. As a result, children can suffer irreversible damage that persists through life, stunting their growth and preventing normal brain development and cognition. A sustainable source of essential fatty acids and micronutrients, including calcium, iron, zinc, vitamin A and vitamin B12 can be found in small indigenous fish. The small fish, mola can be farmed alongside other fish species, including carp in ponds and can be harvested frequently, making it ideal for regular household consumption. Produced locally at low cost, they can be cooked and eaten whole in a meal with rice and vegetables. Dried small fish can also be made into chutney with onion, spices and oil and served as an accompaniment to daily meals for pregnant and lactating women, and a flour of dried small fish, orange sweet potato, rice and oil can be boiled with water and served as porridge for infants and young children.