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

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. 

Sanjay Pradhan: How open data is changing international aid

How do we make sure that development and aid money actually goes to the people who most need it? Sanjay Pradhan of the World Bank Institute lays out three guidelines to help relief efforts make the most impact — while curbing corruption. One key: connecting the players who are working to change broken systems with the data they need. Watch the video on TED: Ideas worth spreading.

Sanjay Pradhan is vice president of the World Bank Institute, helping leaders in developing countries learn skills for reform, development and good governance.

International Aquafeed interviews AwF executive director Dave Conley

I am really excited about the next issue of International Aquafeed, in particular the interview with Dave Conley, Executive Director, Aquaculture without Frontiers, Canada.

We chatted for ages and it was a real struggle to edit the piece down to just one page. So I thought I’d share the whole interview here.

2nd Announcement – Global Symposium on Aquatic Resources for Eradicating Hunger and Malnutrition

The Global Symposium on Aquatic Resources for Eradicating Hunger and Malnutrition – Opportunities and Challenges will be held on 4-6 December 2012 at the Milagris Convention Centre, Hampanakatta, Mangalore, Karnataka, India.

Keynote speakers include Prof. M.S.Swaminathan, Dr. S. Ayyappan, Dr. Meryl Williams, and Mr. Jiansan Jia.

All conference details are provided in this poster, or visit the conference website.

AwF Chair Prof. M.C. Nandeesha, who is also Special Officer, Tamil Nadu Fisheries University, is the Conference Chairman.

New global partnership to promote aquaculture in fighting hunger

European Union takes the lead in three-year initiative

A major international initiative has been launched to better understand the role of aquaculture in food security in poor countries.

Bringing together a global alliance of development agencies, governments and universities, the initiative will help low-income food-deficit countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America to develop sustainable policies for improving the livelihoods of millions of poor people.

The European Union (EU) is funding the three-year project with one million Euros, which is managed by FAO in partnership with a global alliance of 20 development agencies, governments and universities. 

Noe Noe Lwin’s story of her journey to become an aquaculture businesswoman published in World Aquaculture

May Myat Noe Lwin, AwF Volunteer and owner of CNN Soft Shell Crab Farm and CNN Aquaculture Supply Company, attended the Aquaculture America 2012 conference in Las Vegas, USA in March to present in the special session – Aquaculture Pioneers: Life & Times and Lessons Learned. The session was organized and hosted by Dave Conley, ACG Senior Consultant and Founding Partner and AwF executive director.

Ms Lwin, who prefers to be called Noe Noe, was the last speaker of the session, and of the conference. The delegates that stayed to hear her speak heard an inspiring story of courage and determination to overcome many challenges in her path to become a successful entrepreneur in a foreign country. Noe Noe, a young Burmese woman, developed an aquaculture supply business with her uncle in Yangon, Myanmar and then purchased an abandoned shrimp farm in Ranong, Thailand to begin a soft shell crab farming venture. Her story so impressed the audience that John Hargreaves, editor-in-chief of the World Aquaculture Society’s magazine – World Aquaculture –  immediately asked for an article to be written for publication in the September issue.

Click here to read this article.

CGIAR research program on livestock and fish

Milk, meat, eggs and fish are key components of a balanced and nutritious diet. In developing countries with inland or coastal waters, fish is the dominant source of animal protein and supplies critical micronutrients. This high quality nutrition is especially important for vulnerable groups such as children, pregnant women and people living with HIV/AIDS.

Driven by rising population, increasing wealth and urbanization, especially in the developing countries of Asia, there has been an explosive growth in demand for these animal source foods.

With our wild capture fisheries either fully exploited or over exploited, any further increases in fish production will require continued growth from aquaculture. This is especially true for Africa which only supplies 2% of global aquaculture production. 

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.