AwF booth at Aquaculture America 2012

AwF booth at Aquaculture America 2012

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. 

Upcoming lecture – Implementing low resource fish farming methods in Haiti: progress, pitfalls and the future?

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. 

New FAO video – Turning points in modern aquaculture

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. 

AwF funded project in Nepal reported in Aquaculture Asia Magazine

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.

Progress report on Aquaculture Learning Center in Haiti

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. 

Two more trip reports and final report received for farmer-to-farmer program

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.

• INDONESIA: AwF-UA Farmer-to-Farmer Programme (Trip Report July 2011) PDF
• THAILAND: AwF-UA Farmer-to-Farmer Programme (Trip Report July 2011) PDF
• FINAL REPORT: AwF-UA Farmer-to-Farmer Programme 2011 PDF

AwF Nepal field report submitted

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. 

AwF chair-elect Barry A. Costa-Pierce elected as AAAS Fellow

The Council of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) announced on November 10, 2011, that Professor Barry A. Costa-Pierce, director of Rhode Island Sea Grant and professor of fisheries & aquaculture at the University of Rhode Island, has been elected as an AAAS Fellow. Dr. Costa-Pierce is also the chair-elect of Aquaculture without Frontiers (AwF).

Each year the Council elects Fellows whose “efforts on behalf of the advancement of science or its applications are scientifically or socially distinguished.” In the award letter, AAAS states that Costa-Pierce is being honored for “distinguished contributions to global aquaculture and its sustainability and for leadership in marine research, education, and outreach as director of two NOAA-Sea Grant college programs.”

“As a scientist, my first concern has always been how science works to directly benefit people, whether advancing commercial aquaculture to be more sustainable, or helping feed the world’s poor. As a Sea Grant director, my focus has been how new Sea Grant partnerships and institutions can make a real change in the state, in demonstrating credible impacts on the livelihoods of coastal peoples, and increasing stewardship of ocean resources for future generations. Election by the Council as an AAAS Fellow is extremely meaningful to me in recognizing these efforts,” Costa-Pierce says. 

Aquaculture has potential to cut poverty, combat food insecurity – UN report

More than 50 per cent of the world’s food fish will come from aquaculture, making it a crucial method to reduce poverty and combat food insecurity, said a United Nations report released today, while calling for governments to step up their efforts to support this practice.

Aquaculture, which involves cultivating fresh water and saltwater populations of fish under controlled conditions as opposed to catching fish in the wild, is the world’s fastest growing source of animal protein, growing by more than 60 per cent between 2000 and 2008, from 32.4 million tons to 52.5 million tons, according to the report.

“With stagnating global capture fishery production and an increasing population, aquaculture is perceived as having the greatest potential to produce more fish in the future to meet the growing demand for safe and quality aquatic food,” said the report, World Aquaculture in 2010.

The report, released by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), states aquaculture has played an important role in reducing poverty in many parts of the world. However, it says it has not grown evenly throughout the planet. 

Object lessons in the value of helping the world’s poorest farmers

Catherine Bertini and Dan Glickman, co-chairs of the Chicago Council’s Global Agricultural Development Initiative, contributed to the Huffington Post “Object Lessons in the Value of Helping the World’s Poorest Farmers” on October 13, 2011.

The article highlights how the positive effects of small investments in agricultural development assistance can result in returns for both the donor and developing nation, as demonstrated by the two home countries, Ghana and Brazil, of this year’s world food prize winners.

Please consider making a donation to AwF today to help us help the world’s poorest farmers.

Other links:

• The Chicago Council on Global Affairs
• The World Food Prize