FAU’s Harbor Branch, Aquaculture without Frontiers Partner to Alleviate Poverty and Malnutrition

FAU’s Harbor Branch, Aquaculture without Frontiers Partner to Alleviate Poverty and Malnutrition

BOCA RATON, Fla. (January 27, 2016) — The old proverbial saying, “Give a Man a Fish and You Feed Him for a Day. Teach a Man to Fish and You Feed Him for a Lifetime,” aptly describes the newly-formed partnership between FAU’s Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute (HBOI) and Aquaculture without Frontiers (AwF), a global nonprofit organization. HBOI and AwF will work jointly to support and promote responsible and sustainable aquaculture farming to help enhance food security and alleviate poverty and malnutrition in developing and impoverished countries.

Discussions between HBOI and AwF are under way for the first joint project, which is expected to commence mid-year and will involve a number of countries in Africa. It is expected that the partnership will concentrate efforts on Africa and Latin America in the early stages. Working together, the organizations will advance aquaculture in these developing countries to provide much-needed protein sources as well as economic stimulus through diversification of livelihoods and sustainability of coral reefs that are vital to maintaining healthy ecosystems. The farming of aquatic organisms include fish, mollusks, crustaceans and aquatic plants.

“Facilitating self-sufficiency and sustainability is critical in helping to alleviate hunger and malnutrition worldwide, and we are very excited to join forces with Aquaculture without Frontiers to address this important need,” said Megan Davis, Ph.D., HBOI interim executive director and a leading aquaculture researcher. “Aquaculture is perhaps our best hope to feed our ever-growing global population. As a good source of protein, fish are much more efficient to raise than other leading sources of protein, which require huge amounts of grain and water to grow big enough to eat.”

Student Travel Scholarships for Participation at APA16

WAS-APC is providing the opportunity for Students to attend Asia Pacific Aquaculture 2016 (26 to 29 April 2016).  Funding for this opportunity is provided by WAS-APC, and Aquaculture without Frontiers is facilitating the process.

There are five (5) scholarships available x USD500 which are aimed to assist with accommodation and travel and WAS-APC will organise and pay registration for the event.

For further information click here. Applications close on 5 February 2016.

Applications must be made on the Official Application Form – click here.

Women’s Travel Grant for Participation at APA16

WAS-APC is providing the opportunity for female aquaculture people to attend Asia Pacific Aquaculture 2016 (26 to 29 April 2016).  Funding for this opportunity is provided by WAS-APC, and Aquaculture without Frontiers is facilitating the process.

There are three (3) grants available x USD1000 which are aimed to assist with accommodation and travel and WAS-APC will organise and pay registration for the event. Two (2) of the grants are expressly for female students and the third is for a mature age female who works in aquaculture.

For further information click here. Applications close on 5 February 2016.

Applications must be made on the Official Application Form – click here.

True Gender Champion Recognised

Meryl Williams

Aquaculture without Frontiers is delighted to announce Dr. Meryl Williams as the first woman of the month for 2016!  Meryl’s extensive and continuing contribution to international research in fisheries and aquaculture, and advocacy of women and gender in aquaculture is an inspiration to women globally.

For the past 40 years, Meryl has worked tirelessly in Australian and international fisheries, aquaculture, aquatic resource conservation, agricultural research and development and published widely on aspects of fish harvesting and fisheries management around the world. More recently, her work emphasises fish in relation to food security and nutrition and its potential in feeding the world’s anticipated population of 9 billion people. Her contribution to women and gender in aquaculture and fisheries includes the initiation of the website http://genderaquafish.org/  devoted to the exchange of information on gender in aquaculture and fisheries from all parts of the world.

Ornamental Aquaculture Club Kerala

As an additional program to the Vakkom project announced earlier in the week Organic Life (OL) and Aquaculture without Frontiers (AwF) today organised a Workshop on nurturing the entrepreneurship opportunities in aquarium fish seed production, culture and trade among the unemployed youth of Kerala State, India at Snehasena Hall, Kaloor, Ernakulam, Cochin.

The inauguration was honoured by Her Worshipful Mayor of Kochi, Smt. Soumini Jain; Dr. A Gopalakrishnan, Director, Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute; Rev. Fr. Vincent Pereppadan, “Snehasena”; Smt.Sathyavathi, Executive Director Society for Assisting Fisherwomen, at State Fisheries Department; C.T. Varghese, Global Mariner and Dr. Vinod Malayilethu, Senior Coordinator, WWF.

Roy Palmer, AwF’s Executive Director, said “We are extremely grateful to International Aquafeed magazine (www.perendale.com) for having the vision to sponsor this important workshop. The outcomes of the workshop were to address the unemployment problem among the youth of Kerala by highlighting the prospects that can be created through Ornamental Fish Culture and Trade; investigating the aspects of quarantine and certification and ensuring quality products; exploring the opportunity of domestic and international ornamental fish trade. We were delighted that the audience supported the concept and agreed to collaborate through the creation of the Ornamental Aquaculture Club Kerala (OACK).”

Potential Eel Culture – Western Victoria

Aquaculture without Frontiers involvement
AwF was recently invited to a meeting to discuss options for reviving the culturing of short fin Eels at Lake Condah. The request was made by Deakin University, with whom we have an MOU to share and partner in like-minded projects. Communication between the Gunditj Mirring Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation and Deakin University had created this event and discussion centred on practical ideas and projects for the future. Paul Liew delivered a presentation to the delegation on behalf of AwF.

Welcome to Vakkom

Vakkom village President

Mrs. Geeji Madathil Tharanath, President, Organic Life (OL), a young and energetic NGO organisation based in Thiruvnanthapuram, Kerala commented on signing a Memorandum of Understanding with Aquaculture without Frontiers (AwF) “We are wishing to develop long-term cooperative relations with international technical experts on aquaculture and especially to develop cultural and social interchange through mutual assistance in the areas of agri/aqua foods education, training and research so we are delighted about today’s activity.”

Vakkom is a small coastal village located at Thiruvananthapuram District, the capital of Kerala State in south western India. Three sides of the village are surrounded by the backwaters of Anchuthengu which is connected to the Arabian Sea through the estuary. The lake receives an excellent daily exchange from tidal waters from the sea and has enormous potential for aquaculture if planned well. Vakkom has a population of around 18000 people, with approximately 55% females.

Recognition for Special Filipina During IWSP

This is the week when the world celebrates International Week of Science and Peace (IWSP) – it is when we acknowledge activities related to the study and dissemination of information on the links between progress in science and technology and maintenance of peace and security; and promote international co-operation among scientists.

AwF is therefore very excited to introduce Belinda Miranda-Garrido, the Management Coordinator of Roxas City Coastal Resource Management office in the Philippines, who has been awarded the Aquaculture without Frontiers Woman of the Month for November 2015!

Timor Leste – Hatching a Plan

Earlier in the year Aquaculture without Frontiers agreed a Memorandum of Understanding with CERES Global, which is a project of the not-for-profit CERES community Environment Park in Melbourne, and slowly and surely the organisations have been exploring ideas.

CERES Global has been building long term relationships with a number of international communities over the past 10 years. As those relationships have developed there has been the opportunity for them and their staff and volunteers to work alongside the local communities on initiatives to overcome social and environmental challenges.

In June 2015 CERES Global made a return to Timor-Leste for a third visit, with a particular emphasis in food security, sustainability, and sustainable agriculture. In partnership with the Aileu Science & Technology institute (ASTI), CERES Global planned to have conversations around permaculture, aquaculture, and sustainable agriculture.

Update VEGA with AwF

Volunteers for Economic Growth Alliance (VEGA) manage programs all over the developing world. VEGA believe that increasing economic growth is the best way to help people lift themselves out of poverty and improve their quality of life.

Aquaculture without Frontiers (AwF) are the only specialist Aquaculture group within VEGA and we aim to engage with VEGA’s programs which are committed to serving women, youth, and others who are ready to be entrepreneurs or learn new business skills. AwF are working hard on their collaboration with VEGA and hope to see more activities as a result.

Recently two AwF volunteers Marty Riche and Pablo V Cisneros agreed to engage in VEGA Sponsored Training ‘A Successful Transition to 2 CFR 200/700’ which will assist VEGA members with the December 2014 changes to the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). VEGA is sponsoring a 3-day customized workshop which will be held December 8 – 10, 2015 in Washington, DC.