REGISTER BY 1 MAY TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF DISCOUNTED REGISTRATION for World Aquaculture Adelaide 2014 (WAA14) - please register online at www.aquaculture.org.au. (International delegates register at www.was.org.)
The 2014 Program is shaping up day by day with information being updated regularly online. See the Session Highlights outlined below for a summary on just some of the sessions on offer at WAA14.
Sessions by Day - https://www.was.org/WAA14/_documents/WAA2014Sessions.pdf
Program Grid - https://www.was.org/WAA14/_documents/WAA2014ProgramGrid.pdf
SESSION HIGHLIGHTS
Alliance Against Hunger & Malnutrition – Aquaculture Without Frontiers
Hunger and poverty are words we often hear, but have little — if any — personal experience with. Yet for a large part of the world, it is part of the daily struggle for life.
One in eight people in the world, (around 850 million) are currently estimated to be suffering from chronic hunger and regularly not getting enough food to conduct an active life. Almost all of them live in developing countries but even in developed countries there are pockets of people stuck in a poverty circle. In developed countries, Food and Agriculture Organization 2012 figures put the number of undernourished people at 16 million.
Aquaculture Without Frontiers (AwF) was created at a WAS event, has been nurturing activities to tackle food security issues by helping communities and individuals to set up their own hatcheries and fish farms to alleviate hunger and to provide a much needed income so they can grow.
China - Aquaculture Research in China
There will be four special sessions focused on aquaculture research in China, including: Freshwater Aquaculture and Environmental Impact, Genetics and Breeding of Freshwater Fishes, Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture (IMTA), and Molluscan Genetics and Genomes. Chinese research will also be featured in the Algal Aquaculture and Biology session.
Climate Change Ready – Management Strategies for the Future
This session will explore our understanding of changes in weather and climate conditions, with real-time monitoring and modelling, to support aquaculture business management decisions.
Effective Engagement in Policy Development
This session looks at the regulatory environment for aquaculture and the focus to promote sustainable aquaculture production. It covers the importance of effective engagement of all stakeholders and explores strategies, models, case studies and examples inclusive of regulators, industry, scientific and broader communities, to ensure industry growth meets economic, social and ecologically sustainable outcomes.
Freshwater Prawns (Macrobrachium)
Annual global production from freshwater prawn farming exceeds 475,000 tonnes. This important session includes papers from Australia, Brazil, Chile, Germany, India, Israel, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, the Philippines and the USA. Presentations embrace monoculture and polyculture grow-out in ponds, cages and RAS; nutrition; and new monosex technology that greatly increase future production potential in this sector.
Genetic Futures – How Might the Business of Genetics and Breeding Unfold?
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| DNA (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
There is great demand and potential for increasing world aquaculture production and efficiency. Selective breeding has been shown to be one of the most effective tools that we can utilise to improve the biological efficiency of production. However, less than 10% of world aquaculture production is based on genetically improved stocks. This is probably because of the large upfront costs of establishing selective breeding programs of a scale and complexity that will produce beneficial outcomes (strong genetic improvement in key economic traits), because of the relatively small size of our current aquaculture industries and willingness to pay for improved stock (smaller scale and less revenue compared to livestock) and because of the large numbers of different species under production, each requiring their own breeding program and specialised knowledge base.
There are however an increasing number of mature breeding programs in aquaculture that have moved out of the realms of R&D and are being commercialised. This session draws on international experiences regarding the commercial establishment, ownership and running of selective breeding programs. The speakers will consider a range of business and “cooperative” type models for running selective breeding programs. Where are we at now? What has worked well? What has not gone so well? What could be better done in the future? How does the selective breeding entity provide access to industry while protecting investment in the creation of genetically improved stock? Can a selective breeding business be a profitable venture in itself? Advantages/disadvantages of multi-species selective breeding businesses? What does an investor look for? What are the potential benefits for industry from a well-run profitable selective breeding entity?
GILLS – Seafood & Health
GILLS was created from the Seafood & Health Conference which took place in Melbourne in 2010 and has continued to nurture, grow and communicate about the importance of Seafood & Health ever since.
Governments are keen to talk about preventative health but backing up those words is difficult because it means a new paradigm in thinking and understanding. Issues about Human Nutrition are now on the FAO COFI agendas so discussions relating to advisory positions are now in the open thus it is important for the industry and others involved to consider steps to support the great advantage that the health marketing angle gives seafood.
Increasing seafood consumption is an imperative but changing habits is difficult. Many of these issues will be discussed by a strong group of local and international speakers.
Opportunity, Investment and Trade Day
Room 8 on Tuesday 10 June will be occupied by a plethora of international and local speakers presenting on Business Opportunities & Investment followed by Marketing & Trade. This means a full day’s activity covering all financial and marketing/trade issues of global seafood.
Two of the major agricultural banks (Rabobank & NAB Asia) are participating along with World Fish Centre, Austrade and country specific speakers from Norway, Vietnam and Sri Lanka. A recent report regarding Disasters & Opportunities in seven Asian countries will be discussed and the whole session is rounded up with a panel on the specific aquaculture capabilities of Australia’s states and territories and the opportunities for investors to partner or engage.
The afternoon has many topics covering benchmarking, retailing, traceability, exporting and all areas of ASEAN are embraced culminating in a panel which expects to be challenged by the audience.
Ornamental Aquaculture
Ornamental aquaculture, although still at the infant stage, continues to grow and as knowledge increases, the species that are being successfully bred continues to diversify. At WAA14, we look at new techniques, the importance of larval foods, new species and the involvement of Public Aquariums. We will also look at the risks of importing fish and using antibiotics.
Social Licence to Operate: Create, Nurture and Grow
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| (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Social licence is generally agreed to be the level of acceptance or approval continually granted to an organisation’s operations or project by local community and other stakeholders – it can’t be bought and it can’t be sold – that’s what makes it so elusive. Although the term may have been about for a number of years in some industries, it has only become spotlighted more generally in recent years, with recognition such as that given it by Australia’s Sydney Morning Herald in relation to industries other than traditional mining and similar land based extractive activities: “A company's social licence to operate is intangible but it is very, very real. And it can be taken away in the blink of an eye. Increasingly, profitable and otherwise successful businesses are having their real-world operations suspended or shut down as a response to moral shortcomings.” (Sydney Morning Herald, Australia July 18, 2011). This attention is now spilling over to the use of other natural resources in both the common domain as well as those that may affect the common domain of land and water. Consequently fishing activities including aquaculture, now, if not already, can expect to receive attention in regard to what these industries are doing to secure and retain their social licence. Presenters will discuss methods identifying and demonstrating how to create an environment conducive to developing the social licence of an industry or business, the needs and means to not only maintain and nurture that licence, but also to grow it in line with a business’s or industry’s needs.
Spatial Planning: What to Grow Where and How to Manage it Once it’s There
This session provides the opportunity to present information that will help farmers and regulators better understand the risks (ecological and social) associated with development of aquaculture operations in any given area. Effective spatial planning requires an understanding of both species performance requirements and limitations in the selected environment. The ability to incorporate such information into GIS and other predictive modelling approaches can provide invaluable decision support tools for managers. Relevant and cost-effective spatial planning can ensure future aquaculture development is both environmentally and economically sustainable.
Tuna
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| Color line contacts in Australia (Photo credit: color line) |
Two tuna sessions will focus on ranching and propagation of juveniles from eggs. Ranching will explore the status of international tuna fisheries, with an emphasis on Southern Bluefin Tuna biomass assessment and environmental impacts on migration, then examine tuna ranching in a global context, including production techniques (feeding and diets, physiology and product quality) and health management. The hatchery propagation session will cover broodstock management, larval husbandry and development, and approaches to tackling bottlenecks in juvenile production. The tuna sessions will be complemented by a field trip to Port Lincoln.
Yellowtail
Whilst in Japan yellowtail is a long established aquaculture industry, yellowtail farming is a young industry outside of Japan. Seafood CRC has sponsored this session and presents some research for contribution to the improvement of yellowtail farming.
The session covers larval rearing, broodstock, nutrition, and post-harvest.
For further information, please contact:
Sarah-Jane Day
Conference Coordinator
World Aquaculture Adelaide 2014
7-11 June 2014
Adelaide Convention Centre, South Australia
The Aquaculturists
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