We are already a few months into 2022 and we finally can see some improvement around us and hopefully we will be able to return to a fully functional life. Closing 2021 with covid, I could only hope for a better year to come. January was still a bit slow, trying to regain some strength, but we were able to maintain our monthly Board of Directors meetings to plan our activities, especially with the World Aquaculture Singapore (WASingapore2022), the largest aquaculture Asian international conference and exhibition which, as its name indicates, will be taking place in Singapore from 29 November to 2 December 2022. Hopefully, looking at the evolution of the covid-19 virus with the Omicron variant in Europe and Asia, we should hope the pandemic will only be a memory to learn from, for a better future.
As of today, more than 200 exhibitors have already registered, demonstrating that the world is ready to move on and support the Asian Pacific Chapter and the aquaculture industry in Asia. Registration for the conference remains open, with early-bird categories still available. The deadline for abstract submission and call for papers has been extended to 1 September 2022.
Today the Asian Pacific Chapter is officially involved with the Fishackathon 2022 event and will support this activity as an ecosystem partner. While the input of the APC for this event will be modest this year as participant registrations for Fishackathon 2022 closed in January, the Board of Directors is already planning for better cooperation and involvement for next year’s event.
Some of you might wonder, like me when I heard about it for the first time a couple of months ago, what is the Fishackathon? This program aims to address challenges facing the world’s aquatic ecosystems by bringing together innovators, researchers and startups to co-create sustainable, tech-enabled solutions. Participants are looking for solutions to specific challenges under four themes: wild capture fisheries, aquaculture, supply chain and markets, or social and environmental sustainability. More information about the challenges can be found at their website (fishackathon.co).
To attract young talent to the aquaculture sector, the APC and the Aquaculture Innovation Centre (AIC), Singapore initiated the first Aquaculture Innovation Ideation Challenge (AIIC), which attracted participation from university and polytechnic students in Singapore, Thailand and India. Eight students will present their innovation idea at a webinar co-hosted by the APC and AIC on 2 April 2022. The top three winning ideas will be featured on the WAS website and social media. A Certificate of Commendation will be issued to the top three winners in addition to the opportunity to serve as a moderator of the next APC student webinar.
In addition to the student webinar, APC board members are working on new series of webinars for 2022. A few topics have already been proposed and a final schedule should be published on our website and social meeting shortly.
Dr. Menaga, while really busy with the AIIC, has already mentioned her interest in developing a webinar on the use and impact of probiotics and symbiotics in aquaculture as India is very active in R&D in this field. We look forward to more details on her program.
Meanwhile more topics are under development by each member of the board of directors and we are very pleased to present some more topics that are in preparation.
Dr. Belinda Yaxley is proposing a webinar on Humane Slaughter in Finfish Aquaculture: Present Challenges and Opportunities. Poor animal welfare is exhibited when a harvest is stressful, but it also has quality implications such as increased gaping and firmness of flesh and altered timing of rigor mortis. This webinar will involve a candid conversation on human slaughter between a farmer, a researcher, an animal welfare activist and a fish health professional, discussing welfare and quality aspects to human slaughter and the challenges and opportunities this presents for global aquaculture.
Dr. J.-Y. Mével is working on a webinar addressing the potential of insect production to replace fishmeal in the aquaculture industry. Using fishmeal to feed aquaculture production is more and more criticized and considered unsustainable. However, insect meal is still overpriced for aquaculture production and is instead very often used in pet food that can fetch higher prices. Some insect production companies and nutritionists will be invited to provide some better understanding of the challenges and opportunities of this emerging industry.
Dr. Alistair E. Douglas is proposing a webinar about the need for blockchain and traceability in aquaculture, and the main reasons to implement blockchain technology in aquaculture, such as the market demand, which needs proof of origin, traceability and security.
Hopefully very soon we will have a yearlong program of webinars to be offered every six weeks.
And finally, the Board of Directors of the APC wants to thank Prof. S. Felix, Past-President of the APC and National Co-Chair of APA19, who served on the board from 2017 to 2020. He was able to utilize the hosting institute, Tamil Nadu Dr. J.J. Fisheries University’s profit sharing of the conference to inaugurate an APC Skill Development Center in Madhavaram to commemorate the international conference Asian Pacific Aquaculture 2019 in Chennai.
On behalf of the Board, I wish you great success in your aquaculture endeavor and I hope to bring you more great information in the next issue of World Aquaculture.
— Jean-Yves Mével, President