World Aquacluture Magazine - September 2020

64 SEP TEMBER 2020 • WORLD AQUACULTURE • WWW.WA S.ORG meant a great deal to trainees because many of them already had small ongoing aquaculture projects but did not know there was special equipment to help assess water quality and determine its potential for aquaculture. Part of the training was 64 hours focused completely on food manipulation processes to give added value to products. This session included basic principles such as hygienic practices, what to wear when working in food-processing activities, mixing different ingredients to make quality products, time settings to reduce spoilage, cooking time and appropriate internal temperature to assure the elimination of possible contamination by bacteria (Fig. 3). Although there were limitations to the amount of equipment available for training during the sessions and specialized facilities were likewise lacking, the purpose of the food-processing sessions was to teach basic skills and to encourage trainees to develop their own products with the appropriate health requirements so they would have the opportunity to make a living from them in the future. Training Outcomes After seven months of training, 55 trainees finished the pro- gram, supported by public academic institutions such as UTN and CUN Limón and government institutions like the MTSS (Fig. 4). The experience proved to be a challenge for all actors involved in the project, from choosing training topics to bringing experienced fisher- men to a classroom for long learning sessions several times a week. In general, the experience proved that it is possible to train and encourage coastal communities to learn and develop quality products by joining resources from public institutions to get relevant results. Some of the trainees asked for assistance to design aquaculture systems on their land and to develop projects that could be financed with public funds granted by several national entities such as the National Institute for Rural Development (INDER). All of those involved in this project believe that this training experience can be used a model that can be upgraded and replicated in many other communities around Costa Rica to provide solutions to the social and economic problems many communities face. Notes Juan Esteban Barquero-Chanto, Guillermo Hurtado Cam, Nelson Peña Navarro, Technical National University (UTN), Research Department of the Pacific Coast, Costa Rica. jebarquero@utn.ac.cr . References Arrieta, E. 2019. Terminal de Contenedores de Moín catapulta a Costa Rica como líder portuario de Latinoameríca. La Republica. Retrieved from: https://www.larepublica.net/noticia/ terminal-de-contenedores-de-moin-catapulta-a-costa-rica-como- lider-portuario-de-latinoamerica. Crissol, R. 2013, September 18. La pesca de arrastre y su prohibición en Costa Rica: un enfoque científico. Seminario Universidad . Retrieved from: https://historico. semanariouniversidad.com/suplementos/crisol/la-pesca-de- arrastre-y-su-prohibicin-en-costa-rica-un-enfoque-cientfico/ . Deterding, S., D. Dixon, R. Khaled and L. Nacke. From game design elements to gamefulness: defining gamification. Pages 9-15 In: Proceedings of the 15th International Academic MindTrek Conference: Envisioning Future Media Environments, September 28-30, 2011, Tampere, Finland. FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations). 2016. National aquaculture sector overview Costa Rica. Rome, Italy. INCOPESCA (Instituto Costarricense de Pesca y Acuicultura). 2019. Plan Estratégico de la Acuicultura 2019-2023. INCOPESCA, San José, Costa Rica. INEC (Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos). 2019. Encuesta Nacional de Hogares Julio 2019. Instituto Nacional de Estadísticas y Censos, San José, Costa Rica. Mora, S. 2019. Indicadores Macroeconómicos 2015-2019. SEPSA, San José, Costa Rica. Morris. K. 2019. Preveen 5000 más sin empleo en Limón. Diario extra . Retrieved from: https://www.diarioextra.com/Noticia/ detalle/380632/preven-5000-mas-sin-empleo-en-limon. PEN (Programa Estado de la Nación). 2019. Estado de la Educación Costarricense, 7 edn. Masterlitho, San José, Costa Rica. Peña, N and J. Chacón. 2019. Aquaculture in Costa Rica. World Aquaculture 50:23-28. Sancho, M. 2018, April 25. El mar se agota: la Costa Rica más grande sufre la deficiente gestión pesquera. CR Hoy. Retrived from: https://www.crhoy.com/ambiente/el-mar-se-agota-la-costa- rica-mas-grande-sufre-la-deficiente-gestion-pesquera/ . FIGURE 3. Aquaculture expert teaching farmers how to give added value to products by processing into sausages. FIGURE 4. Graduation ceremony with trainees, instructors and representatives from different public institutions involved.