World Aquaculture Magazine - March 2021

WWW.WA S .ORG • WORLD AQUACULTURE • MARCH 2021 13 half a million if those that watched the recordings (N = 9,602) shared at the same rate. Impact As extension specialists, we are always interested in knowing if our educational programs will create action or change. In addition to the perceived monetary value of the webinar series, we asked, “Howmany new jobs will be created on your farm or in your operation as a result of information presented in this webinar?” The average response was 1.3 ± 3.5 jobs (N=92) which we take to be extremely positive. We also asked participants, “How likely are you implement new actions/measures in your aquaculture operation based on information gained during these webinars. Table 2 shows the responses to this question, with the webinars having the strongest impact highlighted in green. Looking Ahead Another aspect of the survey was to seek input on future webinars. Respondents were asked to rank a set of potential topics and identify potential expert speakers. We provided 13 topics and asked for additional subjects. Table 3 indicates the interest ranking for the topics we provided. The highest interest topics included recirculating aquaculture system design, alternative production systems, aquaculture education and integrated multitrophic aquaculture. We also asked respondents to suggest additional topics and they provided over 200 topics that we will evaluate. Some of the most mentioned topics were related to aquaponics, water quality, feeds and nutrition, genetics, disease and fish health, economics and business, bivalves, seaweed and wastewater management. We will begin our new series of webinars starting in March so keep your eyes peeled for announcements. If you have suggestions for top speakers for any of the high-ranked topics, please feel free to contact us. We know that 2020 was a difficult year not being able to meet and network in person and we certainly hope that 2021 will provide more fact-to-face opportunities. In the meantime, we will continue our efforts to expand the value of WAS and USAS membership through virtual opportunities and hope that you will join us. TABLE 2. How likely are you implement new actions/measures in your aquaculture operation based on information gained during these webinars? (Percentage of respondents indicating preference.) Web i nar Di d No t No t Somewha t Mode ra t e l y Ve r y Ex t r eme l y To t a l Wa t ch L i ke l y L i ke l y L i ke l y L i ke l y L i ke l y Aeration Theory and Practice 21.9 5.3 11.4 13.2 25.4 22.8 114 Aquaculture Genetics Basics 27.1 13.1 14.0 12.2 17.8 15.9 107 Aquaponics Economics 34.6 8.4 10.3 13.1 17.8 15.9 107 Aquatic Animal Nutrition 29.5 4.8 10.5 13.3 26.7 15.2 105 Perceptions of Marine Aquaculture 34.3 9.8 15.7 16.7 13.7 9.8 102 Seafood Consumption Patterns 39.4 9.6 11.5 15.4 17.3 6.7 104 Impacts of COVID on Aquaculture 38.1 12.4 13.3 14.3 15.2 6.7 105 Aquatic Weed Control 51.0 5.2 11.5 12.5 14.6 5.2 96 TABLE 3. Interest in future webinar topics. (Percentage of respondents indicating preference.) Rank Top i c Low I n t e r e s t Mode ra t e I n t e r e s t Hi gh I n t e r e s t To t a l 1 Recirculating Aquaculture SystemDesign 5.6 26.1 68.3 142 2 Alternative Production Systems 3.6 30.2 66.2 139 3 Aquaculture Education 10.6 28.0 61.4 132 4 Integrated Multitrophic Aquaculture (IMTA) 12.1 34.1 53.8 132 5 Extension Programs 15.9 34.9 49.2 132 6 Aquaculture Statistics 8.8 43.8 47.5 137 7 Experimental Design 14.3 39.1 46.6 133 8 Shrimp Production 23.5 33.3 43.2 132 9 Small-Scale Seafood Processing 18.7 39.6 41.8 134 10 Seaweed Cultivation 26.4 32.6 41.1 129 11 Aqua-tourism 25.0 37.5 37.5 128 12 Salmon Production in RAS 33.3 32.6 34.1 135 13 Site Permitting 24.2 42.2 33.6 128