Innovation & Investment

The Global Aquaculture Alliance held its annual GOAL conference at the Four Seasons Hotel in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Photos by Gail Hannagan, Preferred Freezer Services. 

The Global Aquaculture Alliance held its annual GOAL conference at the Four Seasons Hotel in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Photos by Gail Hannagan, Preferred Freezer Services. 

If Day 1 of GOAL 2015 was all about defense, the following day of the aquaculture industry’s leading global conference was about offense — exuding confidence that farming fish is the way to feed future generations, and determining how to tell the world its story. 

The 2015 GOAL conference in Vancouver, Canada, kicked off with a First Nations celebration, an industry growth report card and the latest defensive efforts against aquaculture diseases. Simplifying the story, however, may be the tallest obstacle yet. 

The Global Aquaculture Alliance will honor seafood procurement expert Bill Herzig with a Lifetime Achievement Award during its annual GOAL conference. He talked to the Advocate about top-to-bottom commitment to sustainability and the ambitious lobster aquaculture project he spearheaded in Malaysia with Darden Restaurants. 

A handful of deep-pocketed philanthropic foundations hold tremendous influence on marine conservation organizations and, by extension, the seafood supply chain. At GOAL, a Dutch Sustainable Trade Initiative director will challenge them to engage with the aquaculture industry, not solely fisheries. 

Camanor Produtos Marinhos Ltda. operates a land-based, multi-species concept for sustainable shrimp production called AquaScience. The Global Aquaculture Alliance has named Camanor the winner of its annual Aquaculture Innovation and Leadership award. Director Werner Jost discusses the process. 

The husband-and-wife team of Bill and Betty More has earned admiration and respect in many parts of the world for their many decades of work in aquaculture and sustainability certification. SIRF has established a living memorial in their name. 

With their fast growth and ample light-flavored flesh, pirarucu present great potential. Industry growth is hampered by limited technology and management of domestication practices. Also, current commercial diets are typically not fully suited to the nutritional needs of pirarucu. 

China, the world’s largest producer of farmed fish, represents a huge opportunity for the Global Aquaculture Alliance and its Best Aquaculture Practices certification scheme. GAA’s Steve Hart talks about the inroads the organization has already made and how he can leverage his background in the soy industry. 

Zero-exchange biofloc systems allow elevated stocking densities and production, but also require more dissolved oxygen and thorough water circulation. A new type of air injector uses only a centrifugal pump to recirculate water while naturally aspirating ambient air. 

In line with the Global Aquaculture Alliance’s mission to advocate, educate and demonstrate responsible aquaculture worldwide, the Advocate is a forum for information and insight into one of the world’s most important and fastest-growing industries. 

A large-scale aquaculture project in Ivory Coast, with "soft technology" adopted by Societe d’Elevage et de Distribution de Poissons, allows the full growing cycle to be controlled using local materials, manpower and inputs. 

To help produce high-quality aquaculture feeds, the U.S. Soybean Export Council spearheaded the Asian Aquaculture Feed Formulation Database project, designed as a reference tool for individuals involved in feed formulation, ingredient purchasing, quality control and research. 

Aquaculture of high-value white sturgeon is in its early phases in British Columbia, Canada. 
Given the long time required to produce caviar, licensed producers are looking at developing markets for value-added products and byproducts based on sturgeon meat.