12 DECEMBER 2015 • WORLD AQUACULTURE • WWW.WAS.ORG When aquaculture took off in the early 1970s, domestication of species was eschewed because much of the seed used in aquaculture was coming from natural resources in India, China and other Southeast Asian countries. Even now, most marine seed comes from the oceans, not from domesticated breeding in hatcheries. It is the demand that has led to improvements in fish production. It is not only domestication that has been responsible for the so-called Blue Revolution but also the accompanying technologies that have been developed during this time in terms of species cultured, feed management and health management. All this put together has increased fish production in the Blue Revolution. If you look in parallel with what happened in the Green Revolution in 1960s, it was the high-yielding varieties of rice and wheat that were developed along with the package of practices that led to the Green Revolution. The improved fish available to farmers along with the package of improved practices has led to the increases in fish production from aquaculture that we call the Blue Revolution. In this so-called Blue Revolution, much has taken place in terms of increased production. We are facing a lot of challenges now with intensification because we are facing lots of problems with fish health management, feed management and the environmental impacts of aquaculture. We have to address these issues to take the Blue Revolution to a higher level. Kevin Fitzsimmons: The fact that you were awarded the World Food Prize and now the Sunhak Peace Prize implies that many experts in global development have recognized the key contributions made by you and your teams in India, Bangladesh and other parts of Asia and the Pacific to alleviate hunger and malnutrition for millions of people. Who were some of the colleagues who helped you with these momentous achievements? Vijay Gupta: Most of my work had been field-oriented research, starting in India, then Laos, Thailand, Vietnam and Bangladesh. A great number of people have collaborated and cooperated with me; it’s very difficult to name a few. For example, much of my work in these countries has been with farmers on their farms, in on-farm research. The cooperation of a number of non-governmental organizations, especially in Bangladesh, has enabled me to achieve what I have done. A number of scientists who worked with me in various countries have been responsible for my success. Wherever I’ve worked, governments have been Eminent Indian fisheries scientist Dr. M. Vijay Gupta was recently selected to receive the inaugural Sunhak Peace Prize, a prestigious award given annually to individuals and/or organizations that contribute to global peace through their commitment to environmental sustainability and innovative solutions to conflict-causing crises. The Sunhak Peace Prize encourages peace and human development, conflict resolution and ecological conservation. The prize was founded by Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon, wife of the late Rev. Sun Myung Moon. The Prize emphasizes the critical role of interfaith and international cooperation, based on respect for human rights as an essential foundation for peace. Dr. Gupta is a renowned researcher from India who spent his career creating innovative ways to feed the rural poor by developing and disseminating techniques for low-cost fish farming. For his achievements, Dr. Gupta won the 2005 World Food Prize. He received the Honorary Life Member Award from WAS in 2009. He served as the Assistant Director General at WorldFish, an international fisheries institute located in Malaysia. He is known as an architect of the Blue Revolution and has been a leader in teaching the rural poor how to produce fish sustainably. His aquaculture methods have dramatically reduced hunger in Southeast Asia and have empowered rural women with low social status. WAS Past-President Kevin Fitzsimmons recently interviewed Dr. Gupta. Kevin Fitzsimmons: People talk about the Blue Revolution now as growing fish in the ocean but I think the Blue Revolution was really one in Asia years ago with all the work that you did with carps and tilapia. What is your opinion? Vijay Gupta: If you look at the history of aquaculture development in Asia and globally, the awakening for the need for aquaculture did not come until the 1970s because there was plenty of fish coming from capture fisheries. In the early 1970s, we showed that production could be increased through polyculture and using low-cost, low-risk inputs such as rice bran, wheat bran and other agricultural byproducts. At that time, there was no such term as the Blue Revolution. At that time in India, we coined it “aquaplosion,” an explosion within the water. From that time on, it has taken off. If we look back at the early stages of the Blue Revolution, there was a lot that needed to be done to make the Blue Revolution a reality. An Interview with Dr. M. Vijay Gupta
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