10 DECEMBER 2016 • WORLD AQUACULTURE • WWW.WAS.ORG Our work in India is expanding. Besides the Vakkom project and plans to expand our involvement in aquarium/ornamental fish (Ornamental Aquaculture Club Kerala - www.facebook. com/groups/526444844203976/) we engaged with the Kerala Aquafarmers’ Federation in association with Organic Life. A twoday workshop on cage culture at Payyannur, Kannur District was held on 15-16 September 2016. The program aims to popularize cage culture of finfish and shellfish towards increasing aquaculture production, providing local employment and rehabilitating the mussel farmers who were forced to quit the field due to the mass mortality of mussels last year. We were very grateful to technical assistance from Dr. K.K. Philippose, Scientist in Charge, CMFRI Karwar Centre in assisting with the 35 attendees. Through Swinburne University, Melbourne we were selected to have one of their specialist student teams (business and computer sciences) work with us on improving our website and social media. We have been thoroughly impressed so far with their input and are looking forward to being able to launch our new look website (www. aquaculturewithoutfrontiers.org). We are also busy preparing for Aquaculture America in San Antonio, Texas and will be organizing a session on Development, Welfare and Poverty Alleviation. We look forward to seeing you there. AwF Affiliated Organizations AwF has formalized working relationships with different AwF groups to ensure that there is consistency and cohesiveness in the worldwide operations of AwF as a charity. At present there are three affiliated AwF organizations around the world – USA (America’s region), Australia (Oceania region) and recently Latin America (based in Mexico). We now have an AwF International Council and then national and regional offices. All national and regional offices follow an agreed global campaign strategy but work independently within their local contexts and in seeking the necessary financial support from donors, programs and grants to fund their work. The reason we have organizations in different countries is to create tax benefits for donors and to be applicable for any local funding. The AwF International Council will consist of our global Executive Director and two members from each organizational board (USA, Australia, and Latin America) on a rotation basis of two years. Each national organization is responsible for its own funding with consideration being made by each organization in funding the executive/secretariat on a fair and equitable basis. The International Council must approve the establishment of any regional group. Over the next few months there will be work done on the development of overarching mission statement, preparing for the new Strategic Plan for 2017-2020 period and a Code of Conduct for all groups that will define the work we do and the way we work with private and government enterprises. Finally, we are very grateful to the World Aquaculture Society for our long-term affiliation. This has been a long-term effort and we are looking to make it flourish in the years to come. — Roy Palmer, Executive Director AwF UK Visits Vietnam and Ethiopia In February 2016, the Charity Commissioners granted the registration of Aquaculture without Frontiers (AwF) as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) in the UK and a new starting team was assembled. It was my privilege to be asked to lead this new team (after the documentation was ably completed by fellow trustee and solicitor Simon Birks) by the new charity’s founding trustees Roy Palmer (of AwF’s US and Australian organizations) and well-known aquaculture publishers Roger Gilbert and Tuti Tan. Our current trustees are presently UK-based, except for Sven-Olof Malmqvist of Yara, Sweden, who is a recognized as a leading developer in the global animal nutrition business. Today there are four independent AwF charities based in the UK, Australia, USA and South America. Each charity has its own board of trustees and its own objectives. Four of the UK board attended the EAS European Aquaculture event in Edinburgh with AwF founder Michael New O.B.E. to commence contacts with the industry. Michael established the first AwF in the UK in 2004 and also similarly the US organization and our board is extremely lucky to enjoy his support and guidance. The board decided that we should make visits to Vietnam, where aquaculture is a part of life, and Ethiopia, where it needs to also have that role continent wide. These visits threw up a variety of interesting scenarios for aquaculture development and, as a sign of the UK charity’s commitment to its objectives, a full five-member delegation of the six-person board of AwF visited both countries. In Vietnam there is already a highly developed system of aquaculture where the business of farming shrimp and fish is part of life and strongly embedded in the social fabric of the country. This contrasts greatly with aquaculture in Europe, where it sits within a setting of knowledge and industry silos that often compete for public and thus governmental support and acceptance and in so doing often prevent much needed development. Breaking down the barriers that have effectively held back the overall size of European aquaculture for the last decade is also something we wish to address when and where we can be most helpful. Scotland is a shining example of what can be achieved with the right motivation and organization and the EAS Edinburgh event was a very effective demonstration of that progress that all attendees to the various presentations witnessed.
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