WWW.WAS.ORG • WORLD AQUACULTURE • DECEMBER 2016 19 (CONTINUED ON PAGE 20) Spotlight on Africa at World Aquaculture 2017 Hecht, a former WAS board member, will speak on “Establishing aquaculture value chains.” The conference program will balance global, African and other regional perspectives, with a technical and scientific program and diverse parallel sessions catering to the broad range of scientific, technical, business and policy interests in aquaculture. A successful feature of previous WAS meetings, AquaForum will provide a networking platform specifically for producers to share information on challenges, techniques and new developments. The conference will be complemented, as always, by a major international trade show. Representing the coming of age of African aquaculture and a significant milestone for the global aquaculture community, the WAS plans to launch its Africa Chapter at the conference. Cape Town, recently voted one of the best cities in the world, and the Cape Town International Convention Centre will provide an outstanding setting and venue for the first WAS meeting in Africa. The conference is co-hosted by the Aquaculture Association of Southern Africa and the South African Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. More information and online registration can be found on the WAS website (www.was.org). The World Aquaculture Society will convene its first ever annual conference in Africa, in Cape Town, South Africa, from 26-30 June 2017. The conference theme “Sustainable Aquaculture — New Frontiers for Economic Growth” turns the spotlight on Africa and the economic development and investment potential of aquaculture production in the world’s second-fastest growing regional economy. Sub-Saharan Africa’s vast inland waters and coastlines — home to a small but rapidly growing aquaculture sector — present a largely untapped opportunity to contribute to the nutrition and socioeconomic development needs of the continent. The keynote addresses — “Feeding the Nine Billion: The Role of Aquaculture” by leading sustainable aquaculture advocate Dr. Rohana Subasinghe, and “African Perspectives on Aquaculture” by Dr. Sloans Chimatiro, Programme Manager: Fish Trade at the World Fish Centre, Zambia — will set the tone for the conference and highlight the value of aquaculture in global food security. Financing and investment in the aquaculture industry will be highlighted in the keynote address “The global seafood industry from a banker’s perspective” by Gorjan Nikolik, senior industry analyst for Food and Agri-business Research and Advisory at Rabobank International, the Netherlands-based cooperative bank. Focusing on “farm to plate,” aquaculture development and commercialization expert Prof. Tom Health inspection of abalone during grow-out at HIK Abalone Farm.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjExNDY=