World Aquaculture Magazine -December 2021

6 DECEMBER 2021 • WORLD AQUACULTURE • WWW.WA S .ORG C H A P T E R R E P O R T S Seaweed as a Nature-based Solution for Climate Change A special session on this topic was held at the SDG Pavilion at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow in November. Prof. Carlos Duarte gave the recent results of Oceans 2050’s Seaweed Carbon Farming project. Prof. Emeritus Ik Kyo Chung (Pusan Nat’l Univ.) and Prof. Chang Geun Choi (Pukyong Nat’l Univ.) are participating in this project as the Korean contact points to provide the seaweed farm information. Ms. Alyson Myers (Fearlessfund.org) presented ‘US Dept. of Energy Asks: Can we farmMacroalgae at Energy scale?’. Mr. Owen Bethell (Nestlé), Prof. Steve Widdicombe (Plymouth Marine Lab), Ms. Maria Teresa Garcia (Food for the Future), Mr. Daniel Crockett (Blue Marine Foundation), and Ms. Shakuntala Thilstead (WorldFish) joined the discussion. The session discussed how seaweed can be an effective nature-based climate solution with enormous scaling potential that can directly sequester carbon and indirectly displace greenhouse gas emissions in numerous ways. Moreover, sustainable seaweed production has clear economic and ecological co-benefits that make it a “charismatic carbon” and a holistic nature-based climate solution. The UN Global Compact recently launched a ‘Seaweed as a Nature- based Solution for Climate Change’ vision statement. Policy Dialogue to Strengthen Blue Carbon’s Contribution to Carbon Neutrality This policy dialogue was a side event held at the Korea Pavilion at COP26. The United Kingdom. Korea and Indonesia shared coastal blue carbon management policies and experiences and sought cooperation to realize a just carbon neutrality. Ms. Sun-Jin Yun, Chair of 2050 Carbon Neutrality Commission of the Republic of Korea, gave a keynote speech. There were three presentations and panel discussion: ‘NDC and blue carbon strategy in Korea’ by Mr. Sang-Keun Song, ‘Mangrove restoration strategy in Indonesia’ by Ms. Nani Hendiarti, and ‘The role of tidal flat to increase coastal carbon stock’ by Prof. Bong-Oh Kwon. 2021 Korea-Denmark RAS Aquaculture Online Seminar The seminar, held in October, consisted of six presentations: ‘Status and development direction of the aquaculture industry in Korea’ by Mr. Lee Nam-soo Lee, ‘Gangwon-Province salmon smart aquaculture industrialization strategy’ by Mr. Seon-hong Jeong, ‘Gangwon-Province Aquaculture Environment and Circulation Filtration Culture’ by Prof. Byung-gi Kim, and ‘Denmark’s stronghold in agriculture and fisheries and Korea’s sustainable development cooperation plan’ by Ms. Christine Holm, ‘The history of the development of circulating filtration culture in Denmark’ by Ms. Christina Albressen, and ‘Introduction of the Danish aquaculture project progress, various approaches and risk factors’ by Mr. Bent Hoggard. An additional seminar is planned for the end of this year or early next year to promote continuous exchanges between the two countries. Korean Aquaculture Technology Workshop 2021 AquaInfo Co. and the Korean Society of Fisheries and Aquatic Science (KOSFAS) held the Korean Aquaculture Workshop 2021 on ‘Cases (or experience) with RAS design, construction and operation,’ in November at Bexco. The workshop provided direct overseas RAS facilities and operating cases and introduced practical issues for benchmarking to establish the Korean standard recirculating filtration aquaculture system. In particular, overseas aquaculture companies and product service companies with large- scale domestic projects participated in the presentation and delivered helpful information and knowledge. Opening of Youth Marine Education Center in Yeosu, Jeollanam-do The ‘Youth Marine Education Center,’ the first comprehensive maritime education facility for youth in Korea, opened in September. The MOF established the Center in March 2017 to foster the spirit of challenge and pioneering related to the sea and promote systematic education on maritime safety, leisure tourism, and marine science. Another youth marine education center is currently under construction in Sangju, Gyeongbuk, and will open in 2023. There are various classroom and laboratory facilities for systematic marine education and a dormitory with 27 rooms that can accommodate up to 152 people. Korea and the Philippines toWork Together in the Aquaculture Sector The first meeting of the Korea-Philippine Fisheries Joint Committee on Fisheries was held as a videoconference in October. The Committee aims to strengthen cooperation in the aquaculture sector with the Philippines. It is a bilateral consultative body that shares fisheries policies and research results and discovers new cooperative projects. Both countries signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Fisheries Cooperation during the Korea- Philippine Fisheries Joint Committee in November 2019. Both countries agreed to promote cooperation in the fishery Korean Chapter A special session at COP26 discussed how seaweed can be an effective nature-based climate solution with enormous scaling potential that can directly sequester carbon and indirectly displace greenhouse gas emissions. Moreover, sustainable seaweed production has clear economic and ecological co-benefits that make it a “charismatic carbon” and a holistic nature-based climate solution.