Looking ahead to Madeira

Oceans of

opportunity

Meet the keynote speakers from the upcoming EA2021 conference in Funchal

As in-person events tenta� vely resume a� er a year and a half of Covid-19 restric� ons, one of Europe’s biggest gatherings in the aquaculture sector will be taking place in Madeira next month.

With the theme “Oceans of Opportunity”, the European Aquacultural Society will be presen� ng Aquaculture Europe 2021 in Funchal, Madeira, on 4–7 October.

The event includes presenta� ons on the latest thinking and research in aquaculture, both in person and online by “eposters”; an interna� onal trade exhibi� on, industry forums, student sessions and ac� vi� es, and updates on research commissioned by the European Union.

Last year’s event, due to be held in Cork, was fi rst postponed to earlier this year and then switched to an en� rely online format (see report of the conference in Fish Farmer May 2021). Travel restric� ons around Europe have now eased somewhat and the organisers and the regional government in Madeira are confi dent that, with health measures in place, the event can take place safely this � me.

The conference features presenta� ons on a wide range of topics ranging from fi sh welfare and nutri� on requirements to the impact of climate change and the use of ar� fi cial intelligence.

There will also be plenary sessions with speakers presen� ng diff erent perspec� ves on the future of aquaculture. The plenary sessions will be presented by Dr Shakuntala Thilsted of WorldFish; Pedro Encarnação of Jerónimo Mar� ns Agri-business; and Dr Gesche Krause and Laurie Hofmann of the Alfred Wegener Ins� tute.

Dr Thilsted is the Global Lead for Nutri� on and Public Health at WorldFish, an en� ty which is now part of CGIAR (the Consulta� ve Group on Interna� onal Agricultural Research).

She was awarded the 2021 World Food Prize for her ground-breaking research, cri� cal insights and landmark innova� ons in developing holis� c, nutri� on-sensi� ve approaches to aqua� c food systems, including aquaculture and capture fi sheries. She played a key role in the development of the WorldFish 2030 research and innova� on strategy – Aqua� c Foods for Healthy People and Planet – and she is a member of the Steering Commi� ee of the High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutri� on (HLPE) of the United Na� ons Commi� ee on World Food Security.

She normally works a lot of the � me in Bangladesh and other countries in Asia and Africa with rich aqua� c resources but when Fish Farmer spoke to her she was at her home base in Denmark.

Dr Thilsted will be speaking on “Diversifi ca� on of aqua� c food systems: Oceans of Opportunity for nourishing na� ons.”

Aqua� c food systems provide food and livelihood opportuni� es to over three billion people in the world, especially in low- and middle-income countries. While the systems con� nue to grow, studies indicate that we have yet to maximise the reach of aqua� c foods and transforma� on of the systems towards being equitable and sustainable for nourishing people, na� ons and our planet. Dr Thilsted is calling for a “paradigm shi� ” in thinking to enable the op� misa� on of aqua� c foods and food systems towards fulfi lling food and nutri� on security, enhance supply chains, ensure equitable access for women and youth, and improve economy and livelihoods of actors in the aqua� c food systems framework. She says: “We want to change the narra� ve from ‘feeding’ to ‘nourishing’. It’s not just about quan� ty, but about quality and quan� ty.” She also emphasises that increasing the supply of food for a growing popula� on does not only mean increasing produc� on, but also reducing waste – as much as a third of perishable food produced is wasted during produc� on, storage and transporta� on. Dr Thilsted has been working with polyculture systems in countries such as Bangladesh, Nepal and Cambodia, as well as projects in Africa, par� cularly looking at ways to improve the produc� vity and nutri� onal quality of small

Above left: Dr Shakuntala Thilsted Left: Pedro Encarnação Top right: Panoramic view over Funchal, Madeira Island, Portugal

homestead ponds.

Local people are farming a diverse range of species, she stresses, including many species that are typically smaller than the fish that tend to be farmed commercially at scale.

A key aspect, she adds, is diversity of production systems in aquaculture. Seaweed, for example, can be a great source of nutrition – for example, vitamin B12.

She would like to see the big commercial producers applying their expertise in aquaculture to promote the production of smaller, more diverse species around the world.

Dr Thilsted stresses: “We need to see a shift from monoculture towards a greater diversity of foods, and we need to use traditional knowledge, combined with new technologies. They

“We want to change the narrative from ‘feeding’ to ‘nourishing”

must be complementary.”

Pedro Encarnação is Director of Aquaculture with the Jerónimo Martins Agri-business (JMA), Portugal, and he will be talking about his company’s vertical integration model.

Encarnação is an aquaculture expert with extensive experience around the world. He has a bachelor’s degree in marine biology and a PhD in fish nutrition. In 2005, he moved to Asia as Technical director for Biomin (Biotech in animal nutrition). After 10 years in Asia, he returned to Portugal to join the Jerónimo Martins Agri-Business division as its Aquaculture Director to develop the group expansion in this new area.

JMA currently farms seabass and sea bream. It is part of the Jerónimo Martins retail group, one of the biggest food retailers in Portugal.

As Encarnação explains: “Our vertical integration model is based on a close partnership with Jerónimo Martins’ retail companies to create value in the quality, stability and consistency of supplied products. Also, it is our goal to stimulate innovation and production development of the target species that are adapted to consumer preference.

“We can say this is a different model, since in the locations JMA operates most fish farmers are of small scale and don’t have the capacity to guarantee a regular supply to the larger retailers, so their commercial channels are different, supplying to many intermediaries and focusing on the food and beverages market.”

The key message of his presentation will be that JMA’s integrated model brings production closer to customers’ needs and expectations. Reducing

supply chains leads to fewer engagements, shorter distances to transport fi sh, greater quality control and food safety, and even more shelf � me, increasing the period of sale of the product and reducing food waste.

Sustainability is also a key issue for JMA. Encarnação says: “Each project we develop takes into account sustainability criteria supported by the best prac� ces and principles of the EU´s Farm to Fork strategy and other ESG criteria. We have established collabora� on with the na� onal scien� fi c network – namely, the Academia – for the op� misa� on of the produc� on of the target species, as well as establishing integrated environmental analysis models, as a vital component to op� mise produc� on effi ciency in off shore aquaculture and to reduce economic and environmental risks.

“In our projects we have done environmental assessments of the impact of our ac� vi� es. All reports have indicated no impact of our opera� ons in water quality and the surrounding environment. Furthermore, we work with our feed suppliers to guarantee that all ingredients used are from sustainable origins, therefore reducing, for example, the risk of deforesta� on associated with soy present in animal feed, that their fi sh in fi sh out ra� o is maintained at a low level and that their feeds have a high feed effi ciency [low feed conversion ra� o] in order to guarantee the sustainability of our produc� on.

“Finally, great eff orts are made in ma� ers such as reduc� on of energy and fresh water consump� on as well as residue management in our opera� ons.”

Dr Gesche Krause will be co-presen� ng on Thursday with her colleague Dr Laurie Hofman, a marine biologist. They have been working together, par� cularly on issues around cul� va� ng macroalgae for a range of uses including alterna� ve packaging for fresh food, at the Alfred Wegener Ins� tute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI), Germany’s biggest academic research ins� tu� on focused on marine and polar science.

As a social scien� st, Dr Krause is in the minority among her natural sciences colleagues. She explains: “My discipline is social economics and governance, especially as regards how aquaculture aff ects social and economic sustainability dimensions on mul� ple levels, and how governance aff ects socioeconomic outcomes.

“So, for example, we’ve looked at aquaculture and its rela� on to the UN sustainable development goals, such as access to housing, popula� on dynamics, employment and employment sa� sfac� on.”

One example she gives is small, family-owned mussel farms in Scotland. The economic impact of a single farm may not be that great, but its importance in terms of social cohesion and cultural iden� ty for the local community may be much more than that.

As Dr Krause puts it: “They have a central role, because they refl ect a lot about wellbeing, cultural place iden� ty and connec� ng people to the nature of the place where they are.”

On the other hand, she argues, a large salmon farm may be part of a larger corporate en� ty, but its impact on the community may also be signifi cant in terms of crea� ng jobs, genera� ng tax revenues and helping to support the local community in a number of ways, such as access to healthcare.

She says: “So there is a trade-off . You can’t say one is good, or less good, especially in regard to, good for whom? We aim to help decision-makers navigate their way through these complex issues.

“It is not my role to defi ne the answer, but to look at the process between science and society, in a way which is meaningful and helpful.” Dr Krause believes that society has some diffi cult future choices to make and that focusing solely on economic growth would be a mistake. Issues such as the environment and social equity must not be overlooked. As she puts it: “We need to be honest with ourselves about where we want to go, and what we want to transform into. There is a lot of pressure on the tradi� onal Western way of looking at these ma� ers; to revisit assump� ons, and modes of produc� on in the wake of climate change.” There will certainly be plenty of food for thought ahead for those a� ending in Madeira this October. AE2021 Oceans of Opportunity runs from 4-7 October in Funchal, Madeira. It is organised by the European Aquaculture Society and supported by the Regional Government of Madeira, the Government of Portugal and technology agency Ardi� . For more informa� on, go online to www.aquaeas.org. FF

“We need to be honest with ourselves about where we want to go”

From the top: Old Town street of Funchal - capital of Madeira Island, Portugal; Gesche Krause; Laurie Hofmann