At the final Steering Committee meeting for the organization of the World Aquaculture 2015 held at the venue for the event, the International Convention Centre (ICC) Jeju, Korea the Jeju Special Self-Governing Province Maritime & Fisheries Bureau Director General, Tae-Hee Park, invited Conference Co-Chairs Jay Parsons and Kwang-Sik (Albert) Choi with the committee and selected guests to a dinner to congratulate the group on the work to date and wish the Conference success. Mr. Park recognized the importance of the work to date and said “Jeju is a very important and historical venue for the World Aquaculture 2015 conference and represents a significant opportunity for the ongoing development of aquaculture in Jeju.” International conference co-chair Dr. Jay Parsons noted “the conference organization is well underway, with an exciting and diverse program for both industry and researchers”.
Jeju, the largest island in the Korea Strait and contains the natural UNESCO World Heritage Site Jeju Volcanic Island and Lava Tubes, will be the centre of the world’s fastest growing primary industry, aquaculture, when the event is held 26-30 May 2015.
According to a recently published report by joint report by FAO and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) fish farming (aquaculture) will likely grow more than expected in the coming decade, offering a chance for improved nutrition for millions of people, especially in Asia and Africa and clearly events like World Aquaculture 2015 enable people to come together and share information and network.
That joint report also highlighted that increased investment in the aquaculture sector - particularly in productivity-enhancing technologies including in the areas of water use, breeding, hatchery practices and feedstuff innovation - should boost farmed-fish production by as much as 4.14 percent per year through 2022, notably faster than the 2.54 percent growth forecast made last year.
Jeju is unique in many ways so it combines modern aquaculture with other important and relevant seafood history, education and entertainment.
Importantly Jeju is well known as a centre in Korea for the flatfish species of Olive Flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus) and Turbot (Scophthalmus maximus) and the history with Abalone with the infamous wild fish diving women through to current aquaculture farms. Jeju is actually much more than that as far as aquaculture is concerned with some two thousand plus people engaged in the industry on the island involved in all sectors including research, hatcheries, farms, feed mills, etc and covering a multitude of species covering eels, sea cucumbers, fish from parrot fish to rainbow trout and tuna and shellfish from shrimp to clams and oysters.
The famous island is home to a Future Aquaculture Research Centre and besides having its own provincial government research activities also houses important National Fisheries Research & Development Institute (NFRDI) activities as well as Jeju National University and home to ‘Aqua Planet Jeju’ which is the largest aquarium in all of Asia (Total Floor Area: 25,600m², 10,800 tons) reportedly approx. 11 times that of 63 Sea World. With approx. 48,000 animals and plants of around 500 species in exhibition.
Whilst the program for the Conference is filling fast it has been agreed to extend the deadline until 15 February and exhibitors should note there are just a few booth spaces left for the Trade Show event. The World Aquaculture Society will be holding its board meetings pre and post the event as well as the annual meeting for the society.
Reminder: Only registration is now closed! On-site registration is available at WA2015, May 26th.