THE World Aquaculture Society takes its annual conference to Africa for the
first time in 2017 turning the spotlight on the potential of aquaculture production
to support economic development and investment opportunities in the world’s
second-fastest growing regional economy.

Aquaculture is increasingly important as an environmentally sustainable way to
meet global demand for fisheries products, while 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
socio-economic development needs of the region.

Themed “Sustainable Aquaculture – New Frontiers for Economic Growth –
Spotlight on Africa”, World Aquaculture 2017 will bring together some 3,000
industry, academic and government delegates from the 100 member countries
of the World Aquaculture Society (WAS), in Cape Town, South Africa, from 26-
30 June 2017.

Representing the coming of age of African aquaculture and a significant
milestone for the global aquaculture community, the WAS will plans to launch its
Africa Chapter at the conference, whereby the continent will join the United
States, Korea, Asia-Pacific and Latin-American- Caribbean as fully affiliated
chapters of the WAS.

The conference will balance global and African perspectives, the theme
captured in 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
– setting the tone for the conference and highlighting the value of aquaculture in
global food security.

Dr Subasinghe, who retired in 2015 as Chief of the Aquaculture Branch of the
Food & Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations, is a strong
advocate for the contribution of aquaculture to poverty alleviation and food and
nutrition security, and empowering the people involved in small-scale
aquaculture value chains.

Conference co-chair and former WAS President, Dr Kevan Maine said Dr
Subasinghe was ideally placed to lead off the conference discussions,
especially given his role in spearheading development of the FAO’s Global
Aquaculture Advancement Partnership (GAAP), which addresses the need for a
concerted effort to ensure future aquaculture development will become
increasingly socially acceptable, environmentally sustainable, and responsibly
managed.

Dr Chimatiro has been instrumental in raising ‘the African voice’ in international
fisheries and aquaculture forums, and building African research institutions and
networks in support of fisheries and aquaculture development. He played a
leading role in formulating fisheries and aquaculture policy and governance
programmes for the African Union, including coordination of the development of
the Comprehensive African Fisheries Reform Strategy (CAFRS).