Innovation & Investment

University of Miami professor says the U.S. seafood marketplace needs to embrace 'plate-sized' fish if a domestic aquaculture industry is to become sustainable and profitable.  

The aquaculture industry is doing a poor job of educating consumers about farmed fish, according to polling results from the Global Aquaculture Alliance’s annual GOAL conference in Vancouver, Canada. View the results from all 18 audience questions, with photos from the diverse audience. 

David Little, professor at the University of Stirling in Scotland, tells the Advocate about the rapid evolution of the aquaculture industry in Southeast Asia — where he made his home for many years — and discusses the role of academia in ushering in new eras of innovation. 

Pangasius farmed in the Dominican Republic? True story. Value Aquaculture, with partners hailing from Germany and Chile, is trying to get U.S. buyers to take a fresh look at the Mekong catfish species. 

Scott Nichols speaks to the Advocate about the launch of his own consultancy, Food’s Future, about groundbreaking innovations at Verlasso and about the role of aquaculture in a rapidly changing world — one in need of collaboration and new ideas. 

Moving aquaculture offshore could spark a global production boost needed to meet growing demand for protein. Producers and investors, however, are wary of the challenges, cost and regulatory red tape. One patient U.S. entrepreneur, however, is undaunted. 

Dutch investment firm Aqua-Spark has in just two years developed a modest portfolio, but a strategy that is poised for growth and impact across the entire aquaculture value chain, its CEO and co-founder told the Advocate. 

At Fish 2.0, it’s seafood, Silicon Valley style. Aquaculture companies gave their best pitches to investors and two left Palo Alto, Calif., as winners. Founder Monica Jain says the competition highlights a financial gap that must be bridged for the industry to advance. 

GAA Executive Director Wally Stevens reflects on Veteran's Day and Remembrance Day and urges all aquaculture leaders to serve the industry in a pre-competitive manner. Service is defined, he said, by an individual’s ability to put aside the needs of his or her organization and confront shared challenges. 

University of New England Professor Barry Costa-Pierce says aquaculture is often neglected in studies examining ocean health and ecosystem and resource management. The “Ocean Prosperity Roadmap” released this summer, he said, was more of the same. 

The Global Aquaculture Alliance held its annual GOAL conference at the Four Seasons Hotel in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Shown above are scenes from the final day of the conference, Oct. 29, 2015. 

A jam-packed three days of important dialogue in Vancouver was capped off by a keynote from the CEO of one of Canada’s oldest seafood companies, a suite of aquafeed innovations and a moving acceptance speech from Bill Herzig, the GAA Lifetime Achievement Award recipient. 

The Global Aquaculture Alliance held its annual GOAL conference at the Four Seasons Hotel in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Photos by Gail Hannagan, Preferred Freezer Services. 

The Global Aquaculture Alliance held its annual GOAL conference at the Four Seasons Hotel in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Photos by Gail Hannagan, Preferred Freezer Services. 

If Day 1 of GOAL 2015 was all about defense, the following day of the aquaculture industry’s leading global conference was about offense — exuding confidence that farming fish is the way to feed future generations, and determining how to tell the world its story.