Write up about the Conference
The conference was well attended with some 256 paper presentations and 234 posters displays. The presentations and posters were mostly on the environmental, biological and technical aspects of fisheries and aquaculture science, management, and product development. There were also some presentations on the social science aspects of fisheries and aquaculture development and management. A special session on gender issues in fisheries and coastal management and development was also held.
Feedback on paper presented
My presentation was well received and there was interest in learning lessons from the case presented to developing countries that have centralized or top down governance systems.
Future directions of research presented
The presentation was a critical analysis of related literature on the viability of small scale aquaculture to meet sustainable development and food security goals, in the context of climate change. The next step to take is to craft a research proposal to assess the performance of small scale aquaculture systems in Western Visayas to meet the challenge of climate change and food security.
Potential foreign collaborators
The FAO and the Asian Fisheries Society member institutions.
Other important contacts and insights
A number of conference participants backed out due to the threat of war posed by North Korea leading up to the conference. Nevertheless, the conference provided key information on the latest research trends in Asian fisheries and aquaculture. Sharing of research interests was done over dinner on the 2nd day of the Conference with scientists from the Korean institute of Ocean Science and Technology (KIOST).
Short write-up of one’s participation (to be used to feature/publicize the grantee’s participation in the conference)
I read a paper in the session chaired by Dr Ida Siason on fisheries social science policy and economic development. I also chaired a session on the latest trends on fish processing, pharmaceuticals and interdisciplinary research and education. I was also invited by Dr Tengku Aizan Hamid, Professor at the University of Putra Malaysia to share more of my research outputs and experiences in a Special Session organized by ASEM Aquaculture Group on “Future Research Need” during the last day of the conference
