A new Chinese government task force to share aquaculture techniques with countries aligned with its Belt and Road Initiative is organizing a free webinar on aquaculture this week.
Titled “Sustainable Aquaculture Development: Response Strategies Towards [a] Post-Pandemic [World],” the conference will take place on 24 and 25 November.
The forum is being co-organized by the Chinese Agriculture Ministry’s Belt and Road Training Base for Mariculture Technologies’ Yellow Sea Fisheries Research Institute at the Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, as well as by the Bangkok, Thailand-based Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia-Pacific (NACA). Topics covered will include concepts and measures of sustainable aquaculture.
Among the speakers NACA Director General s Jie Huang, who will speak on post-pandemic aquaculture development in the Asia-Pacific region, and Qingyin Wang, a professor and chairman of the China Fisheries Society, who will cover the green development of aquaculture in China. Speakers from Mexico, Myanmar, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka will also participate in the online conference, which will be presented in English and Chinese.
Huang told SeafoodSource that his organization wants to improve communication “across the value chain” to ensure more sustainable aquaculture development in Asia.
China’s success in building the world’s largest aquaculture industry by volume has been tempered in recent years by a shift in emphasis to quality and more environmentally responsible production.
With many signs of China seeking to source more seafood through co-production overseas, the conference may give some clues as to the partners emerging for international cooperation in aquaculture projects such as the Laboratory for Marine Fisheries and Food Production Processes and the pilot National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology. China’s Agriculture Ministry will also be represented by its Key Laboratory of Sustainable Development of Marine Fisheries.
Also involved in the conference is the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization and a host of organizations based in Qingdao – the seafood hub that has also announced ambitions to internationalize its expertise – including the Marine Aquaculture Committee, China Rural Special Technnology Association, and the Qingdao Municipal Marine Development Bureau.
Photo courtesy of Joseph Sohm/Shutterstock
