The inaugural Australasian Aquaculture Awards, recognizing individuals and businesses that apply innovative and sustainable practices in fish farming, were presented at the Australasian Aquaculture 2012 conference in Melbourne on Wednesday.
Sponsored by the Global Aquaculture Alliance’s Best Aquaculture Practices certification program, awards were presented in several categories by Peter Redmond, VP of development for the BAP program.
Tassal Operations Pty. Ltd. won the Aquaculture Production Award. Australia’s largest vertically integrated Atlantic salmon producer, Tassal puts sustainability at the core of all operations, consulting various stakeholders in preparing its first annual sustainability report, the first such report released by an Australian aquaculture company.
The Fish Oil Replacement in Australian Aquafeed project won the Aquaculture Science Research Award. Project work by professor Chris Carter of the University of Tasmania, Dr. David Francis of the Australian Institute of Marine Science, Dr. Peter Nichols of CSIRO Food Futures Flagship and Dr. Giovanni Turchini of Deakin University is helping Australian fish farmers plan for a more economically and environmentally secure future by reducing dependence on imported fish oil as an ingredient in fish feed.
Sealite Pty. Ltd. won the Aquaculture Service Provider Award. Sealite, which designs and manufactures marine navigation aids in Somerville, Victoria, Australia, offers the widest range of solar-powered LED lanterns in the marketplace. The company is a technology leader in the development of marine navigation aids. It uses state-of-the-art equipment and an in-house approach to production that achieves superior product value and quality.
“GAA and BAP are proud to have supported this new awards program,” said Redmond. “With their focus on innovation and sustainability, the Australasian Aquaculture Awards contribute to advances across the aquaculture industry. As with the farms and plants that participate in BAP certification, these award winners are working toward the improvements that will be needed to sustainably farm more seafood over the coming years.”
