The Philippines.- The 4th International Conference on Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences (ICFAS) organized by the University of the Philippines Visayas through the College of Management focused on building, bridging and driving the fisheries industry forward.
Held at Grand Xing Imperial Hotel, Iloilo City on November 15-16, 2018, ICFAS 2018 was themed “Resilient and sustainable management and marketing in the fisheries and aquatic resources industries.”
Some 20 oral and more than 40 poster presenters presented their latest researches on natural sciences, business, marketing, social sciences and governance. The presentations encouraged discussions on various scientific breakthroughs, management practices and social issues in the field of fisheries and aquatic sciences among the participants from the academe, government institutions, industry players, business leaders, entrepreneurs and professionals.
Dr. Md Abul Basher, Natural Resource and Agriculture Specialist of the Asian Development Bank, was the Keynote Speaker. He talked about the supply and demand challenges of food security, the future of food and the role of fisheries sector in alleviating these concerns to achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) No. 2 that seeks sustainable solutions to end hunger and poverty by 2030 and to improve food security. He also shared ADB’s engagement in the fishery sector specifically in aquaculture sector.
Basher raised concern about the achievement of SDG 2 due to the reverse gains made in ending hunger and food security in the recent years. He pointed out that the world should try to diversity the sources of animal protein. With the problem on over-fishing, Basher emphasized the importance of participatory and collaborative management for sustainable fishing as well as better management of inland fishery resources.
Dr. Glenn Baticados, Director of UP Los Baños Center for Technology Transfer and Entrepreneurship, and Jessica Minguel, Co-Founder and marketing specialist of ID Water in Taiwan, were the plenary speakers. Baticados presented on how technology transfer works in the academe and how to generate income from the use of the technologies or research outputs developed and partners with the industry.
On the other hand, Minguel, discussed about the development and the success of ID Water, a company providing water quality solutions among aquaculture farmers.
The conference had six plenary sessions. These were 1.) governance in the fisheries and aquatic resources industry, 2.) capture fisheries industry, 3.) sustainable business management and competitive strategies for fisheries and aquatic resources industry, 4.) post-harvest fisheries industry, 5.) other social science issues and debates in the fisheries and aquatic resources industry, and 6.) aquaculture and other aquatic resources industry.
Prof. Arthur Barrido, Dean of CM and chair of ICFAS 2018, was elated with the success of the conference.
“Indeed, there are plenty of information to ponder on and if this is in anyway ignited our individual consciousness to inspire us to do our share in helping the industry overcome the issues and challenges it faces, then the conference is truly just a success.”
Barrido together with UPV Chancellor Ricardo Babaran and Vice Chancellor for Research and Extension Rolly Fuentes awarded the certificate to the research winners. Mr. Aries Paul Pardon and Prof. Reynold Tan won as Best Paper in the natural science and social science and management categories, respectively. Winners in the photo contest about the conference posted at facebook and instagram were also announced.
The conference is sponsored by the Province of Iloilo, Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Agricultural Research, World Aquaculture Oficialis, Bernaqua Hatchery Feed, DOST – Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCARRD), Bread and Butter, Double Dragon and Daily Guardian.
The fifth ICFAS will be hosted by the UPV Tacloban College in Tacloban City next year.
Source: University of the Philippines Visayas
