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Aquaculture in Canada: partnering for a sustainable tomorrow

Posted by Jenny Weitzman on May 27, 2019 in News

MAP Professor Ramón Filgueira and MAP IDPhD students Jenny Weitzman and Megan Rector recently attended the 2019 annual Aquaculture Canada Conference in Victoria, British Columbia. The conference, hosted by the Aquaculture Association of Canada, is the largest annual aquaculture conference in Canada, attracting over 300 delegates annually from across academia, industry, and government for engaging multi-day sessions.

This year, the conference focused on sessions supporting the theme “partnering for a sustainable tomorrow”. Attendees saw presentations about new collaborative projects in British Columbia, and learned about cutting-edge research on genomics, fish health, environmental management, and new species and production systems. Among the presenters, keynote Kim Thompson from the Aquarium of the Pacific led an engaging discussion about public perceptions of aquaculture and the opportunity for education, collaboration, and transparency in the sector. Sessions throughout the conference celebrated the diversity of the sector and presented innovative solutions to growing aquaculture in Canada in an environmentally responsible and socially endorsed way.

The conference also drew in students and young professionals from across the sector to network and discuss the future of aquaculture in Canada. The conference is an important event for this group, offering unique networking opportunities, recognition through oral and poster presentation awards, and financial travel support and scholarships. Jenny Weitzman, MAP PhD and member of the Canadian Aquaculture Industry Alliance Emerging Leaders Council, helped lead an interactive brainstorming session to bring together young minds with seasoned experts to collaborate on how to better engage youth in the sector.