Day 1 :
Keynote Forum
Bernhard Feneis
Federation of European Aquaculture Producers, Germany
Keynote: EU Aquaculture related to world situation
Biography:
Bernhard Feneis studied Fishgenetic on Technical University of Munich and as a second fulltime study course Veterinary Medicine on Ludwig Maximilian University Munich . working as fish Vet at bavarian Fish health service and on privat bases in EU Memberstates. He is Vice President of FEAP, the Federation of European Aquaculture Producers, and President of the German Aquaculture Association VDBA
Abstract:
Aquaculture is doubtlessly the branche of the food sector which is most important, at least in the following 20-30 years, for different reasons:More and more aquaculture has to compensate the restrictions in the maritime fishing sector. Due to the predicted growth of the world population by some billion people it is inevitable to use aquaculture for the additional protein demand. Wild catch is even now already decreasing. Key issue in the discussion how to feed the world is sustainability. Aquaculture is unbeatable in topics like food conversion rate, carbon footprint, carefull use of resources in general. Sustainability is the magic word. The definition Aquaculture by FAO is accepted worldwide:”…farming of aquatic organisms…” this includes “rural aquaculture” as well as “industrial monoculture” . The broad variety of aquaculture is also reflected in the wide range of taxonomic criteria. Such as “degree of commercialization”, “extensive-semiintensive-intensive”, not to forget algae production, or aquaponics, just to name a few. In this presentation the role of European aquaculture (E28) is discussed on different Member States, MS using Germany in detail. The EU28 situation is compared with NonEU countries and the world wide situation . Additional functions of aquaculture are discussed exceeding the purpose of growing fish or water organisms, as e.g. ecosystem services.There are lot of areas of conflict, having an adverse effect to the development of aquaculture. Although the ecological- and other advantages are undisputed, aquaculture in Europe needs support by politics, science, and most important entrepreneurs. A study is presented, showing the differences in twelve key issues between EU 28 (eg. Germany) and Non EU countries (Turkey). Internal barriers due to administration, environment protection, NGOs are discussed, as well as the difficulty for EU Aquaculture to stabilize its position on the world market. Particular emphasis is given to the topic “level playing field” and to the question what sense makes a European financial support , given to Aquaculture having the long term development in mind.Some examples will show the wide range and how deep sustainability can be implemented in freshwater aquaculture using modern technologies with the clear commitment to it of the entrepreneur. The importance of Eco labels is discussed in relation to the sustainability philosophy of the employers.Finally a “to do list” of producers, addressed to RTD and politicians is presented to point out the criteria to be fulfilled in order to use at least partly in EU member states the great potential which is seen worldwide in Aquaculture
Keynote Forum
Heiko Bleher
Aquapress Publishers, Italy
Keynote: Zebra Fish : A Biological Model Organism
Biography:
Heiko Bleher is owner of Aquapress Publishers, Italy (Formerly Aquarint Verlags Haus, Germany), with yearly publication of a popular magazine called DISCUSBOOK, with the updates of the Amazon region (and-updates on the monographs by Heiko Bleher: Bleher\'s Discus volume 1 and volume); the quarterly peer-reviewed scientific journal aqua, International Journal of Ichthyology; writing and publishing a series of book on aquatic environments (past and present) worldwide, its fishes and invertebrates, the biodiversity in general, the environment and habitat loses, as well as the endless pollution of rivers and lakes
Abstract:
In 1822, when the Briton Francis Hamilton first described a certain small, longitudinally-banded fish as Cyprinus rerio(today Danio rerio), from the Kosi River in India and assigned it a so-calledDanio-division (named after the Bengalese nameDhani), he can have had no idea of the popularity this little cyprinid would eventually achieve. It was first imported for the aquarium hobby in 1905, and christened “zebra danio“, the name it still bears today. In universities and research laboratories it was established in the early 1980s, as “Zebra Fish”, and became a model organism for studies of vertebrate development, developmental biology, and some human genetic diseases, after Streisinger’s pioneer work at the University of Oregon, with wild fishes collected by Bleher in Assam. With the result that15 years before Dolly the Scottish sheep achieved fame, Zebra Fish had been cloned at this University, being the first vertebrate cloned in history. Today over 5,000 researchers in 450 labs throughout 30plus countries study Zebra Fish. And in this oral presentation Bleher will not onlytalk about recent successes with this 3-5cm long fish, but also about other tiny fish species with amazing scientific underestimated results inseeking solutions to diseases which affect humans …