KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
Ravi Fotedar
BSc(H), MSc., M.Phil., PhD., MBA
Curtin University
Australia
Ravi Fotedar’s expertise is in Sustainable Aquaculture, both marine and freshwater. After completing Master of Philosophy degree in Aquaculture from the University of Delhi, India in 1986, Ravi has first-hand experience in dealing with all aspects of aquaculture sustainability issues, including sustainable production, environmental impacts of aquaculture, post-harvest handling/processing, value addition/quality assurance of seafood (SQF – Safe Quality Food), international marketing, and project management. As a manager of seafood business with Tata Exports, Ltd, Ravi developed close business relationships with multinational companies (San Miguel, Philippines; CP, Thailand; Frigoscandia, Sweden and Neptune Fisheries, USA). All these companies are leaders in aquaculture and seafood processing. Ravi’s role in these companies ranged from technical advisor/consultant to business development manager.
Ravi migrated to Perth in 1992 and completed his PhD in aquaculture nutrition and then MBA, both from the Curtin University, while working as a Fish Hatchery Manager with the University.
Ravi’s expertise is in production biology of aquaculture species, which is enforced by his research in aquaculture nutrition. Ravi’s main research areas include a) investigating various feed-additives in fish-diets for improved immunocompetence and sustainability; b) nutrient recycling in integrated aquaculture systems and c) physiological adaptations of aquatic species when reared in inland saline waters and d) use of biotechnological innovations to improve the water quality. All these research areas are aimed at improving the sustainability of aquaculture industry. Currently Ravi is focussing on the use of biotechnological innovations to improve the productivity of aquaculture through sustainable and environmentally friendly means, which also involves the use of custom-made feed additives including pre and probiotics as an alternative to antibiotics in the aquaculture industry. Ravi has a PhD degree in marron nutrition and several peer-reviewed publications on marron aquaculture.
While working as an academic in Curtin University, Ravi has successfully completed various international (Vietnam – funded by AusAid: Indonesia – commercial funding) and domestic projects in aquaculture. He has successfully supervised more than 40 higher degree research (HDR) students to completion. Currently, he is supervising another 9 HDR students. His students have acquired the most competitive jobs in the field of aquaculture. He has also established a new post graduate course in Sustainable Aquaculture in Curtin University. Ravi currently enjoys active collaborations with the Institute of Oceanography, Vietnam, Aquaculture Research Institute #1, Vietnam, Diponegoro University, Indonesia and DURACK, Geraldton, WA, Central Institute of Fisheries Education, Mumbai, India.
Ravi has more than 100 peer-reviewed journal articles in international journals and has published a book on “Recent advances and new Species in Aquaculture” and a manual for marron farmers.
Current Areas of Interest:
- Formulating ecologically sustainable formulated feed for aquaculture industry
- Using recent biotechnological innovations to improve water quality of the production systems
- Improving the immunocompetence of aquatic species to reduce reliance on antibiotics and chemicals
- Setting up of environment-friendly fish production systems
- Conducting R and D activities in different areas of aquaculture (including post-harvest and shelf-life of aquatic products)
Dr. Krishna R. Salin
Associate Professor and Program Chair
Aquaculture and Aquatic Resources Management (AARM)
Asian Institute of Technology (AIT)
Thailand
Dr. Krishna. R. Salin has been active in the aquaculture industry as a researcher, entrepreneur, and academic for over 22 years. He is currently an Associate Professor, teaching/supervising postgraduate students, and coordinating the Aquaculture and Aquatic Resources Management (AARM) Program at Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), Thailand as its Chair.
His current research focus is on innovative aquaculture technologies, applied genetics for stock improvement, and hatchery management of fish and shrimp. His research experience includes development of novel biofloc technologies for finfish and shellfish, genetic diversity studies on Indian and Sri Lankan prawns (Endeavour Award, Govt. of Australia – postdoctoral research at QUT, Brisbane); characterization of growth-promoting genes in farmed prawns (CREST Award, Department of Biotechnology, Govt. of India – Visiting Fellow at QUT, Brisbane); innovative aquaculture technologies for water conservation and safe discharge of effluents from shrimp farming (DST, India); and genetic characterization and stock improvement of tilapia in Thailand (AIT).
Dr. Salin is a Technical Consultant or Hon. Advisorto several national and international organizations (Ananda Group, India; Msingi East Africa; and Organic Sensus, Germany, among them). Current projects/assignments include the ERASMUS+ GeoServices-4-Sustainability (2015-18), co-funded by the European Commission; and Sustainable Aquaculture Development for East Africa, funded by DFID, UK. He has also organized a series of international workshops, conferences, and capacity building programs on aquaculture at AIT. He is a Visiting Professor at the Shanghai Ocean University, China; and Universidad Juárez Autónoma de Tabasco (UJAT) – one of the biggest public universities in Mexico; and Associate Editor of the Journal Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, published by Springer Nature; and Aquaculture and Fisheries, published by Elsevier.
Dr. Yuan Derun
Keynote title : “Aquaculture: the growth limitation and untapped opportunities”
Senior Programme Officer
Sustainable Farming System Programme
Education and Training Programme
Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia-Pacific (NACA)
Thailand
Dr. Yuan Derun is a senior program officer at the Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia-Pacific (NACA), an intergovernmental organization for sustainable aquaculture development. He is managing two working programmes of NACA: (1) Sustainable Farming Systems – a programme to facilitate sustainable aquaculture development in Asia-Pacific through promoting collaborative research, technology development, and farming innovations; (2) Education and Training Programme – a programme for regional capacity building, knowledge networking, and institutional collaboration in aquaculture and fisheries education and training. He is also a visiting professor at Shanghai Ocean University.
His professional work in aquaculture focuses on development and adoption of environmentally benign and ecologically efficient aquaculture technologies, improvement of aquaculture value chains, facilitation of aquaculture trade, promotion of good aquaculture practices and certification, small scale farmer empowerment, policy formation and institutional support. He has extensive experiences in research and project management in Asia and Africa and has been providing consultancy experiences worldwide for a number of research and development projects in association with organizations such as ACIAR, USAID, FAO, UNUFTP, World Bank, ADB, UNU-FTP, etc. and various government agencies in the region.
Much of his work experience was also related to education and training in the fields of aquaculture, aquatic resource management and aquaculture business management, with a focus on warm water species fed on low trophic level of food chains or species of commercial importance to the region, including tilapia, carps, Clarias catfish, Pangasius, groupers, seabass, marine shrimp and giant freshwater prawn. He has been involved in various training programmes as a trainer or a training organizer for nearly thirty years. More than a thousand professionals have been trained in these programmes, many of whom are playing important roles in aquaculture development worldwide.
PLENARY SPEAKER
Dr Janet Howieson
Curtin University
Australia
For the last 10 years Dr Janet Howieson has worked at Curtin University specializing in post-harvest research for the seafood industry. She currently has research projects across many seafood sectors including finfish, prawn, octopus and pearl oyster. The projects encompass new product development, supply and value chain analysis, waste utilization, traceability/authenticity and provenance, predictive modelling and collaborative market development.
Dr Howieson has supervised a number of post-graduate research students and delivered training in seafood supply chain monitoring across Australia and overseas. More recently Dr Howieson has commenced new prodcut development and waste utilisation studies with horticulture industry.
Dr Howieson also has supervised multiple post-graduate students in post-harvest seafood research. Many of her research outputs have been translates into industry practice and hence she has been awarded state and national accolades for her work. Dr Howieson previously worked at the Western Australian Department of Fisheries in Strategic Planning and Policy.
Dr Howieson has been awarded for her work in the seafood industry, including the WAFIC Research, Development and Extension Award (2013), the Curtin University Innovation and Commercialisation award: Health Sciences (2014), the David Thomassen award for outstanding contribution to the Australian Seafood CRC (2015) and the WA and National Seafood Industry Award in People Development (2015).
Dr. Dilip Kumar
Aquaculture, Fisheries and Rural Development Adviser
Bihar Animal Sciences University (BASU)
India
A fisheries / aquaculture professional with over 45 five years of exposure and experience of working with several National (ICAR-CIFRI, ICAR-CIFA, ICAR-CIFE, NITI Ayog, Planning Commission, BASU, etc) and International / Regional organizations (FAO, UNDP, IFAD, UNOPS, NACA, and World Bank) in India, South and Southeast Asian countries and briefly in East African countries in various capacities (Scientist, Project Leader, Head of Division, Chief Technical Advisor / Team Leader, Director / Vice Chancellor / Adviser / Chairman – Committees for formulating XIIth Five Year Plan National Inland Fisheries and Aquaculture Policy for India, etc).