By Shannon Parsons, International Aquafeed magazine, UK
The biggest aquaculture event in Asia, Asian-Pacific Aquaculture 2024 (APA24), recently took place in Surabaya, Indonesia, where all the greatest minds in the region came together to showcase their latest innovations, contribute new research and discoveries, and connect or reconnect with others in the industry. Having taken place over July 2-5, the four-day B2B event encouraged attendees and exhibitors to see how Indonesia has been expanding their aquaculture industry by a whopping 20 percent in the last five years, and that with this growth, Southeast Asia has developed alongside it.
Opening Ceremony
The event truly began on July 3, as the day previous was set up day for the exhibitors. Kicking off the show was a relaxing live music session as people gathered for the opening ceremony, filling the room. Here, everyone was warmly welcomed to the show and shown a short film that showcased Indonesia’s goals and desires to increase the blue economy and sustainability in fishing within the country along with how Indonesia can become a champion in the global aquaculture sector.
The Vice President of Indonesia, Prof. Dr KH Ma’ruf Amin alongside the Indonesian Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Ir. Sakti Wahyu Trenggono, greeted the attendees and spoke of the importance of aquaculture to Indonesia along with the importance of sustainability and blue economy whilst announcing the theme of this year’s event ‘Aquaculture Driving The Blue Economy’. The objective of APA24 was to incite and encourage more action, attention and support from the government, academia, the overall industry and the general public.
Figures
After the welcoming ceremony the exhibition, trade show and poster areas opened allowing all 6,051 attendees to begin networking to their fullest extent. The show featured staggering numbers throughout the event with a total of 63 countries in attendance, all of which showing their support for the Indonesian aquatic industry with also a total of 226 booths for attendees to browse.
Students were also offered support, with 72 in attendance, 70 different posters to view and 399 abstracts to read through. The students are a key part of the industry as they are the future and the support the event offers by giving them voices and allowing their studies and findings to be shown helps to greatly boost their visibility and networking opportunities.
APA24 also held multiple hours of sessions, with 31 in total taking place. The sessions cover a variety of topics such as on Wednesday there were ‘Shrimp Diseases and Health Management’ and ‘Aquaculture Engineering, Waste Recycling and Treatments’. On Thursday there were ‘Broodstocks, Breeding, Genetics and Domestication’ and ‘Food Safety, Inspections, Audits, and Security’ while Friday held ‘Women in Aquaculture’ and ‘Macrophytes and Algae’. These were only some of the topics that were covered over the three days.
Interviews and Networking
As mentioned, there were many opportunities to network, especially where it didn’t interrupt the exhibitors time to showcase their latest projects. APA24 held many refreshment and lunch breaks. There were also a Happy Hour at the end of Wednesday and Thursday where everyone was invited to socialise and drink, whilst on Thursday there was also the WAS-APC (World Aquaculture Society-Asia Pacific Chapter) Members meeting which was then followed up with the Presidents Reception, all of which being perfect opportunities to meet with new and old colleagues and friends in the industry.
International Aquafeed had the chance to meet with many of our old friends at this event such as Dr Farshad Shishehchian, CEO of Blue Aqua, Dr Romi Novriadi and Aurélien Goffinet, Asian Market Sales Manager for Faivre. We were also able to meet with new people and companies and our CEO and publisher, Roger Gilbert, was able to interview some of these prominent people we had met.
Suwendi, Head of nutrition and feed technology at JAPFA, is one such person that Roger Gilbert interviewed at this year’s APA24. JAPFA are one of the largest agrifood companies in Asia, focused on poultry, swine, aquaculture and beef. Mr Suwendi, who oversees the formulation for freshwater fish, marine fish and shrimp, sees a bright future for Indonesian aquaculture, despite current challenges in the economy and infrastructure, and emphasises the need to ease permits, increase government support, and promote seafood to their local market.
Adji Pramano, Director of Aquafeed business for PT. Central Proteina Prima also talks to Roger Gilbert. Central Proteina Prima are one of the leading aquaculture companies in Indonesia, focused on the shrimp and fish business. Mr Pramano talks about the challenges and solutions in the industry, such as the need to improve technical farming, and the solution of implementing a new 2-step farming system standard, which can manage water quality much better and improve productivity. The video interviews can be found on our YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/@internationalaquafeed9386 or on our website at IAFTV https://www.aquafeed.co.uk/category/videos/ .
Next Time
The next World Aquaculture Society event you can expect will be Aquaculture Africa 2024 on November 19-22, 2024, in Hammamet Tunisia. An exciting event to prepare yourself for and we are excited to see you there. For more information visit the website: https://www.was.org/meeting/code/AFRAQ24
Published September 2024 edition of International Aquafeed Magazine
