INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON AQUACULTURE AND FISHERIES EDUCATION (ISAFE)

The International Symposium on Aquaculture and Fisheries Education (ISAFE) focuses on the status and development of aquaculture and fisheries education in the AP region. The first ISAFE was held in Bangkok, Thailand in 2009 and ISAFE2 was held in April 2015 in Shanghai, China.


The first workshop on fisheries education was held by AFS in May 1987 in Japan and considered/reviewed the issue of fisheries education and training, and the need for a standard fisheries curriculum to upgrade fisheries education systems and fisheries manpower development in the region. The proceeding of the conference/workshop was published in 1988 – Proceedings of the Workshop on Fisheries Education and Training in Asia – 1988.


Following the success of the first workshop, a second workshop was held in October, 1991 in Taipei, Taiwan. The Second Workshop on Fisheries Education and Training in Asia focused on:


A copy of the workshop proceedings – Fisheries Education and Training in Asia: Second Workshop Proceedings – H. C. Liu and S. Y. Yeh (Editors) 1993 was published by the AFS. Those interested in accessing the proceedings should contact info@asianfisheriessociety.org


During the 8thCouncil term, Prof Yangyi, the Chair of the Conference and Workshop Committee proposed that the Society should again looked into the needs for better education and training in aquaculture and fisheries in the AP region in the increasingly competitive and globalized world.


After a series of lengthy discussions, an MOU was signed with the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) to run another conference/workshop with AIT, AFS and the Shanghai Ocean University (SHOU) as co-sponsors. AIT was chosen as the venue and Dr Ram Bhujel was appointed as Convener and the Fisheries Education and Training in Asia Workshop was renamed – The International Symposium on Aquaculture and Fisheries Education (ISAFE).


The 1st International Symposium on Aquaculture and Fisheries Education (ISAFE1) was held at the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), Bangkok, Thailand from 27th – 30th,November, 2009. The symposium aimed at  bringing together a group of distinguished speakers from the Asia-Pacific (AP) region and other parts of the world to discuss issues pertaining to aquaculture and fisheries education and how education can support the industry, especially in the AP .


The ISAFE1 symposium theme “The Future of Aquaculture and Fisheries Education” has the following objectives:


To achieve the stated objectives, the following topics were grouped into five separate sessions and discussed during the symposium. This was followed by an Open Panel Discussion Session at the end of the symposium:


A copy of the symposium programme is available at this website

The forum was attended by 103 participants from around the world. The meeting started with Welcome Addresses by AIT President Prof. Said Irandoust, President of SHOU Prof.Yingjie Pan, and AFS President, Prof. Ida Siasson, followed by the five discussion sessions.Each of the first five sessions was introduced by Keynote papers presented by Drs Peter Edwards, Meryl Williams, David Little, Dilip Kumar and Sena de Silva.

Session 1 had 15 presentations on the Current Status of Fisheries and Aquaculture Education in several countries including Japan, Philippines, Mainland China, Thailand, Vietnam, India, Taiwan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Malaysia.

Session 2 had nine papers on Curriculum Development and Training, and tackled curricularapproaches to internship, management training, experiential learning and aquaponics.

Session 3 had six papers on Innovative Teaching and Learning, several of which reported on new approaches and productive experiences in using internet/websites in delivering the curriculum such as in China and Europe.

Session 4 had seven papers on Partnerships and Collaboration highlighting the partnership aspects of education programs which can facilitate student and faculty exchange among partner institutions.

Session 5 had 10 papers that dealt with future strategy, addressing the prospects and initiatives within fisheries and aquaculture education including concerns on the inclusion of multi-disciplinarity,gender mainstreaming, and accreditation for quality.


The final session was an Open Discussion, assisted by a Panel, focusing on issues that were brought out by the various papers presented during the symposium. Interest in organizing an Education Consortium for Fisheries and Aquaculture Education was strongly expressed, which can take a first step by reviewing past experience of AFS and NACA on such an initiative.


ISAFE2 is held during 22nd to 24th April, 2015 at Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai, China.


The 3nd International Symposium on Aquaculture and Fisheries Education (ISAFE3) was organized by the ICAR-Central
Institute of Fisheries Education (CIFE), Mumbai, India in collaboration with the Indian Fisheries Association (IFA) and
Asian Fisheries Society Indian Branch (AFSIB) at CIFE, Mumbai, India during 16th-18th May, 2018. The theme of the Symposium was “Fisheries Education for Sustainable Blue Economy”.