Update for June
CAEIH is a registered non profit, Nominated for Director of the WAS-LAC, upcoming summer series
Hello Everyone
Happy June. May was filled with a lot of travel for aquaculture, with visits to Puerto Rico, Bangkok, and London and a few successes. More on these trips in the following posts. I wanted to start the month with success and great news.
SUMMARY
CAEIH is a registered non-profit
Voting is open for board members Latin American and Caribbean chapter of the World Aquaculture Society
Summer webinar series
Fundraising campaign launch
I am pleased to announce that I have successfully registered and received 501(c) (3) status for the nonprofit - the CARIBBEAN AQUACULTURE EDUCATION AND INNOVATION HUB. Under this status, the Caribbean Aquaculture Hub can receive tax-deductible grants, gifts and sponsorships from government, NGOs, and private organizations.
This is the first organization of this kind in the Caribbean- created and led by a Team of Women from or working in the Caribbean dedicated to the growth of Aquaculture.
The trustees are
CEO - Dr. Juli-Anne Russo (Jamaica)
Treasurer - Dr. Stacey Williams (Puerto Rico)
Secretary - Dr. Carla Phillips Savage (Trinidad and Tobago)
Updates on the profiles of the Trustees and the Board Members will be given in July’s News.
The Aquaculture Hub was formed in the summer of 2023 by the Women in Caribbean Aquaculture (WiCA) team in response to the growing interest in various projects dedicated to the growth of aquaculture in the Caribbean.
Although the majority of persons with a tertiary education in aquaculture are women, there is very little information written about their contributions. Therefore WiCA was born in March 2023 to foster the growth and leadership of young women and girls in the industry.
There is also a lack of young Aquaculturists with a tertiary education. In March a dedicated group of 3rd and final year undergraduates from the University of the West Indies in Jamaica answered the call for volunteers and formed the Caribbean Aquaculture Youth Group in the Spring. If you know of any tertiary students that are interested in Aquaculture please encourage them to join.
So often we hear about the many challenges that prevent the growth of aquaculture on Caribbean Small Islands, CAEIH wishes to provide some of the solutions. One of the major ones is to build a cohort of trained and skilled persons knowledgeable in research and development to support innovation and entrepreneurship which can contribute to the growth of the industry in the region.
Under the Aquaculture Hub, we will be supporting the growth of 4 projects for 2024 and 2025.
Creating a pathway for leadership and development for Women in Caribbean Aquaculture
Tilapia and Aquarium fish health and Biosecurity ( which includes seaweed farming)
Workshops in education, R&D, entrepreneurship and capacity building of Caribbean Youth and Scientists
Supporting students and scientists to attend regional and international aquaculture conferences at no cost.
Stay tuned for more to come as we create our leadership team and Board Members.
NOMINATIONS for LAC-WAS BOARD MEMBERS
Are you a member of the World Aquaculture Society? Vote for Me as your Board Member for the Latin American and Caribbean Chapter!! 🐟 🌊
I have been nominated for a position on the Board of the Latin American and Caribbean Chapter of the World Aquaculture Society.
Three Board positions are being renewed: President-elect, treasurer, and one director. I am pleased to have been nominated as the first Jamaican and Caribbean person for Director of the next Board. I hope to be elected to represent the very underrepresented Caribbean of the LAC chapter.
The candidates for the next Board on the ballot for this year are
President-elect: Dr. Marcelo Shei (Brasil), Dra. Paola Barato (Colombia)
Treasurer: Dr. Jesaias Costa (Brasil)
Director: Dr. Juli-Anne Russo (Jamaica), Dr. Marisol Morales-Covarrubias (Mexico)
How you can support
Become a member of the WAS-LAC chapter https://www.was.org/lacc/en/pagent/was-benefits.aspx
Membership for students is free if you join the World Aquaculture Society Student association
https://www.wasstudents.org/join
Vote. Please vote in these elections
Spread this post. Share this post with your network and encourage others to vote.
Let’s connect! Feel free to reach out if you have any questions or ideas.
The ballot for the election of Officers and Directors in the World Aquaculture Society is now online.
Informative responses and photographs of candidates approved by the Board of Directors are presented. The Board has approved fully electronic voting for all members with working e-mail addresses.
Use this link http://www.was.org/ballot to vote online.
Please contact KillianH@was.org for a PDF version of the ballot if you have issues voting and the issue cannot be resolved before the deadline.
The deadline for voting is July 6, 2024.
Summer webinar series
We will begin our summer webinar series this month. There will be 2 free webinars in June. SAVE THE DATE FOR JUNE 19 and June 26th.
On June 19th, CAEIH will host AQUASAFRA, a multi-trophic hatchery committed to championing farmers & developing a stronger industry in the Caribbean & beyond in the time of climate change.
June 26th in collaboration with HATCH BLUE, CAEIH will be hosting 5 incredible women entrepreneurs that are innovating in the seaweed industry and will present their business.
June is Caribbean Heritage Month
Thank you for continuing to support this newsletter. We now have 750 persons signed up with a 40% read rate. This shows that more people are getting interested in Caribbean aquaculture.
CAEIH will be launching our first Fundraising Campaign in July. Our first task is to support at no cost Caribbean scientists and students to attend the World Aquaculture Conference Latin America and Caribbean chapter to be held in Medellin, Colombia. Often the aquaculture industry has focused on the farmer which is very much needed. But the farmers and value-added entrepreneurs NEED support from trained persons. For aquaculture to develop, countries need more skilled persons to support the farmers.
Caribbean Aquaculture scientists and tertiary students have gone unnoticed and un-supported for more than 20 years. In the past, only 1 or 2 UWI older members of staff attended. The lack of representation at regional and international conferences is cost-prohibitive to young people. CAEIH would like to support the growth and development of the new and young generation by assisting their attendance at international conferences.
I am asking everyone reading this to please contribute 1US dollar the week of July 1st when we launch. If you can contribute more it will be appreciated and will help to boost the algorithm on the crowdfunding platform. Just $1 can go a long way if each person on this platform contributes.
I will be posting more information on the scientists and their work for those whose abstract was accepted and for the students working behind the scenes on the Fundraising campaign.
Please help to pioneer this exciting start to Aquaculture growth in the Caribbean
