The Legislative Press and Public Information Bureau
Distributed March 4, 2002
For more information,
contact: Dana Rae DelSignore, Publicist
State House Room 20
(401) 222-2457
Email: ddelsignore@rilin.state.ri.us
New, largest ever aquaculture conference to hit Rhode Island shores
STATE HOUSE -- For the first time, Rhode Island is poised to sponsor the largest aquaculture conference ever held in the New England area when it plays host to the Northeast Aquaculture Conference & Expo this November.Slated for Nov. 15-16 at the Crown Plaza at the Crossings in Warwick, the conference will draw together local, national and international exhibitors, experts, educators and fish farmers to discuss issues and trends in the region’s aquaculture industry. It will mark the first time that the states of Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont, New York and New Jersey have joined together for such an event.
"This is the most ambitious regional aquaculture conference ever held in New England," said Rep. Eileen S. Naughton, who chairs the Rhode Island Legislative Commission on Aquaculture. "For years we have been trying to show that aquaculture will benefit both the environment and the economy, and all our hard work is finally paying off."
Defined as the cultivation of aquatic plants and animals under natural or artificial conditions, aquaculture was one a thriving business in Rhode Island in the 1900s. But since then, there was a lull in fish farming in Rhode Island until the late 1990s, when Representative Naughton began to champion the benefits of aquaculture for the Rhode Island economy.
She formed the Legislative Commission on Aquaculture, which she now chairs. Since 1996, the commission has sponsored an annual aquaculture conference in the Ocean State. Every year the show has grown to include more topics, more speakers and more state representation.
This year’s conference and expo has culminated in two days of keynote speakers, seminars, talks, field trips, an urban aquaculture symposium and a trade show with more than 40 vendors.
Keynote speaker will be Richard Prickett of Marine Farm Technology Ltd. in Great Britain. A flatfish producer currently working on expanding the cod industry in Europe, Prickett will compare and contrast Europe’s flourishing finfish business with the United States’ floundering industry.
Other speakers will includeYoni Zohar, professor of fish endocrinology/aquaculture at the University of Maryland; Kristin Strellec, economist at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; Dr. Otis Miller, aquaculture coordinator for the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, a branch of the U.S. Department of Aquaculture; and Robin Downey, executive director of the Pacific Coast Shellfish Growers Association.
Experts will give talks and seminars on such topics as integrating aquaculture into existing communities, building a business plan, freshwater aquaculture and seafood marketing.
Rounding out the conference will be a newly expanded expo area, where exhibitors can show their wares and network with other representatives from the industry, government and education field.
The conference will be hosted by the RI Legislative Commission on Aquaculture and co-hosted by the Ocean State Aquaculture Association. Main sponsors include the Legislative Commission on Aquaculture; Sea Grants from Rhode Island, Maine, New York, Connecticut, New Hampshire and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution; and the Maine Aquaculture Innovation Center.
Other sponsors include the Coastal Resources Management Council, the RI Department of Environmental Management and the Narragansett Bay Commission.
For more information about the conference, please contact Representative Naughton at (401) 222-1716 or Ann Marie Rathbun, conference coordinator, at (800) 292-8787.
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