Taking place in Dynamic Earth, in Edinburgh, on 29 May the awards highlight the range of talent involved in the global aquaculture sector.
“We were pleased to gather a diverse panel of judges, featuring Alex Adrian, aquaculture operations manager of Crown Estate Scotland; Martin Gill, head of aquaculture and fisheries at Lloyds Register; Nicki Holmyard, Director of Offshore Shellfish Ltd; Professor Dave Little, head of research at Stirling’s Institute of Aquaculture; Ruth Layton, co-founder of, and sustainability director at Benchmark Holdings; and The Fish Site’s Rob Fletcher,” says event organiser Susan Tinch.
“It was an interesting day, with no shortage of debate over the relative merits of the 67 entries and nominations, but the six judges managed to whittle down the contenders for each category to make the shortlists. And we look forward to announcing the winners on 29 May. We’d like to thank both the judges and all those who entered these hotly-contested awards,” she adds.
The shortlists for each of the categories can be found below:
Applied research breakthrough - sponsored by Lloyd's Register
- Aqua BioTech Group – the Maltese firm has established a multi-species hatchery and smolt facility at Buckieburn, Scotland
- Nutrition Research Group – optimising the use of omega-3 oils in salmon production, Institute of Aquaculture, Scotland
- BioMar/Mowi/Scottish Sea Farms/the University of Stirling and SAIC – closing the cycle for captive ballan wrasse, Scotland
- Troutlodge – the US firm has used genetics to combat losses caused by causes bacterial cold water disease (BCWD) in rainbow trout
Sustainability - sponsored by Cargill
- Bioretur – converting fish waste to biogas and fertiliser, Norway
- Foundation for Partnership Initiatives in the Niger Delta – providing training to boost catfish farming productivity in Nigeria
- Ictyogroup – developing effective Streptococcus vaccines in Ghana
- Veramaris – Dutch algal oil producer
International impact - sponsored by BioMar
- Hatch – aquaculture accelerator, Bergen
- Nutrition Research Group - nutritional analysis with a global reach, Institute of Aquaculture, Scotland
- Prarie AquaTech – Me-Pro soy-based, phosphorous-reducing feed ingredient, South Dakota
- Veramaris – algal oil producer, Netherlands
People’s choice*
- Gorkha Ahedo – field team supervisor, InnovaSea Systems, Panama
- Caitriona Carter, author of The Politics of Aquaculture: Sustainability interdependence, territory and regulation in fish farming, Irstea, France
- Richard Derbyshire – Orkney regional production manager, Scottish Sea Farms
- Yilin Li – quality control supervisor, INVE Aquaculture, Salt Lake City
- Nathan Pyne-Carter – managing director, Ace Aquatec, Scotland
To vote, click on the following link https://www.aquacultureawards....
Most promising new entrant - sponsored by Primer Design
- Foover mort removal system - Underwater Contracting Limited
- Kendal Hunter – farm manager, Mowi Scotland
- Manolin - software analytics to help farmers optimize treatments and improve their fish health
- Clara McGhee – farm technician, Mowi Scotland
Animal welfare - sponsored by Benchmark
- Ace Aquatech – Hell Raiser electric seal deterrent
- Europharma – SuperSmolt FO
Marks & Spencer - the M&S Welfare Outcome Measure Programme - Seneye – smart water quality sensor
Technical innovation - sponsored by Mowi
- Benchmark Animal Health – CleanTreat, purification of water used in bath treatments
- Pentair – Pentair Vaki Smartflow System
- Underwater Contracting Limited – Foover mort removal system
- XpertSea – the Canadian firm’s Growth Platform
Diversity - sponsored by the Scottish Aquaculture Innovation Centre (SAIC)
- Open Blue Sea Farms – offshore cobia producers, Panama
- Scottish Sea Farms – one of Scotland’s leading salmon producers
“We look forward to welcoming all those shortlisted, and the wider aquaculture community, to the awards dinner, tables for which are being booked up quickly,” adds Tinch.
Further details
*The winner of the people’s choice category is to be decided by an open vote. Any individual involved in the aquaculture sector can vote for one of the five candidates who have been nominated. Details of how to vote will be released shortly.
The judging procedure was based on a voting system following a debate between the panel – those judges with a connection to a company or product in the running for an award had to declare their interest and abstain from voting on that particular category.
The awards’ dinner is taking place at Dynamic Earth, in Edinburgh, on 29 May at 7.30pm. The event follows on from the Fish Site’s/5m Publishing’s seminar on Aquaculture's Global Outlook.
To book tickets for the awards dinner visit https://www.aquacultureawards.com/tickets/awards-dinner-ticket-2019/ to book tickets for the seminar visit https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/aquacultures-global-outlook-embracing-internationality-registration-56888022607
