In the evolving world of aquaculture, gender equality is increasingly recognised as a key driver of innovation, inclusivity, and sustainability. Yet, women remain underrepresented across the sector, even here in Scotland.
Hasamini Thilakarathne may be the first female marine aquaculture specialist in Sri Lanka, where she's managing Oceanpick's barramundi hatchery and nursery, and aims to break barriers and shatter gender stereotypes in her country.
Elizabeth Okullow, co-founder of AquaMnara, explains how she is providing African fish farmers with innovative tools, including IoT monitoring devices and pioneering market access strategies.
Libyan-based Dr Jamila Rizgalla, head of the Department of Aquaculture at the University of Tripoli, talks about her journey into the aquaculture sector and how she is working to progress aquaculture development in her country
After gaining her master’s in aquaculture in Gran Canaria, Nourhan Ali has gained an impressive range of farming experience in Egypt and is now a consultant for the Saudi Aquaculture Society.
As an advocate of seaweed aquaculture, biologist Patricia Bianchi promotes sustainable food production all over the world with the aim to improve livelihoods and minimise environmental impacts through her role in the ASC-MSC seaweed programme.
Ita Sualia has a diverse and impactful career in Indonesian aquaculture. She is currently the chief operating officer at the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), overseeing projects that support small and medium-sized aquaculture busines…
After overcoming some early setbacks, Nawa Consollata Muyangana’s decision to diversify into farming tilapia has seen her make waves in Zambia’s aquaculture scene and she now has ambitions to ramp up production to 20,000 tonnes a year.
Francisca Samsing Pedrals – who has worked in the salmon sector in Chile, Australia and Norway – is relishing her new role at vet school in Sydney, where she wants to make more people aware of the opportunities offered in global aquaculture.
Oluwasikemi Olabisi is the director of The FarmLady Aquatics Limited, a consulting company that helps prospective and existing catfish farmers through training, mentoring and production of healthy catfish juveniles.
After studying marine biology and aquaculture in university and learning the ropes at her own shrimp farm in Ecuador, Janeth Chavez Zambrano is turning her hand to indoor shrimp farming with SwissShrimp.
Victoria Emmanuel, founder of Sokvikia Fisheries, runs a fish production, processing and distribution business in Nigeria that aims to mainly sell to women who are concerned about food safety, while promoting food security, nutrition and employment opportuniti…
Angela Odero, CEO and co-founder of Rio Fish Limited, is on a mission to end the sex-for-fish trade in Kenya, (whereby women traders are sexually exploited by predatory fishermen) - through market linkages so that women traders can access an adequate, convenie…
Indonesia-based aquaculture specialist Retno Nuraini’s continual work on sustainable production has led her to join Deliberate Capital, an investment company which is providing financial and technical expertise to smallholder shrimp farmers.
Aine O'Donnell and Aine-Lisa Shannon are bringing aquaculture to Ireland's primary schools as part of the Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM) Aquaculture Remote Classroom (ARC), a mobile classroom that showcases aquaculture's role in coastal communities and climate-posi…
Heather Sadusky has been on a mission to give consumers access to sustainable seafood and has worked across the US, Hong Kong and the Caribbean to achieve her goals. She's now leading the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership's traceability efforts in the aquacult…
Yasmin Abdullah is a researcher at the Fish Farming and Technology Institute at Suez Canal University and also works in one of Egypt’s largest national aquaculture projects.
Melania Lynn Cornish is one of Canada’s true seaweed farming pioneers and, following 30 years in the sector, is now passing on her hard-won skills to a new generation of small seaweed farmers in Malaysia.
After studying architecture and design in university, Cynthia Darmawan decided to join Delta Marine, her family's shrimp trading business. Since then, she's helped the business expand and plays a leading role in Indonesia's fast-growing shrimp sector.
Dr Marta Carvalho is a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, where she studies novel Omega-3 sources for fish feed.
Siti Asiyah, a veteran in the Indonesian shrimp industry, runs a shrimp hatchery and grow-out farm in Jepara, Central Java, which is both a commercial venture and a place for the next generation of aquaculture professionals to flourish.
Azellia Alma Shafira, co-founder and CEO of Banoo Indonesia, talks about her journey to bring affordable technology to boost small-scale fish farming productivity and her vision to help build a more inclusive aquaculture industry.
Dipika Roy Prapti, a postgraduate researcher at Universiti Putra Malaysia, is developing technology to elevate the prospects of farmers – and females – in the aquaculture sector, in Bangladesh and beyond.
Peruvian Jenny Soria Nina develops technologies to facilitate the growth of the aquaculture sector. One of her recent successes is a mobile hatchery designed to produce scallops and other aquatic species.
Mercedes Wanguemert, one of Europe’s foremost sea cucumber experts, explains her role in the formation of the continent’s fledgling sea cucumber aquaculture sector and why she believes that the echinoderms have huge untapped potential.
Alexsandra Caseiro is one of the stalwarts of the Brazilian aquaculture sector, spending two decades in the feed sector, before setting up her own consultancy firm, operating mainly in in Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Venezuela, Mexico and Brazil.
Coming from a small village from the North of India where girls are expected to marry young and be homemakers, Mukti Vats showed incredible determination and persistence to obtain a PhD and then found Nutrenno, a startup in Bombay that hopes to transform the a…
As an aquaculture veterinarian based in Tasmania, Australia, Christine travels the continent to assist fish farms to improve biological productivity and solve fish health issues.
Kenya-based insect farmer, aquaculture consultant and entrepreneur Proscovia Alando aims to establish the largest fish farming operation in East Africa, in a bid to improve prospects of the region’s women and youth in particular.
Jyotirmayee Moharana, who hails from Orissa, joined the Aquaconnect* team as a banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) sales manager. She now travels to villages in the state’s coastal belt to enable access to formal credit and insurance for shrimp fa…
India Boyer is a dealflow manager at Hatch, a role that involves finding – and tracking – emerging startups across the aquaculture value chain, looking to forge possible investments and partnerships. She is also currently in the process of recruiting participa…
Kate Dempsey began her career as a law graduate but quickly found her calling in Ireland's aquaculture sector as founder of the Irish Mussel Seed Company, the Wicklow Seaweed Company and the CEO of Aqualicense.
Ching Fui Fui is an associate professor at the University Malaysia in Sabah. She runs the university fish hatchery and works at the Borneo Marine Research institute, a centre of excellence working on conservation and sustainable development of marine resources…
Dr Megan Davis of Florida Atlantic University (FAU) has spent over four decades growing queen conch, a species in steady decline. Her work holds promise as a way of safeguarding the species through community-based solutions.
Mia Moseng has recently been hired as general manager of Sedna Technologies Norway – a startup that has developed innovative devices that monitor water quality and fish welfare.
The founder of the largest catfish farm in Nigeria’s Anambra State reflects on overcoming major financial setbacks, conquering prejudice and her hopes that fish farmers will one day have access to reasonable loans.
