Dai Ho Chun Distinguished Chair in Arts and Sciences, Alison Rieser, member of blue-ribbon panel on marine aquaculture
University of Hawaiʻi at MānoaHONOLULU — Concerned about the potential impact of aquaculture on the oceans, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the Pew Charitable Trusts established the Marine Aquaculture Task Force to examine the status and trends in the industry. For the past two years, task force members have spoken to dozens of scientists, fishermen, aquaculture practitioners, government regulators, and concerned coastal citizens. As a task force member, UH Mānoa Professor Alison Rieser analyzed existing laws and policies for open ocean aquaculture and helped formulate recommendations for new laws.
Rieser is the Dai Ho Chun Distinguished Chair in Arts and Sciences at UH Mānoa, with an appointment in the Department of Geography. She is a specialist in marine conservation law, property rights-based marine management regimes, and ecosystem-based approaches to fisheries management. The late Dr. Dai Ho Chun designed the chair to support interdisciplinary collaboration.
On January 8, 2007, the Marine Aquaculture Task Force released its report, Sustainable Marine Aquaculture: Fulfilling the Promise; Managing the Risks, which presents standards and practices for U.S. marine aquaculture to protect the health of marine ecosystems.
Most of the world‘s fisheries have reached or exceeded sustainable levels, yet public demand for seafood continues to grow. Aquaculture already supplies nearly half the seafood Americans eat, and that proportion is expected to increase. The federal government has plans for a fivefold increase in aquaculture by 2025, but currently there are no standards in place to protect the environment and wild species.
Given the already fragile health of marine ecosystems, it is important that marine aquaculture be done right, both at home and abroad, so that it can be part of the solution instead of contributing to the problem of marine environmental degradation.
For more information about the task force and to view the full report, visit http://newsroom.pewtrusts.org/2007/01/marine_aquaculture_task_force.html
For more information, visit: http://newsroom.pewtrusts.org/2007/01/marine_aquaculture_task_force.html