Aquaculture advocates bring Innovasea boss on board
US and Canada fish farming lobby group the Northwest Aquaculture Alliance (NWAA) today announced the appointment of Innovasea Systems senior vice president Langley Gace to its board of directors.
Innovasea, which produces equipment for both in-sea and on-land aquaculture, is headquartered in Boston but Gace lives in Bainbridge Island in Washington state, part of the area covered by the NWAA.
“We need aquaculture to feed the world today and into the future,” Gace said in a press release from the NWAA, adding that the Alliance “plays an important role in promoting the many benefits of responsible aquaculture while providing a platform for networking opportunities in the aquaculture sector”.
Food security
Gace said the current global political situation should serve as a call to action for US policymakers and regulators to make aquaculture production a matter of national food security.
“Today, the United States ranks 17th in the world in terms of aquaculture production currently importing 80% of the seafood that we consume,” Gace noted.
“Given the public health guidance to Americans to eat seafood twice a week, we as a country and as individual states and regions must take the necessary steps to produce more seafood domestically. Aquaculture is the future.”
Respected innovator
NWAA board president Jim Parsons said the addition of Innovasea to the NWAA and Gace to the board were key strategic steps in helping amplify the voice of the people and the companies that are engaged in the responsible production of aquatic foods.
“Langley Gace is an internationally respected innovator who clearly understands the importance of aquaculture in feeding the world,” he said. “We are honoured to have him join the Alliance.”
Innovasea is part of the portfolio of Cuna del Mar, a sustainable aquaculture investment fund founded by multi-billionaire Christy Walton, the widow of John T Walton, one of the sons of WalMart founder Sam Walton.
Innovasea’s products include submersible cages for offshore aquaculture, and design and supply of recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS). It has been chosen to deliver the technology for on-land salmon farmer AquaBounty’s planned 10,000-tonne-per-year RAS farm in Pioneer, Ohio.
