UPV-CFOS participates in marine industry development forums in China

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The UP Visayas College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences (UPV-CFOS) participated in the recently concluded forums on maritime industry development conducted on March 5-7, in Guangdong, China.

CFOS Dean Dr. Harold M. Monteclaro, with the UPV-CFOS seaweeds project team namely Vice Chancellor for Research and Extension Prof. Encarnacion Emilia S. Yap (project leader), Dr. Iris Ann G. Borlongan (co-project leader), and Asst. Prof. Jonalyn P. Mateo, attended the 2024 Hong Kong-Zhuahai-Macau Marine Industry Development Forum and China-ASEAN Mariculture Industry Development Forum upon the invitation of Prof. Liu Tao, president of Xiamen University and vice chairman of the conference.

The forums aim to promote exchanges and technological cooperation between China and ASEAN countries in the development of marine aquaculture industry.

Representing UPV and the seaweed team, Yap signed as one of the nine collaborators in the international cooperation in algae aquaculture during the launching ceremony of China-AEAN International Science and Technology Project Cooperation, one of the conference’s highlights.

UPV will collaborate in four areas:  seaweed biodiversity and genome, seaweed disease resistance/resilience mechanisms, seaweed aquaculture demonstration, and seaweed blue carbon.

Meanwhile, Borlongan presented the UPV Seaweed Laboratory and its core team members that also include Dr. Victor Marco Emmanuel N. Ferriols and Asst. Prof. Leonilo F. Endoma, Jr., its research focus areas, and current research projects at the conference’s breakout session for 2024 China-ASEAN Cooperation Forum on Sustainable Development for Seaweed Aquaculture.

The seaweed project is a partnership between UPV-CFOS and the Seaweed Base for International Science and Technology Cooperation (SBIS&TC) of the Ocean University of China (OUC) to establish a joint seaweed research laboratory for collaborative research and instruction activities for both institutions.

Currently, the laboratory is working on two projects: seaweed waste biomass from the carrageenan industry (SWBC) as phycobiostimulants, and the development and demonstration of seaweed production systems resilient to future climatic stressors and environmental hazards. The projects are funded by the DOST-PCAARRD and SBIS&TC, China, respectively.

Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Dr. Alice Joan G. Ferrer was also part of the UPV delegates to the conference. She presented the results of her study titled “Two decades of mariculture parks in the Philippines: challenges and the way forward.”

Moreover, Dr. Michael Y. Roleda of UP Diliman-Marine Science Institute presented his paper about “Establishing climate change resilient eucheumatoid cultivars: selection, curation, and distribution to seaweed farmers.”

Roleda was also one of the signatories to the international cooperation in algae aquaculture representing UP Diliman.

The conference focused on six themes: shrimp aquaculture industry, fish aquaculture industy, algae farming industry, aquaculture facilities and green products, development of marine biopharmaceutical industry in HongKong, Zhuai, and Macau, and financial empowerment of the marine industry.

The gathering was sponsored and supported by Sun Yat-sen University, Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai), China-ASEAN Belt and Road Joint Laboratory on Mariculture Technology, Xiamen University, Yellow Sea Fisheries Research Institute-Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, and Shanghai Ocean University. (Ms. Lenilyn B. Gallos, CFOS, with sources from Dr. Iris Ann G. Borlongan)