Aquaculture, the growing of plants and animals in water, is a practice dating back thousands of years across the globe. It has proved to be an environmentally friendly, efficient, and sustainable way to produce animal protein.
In California, aquaculture facilities on land and in the open ocean produce freshwater and saltwater products -from kelp, to invertebrates, to fish. In addition to human consumption, aquaculture products and techniques are used in mitigating climate change, enhancing wild fish stocks, biofuels, medicines, and much more.
Join us to learn about California’s history and current status with aquaculture and highlighted efforts from start-up to established within the state.
Our Speakers
Paula Sylvia, Port of San Diego, Program Director of Aquaculture and Blue Technology
Paula Sylvia is the Program Director of the Aquaculture and Blue Technology Program at the Port of San Diego, a program that was created in 2015. She oversees a variety of planning and pre-development initiatives aimed at developing environmental and economic opportunities for aquaculture, blue technology, and other nature-based solution businesses in and around San Diego Bay. She also manages the Port’s Blue Economy Incubator, a platform to support entrepreneurship and innovation partnerships to facilitate and scale pilot projects and build a portfolio of nature-based solutions and new businesses that can deliver multiple social, environmental, and economic benefits to the region.
Before coming to the Port, Paula worked as a Research Biologist for NOAA-National Marine Fisheries Service, Southwest Fisheries Science Center in La Jolla, California for 2.5 years. Prior to her NOAA position, she worked as the Offshore Aquaculture Program Manager at Hubbs SeaWorld Research Institute in San Diego, California for 13 years. In these roles, Paula was responsible for planning, permitting and implementing offshore aquaculture projects in the southern California region and northern Baja California, Mexico for fisheries replenishment, restoration and food production purposes.
Prior to moving to California in 2000, Paula worked in the public aquarium sector and around the globe in the research and commercial sector of the tuna farming industry, which at the time was in the early stages of development. At that time, she was the only woman in a management role in industries with predominantly male leadership, which drove her to pursue higher education opportunities and equitable opportunities for women in aquaculture and the blue economy.
Heather Kramp, Port of San Diego, Senior Environmental Specialist in Environmental Conservation and Blue Technology
Heather is a Senior Environmental Specialist within the Environmental Conservation Department and Aquaculture and Blue Technology Program at the Port of San Diego. Her career spans a range of conservation and resource management objectives, including environmental permitting and monitoring, endangered and invasive species management, coastal habitat restoration, aquaculture development, and blue carbon. Heather supports the planning, stakeholder outreach, and environmental review process for the development of seaweed and shellfish aquaculture pilot projects. Her most recent work focuses on coastal blue carbon initiatives and assessment of how San Diego Bay’s eelgrass habitats sequester and store carbon to potentially offset greenhouse gas emissions. Heather began her career with the Port as a California Sea Grant State Policy Fellow in 2017 and her education background is in marine subtidal ecology and natural resource management.
Randy Lovell, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, State Aquaculture Coordinator
Randy Lovell was appointed State Aquaculture Coordinator in August 2012, after nearly thirty years in the aquaculture industry as both a designer, builder, and operator of aquaculture facilities and as a business owner, active in the sales and marketing of aquatic life support systems. As Aquaculture Coordinator, Mr. Lovell works with growers, regulators, decision-makers, and the general public to enhance the regulatory understanding of, and development opportunities for sustainable aquaculture in California.
Jennifer Bushman, Blue Foods Advocate and Sustainable Seafood Expert
As a sustainable seafood expert, communicator, and strategist, Jennifer has been championing for ethical aquaculture for more than two decades. She has been on a mission to transform the food system, while also preserving the oceans, nourishing the world’s ever-growing population, and offsetting carbon emissions. With those goals in mind, she launched the Sea Pantry initiative which educates how to make responsible seafood choices every day. Food leaders such as the James Beard Foundation and the International Association of Culinary Professionals have recognized Jennifer’s culinary contributions as groundbreaking in terms of palette experience, health benefits, and climate impact. Jennifer believes that policy changemaking is as important as what we put on our plates, hence she sits on the boards of numerous ocean advocacy organizations, among which Alexandra Cousteau’s Oceans 2050 and the Marine Mammal Center.
Registration
Registration for this event is free for AWWEE members and up to two guests (individuals new to AWWEE, please). Non-member registration is $20.