Bridging selective breeding and cutting-edge biotechnologies
Transformative Technological Innovations for Strengthening Aquaculture Resilience 

To meet the increasing global food demand, aquaculture production has been growing steadily. However, this expansion can impose negative impacts on the environment. Therefore, it is important to prioritise the innovation of transformative technologies that can simultaneously increase productivity and strengthen the long-term sustainability of the industry. One such promising avenue is selective breeding. Selective breeding exploits natural polymorphisms and genetically improves economic traits such as growth rates, disease resistance, and food conversion efficiency. These advances, in turn, can help reduce feed consumption, nitrogen/phosphate emissions, and reliance on pesticides and vaccines. Selective breeding also holds the promise of producing new breeds that are resilient to climate change. Biotechnology, such as gene editing and surrogate breeding technologies, is another powerful tool in the development of new breeds. However, such a new technology must be responsibly regulated, necessitating the engagement of policy makers and experts on the ethical, legal, and social aspects of its development. With this in mind, we propose a conference for the exchange of knowledge between professionals and policy makers in these fields. It is expected that the resulting knowledge exchange and discourse will provide policy makers with the basis for formulating comprehensive, science-based policies. These policies will stimulate further investment in research and development of transformative technologies that simultaneously improve the productivity and the sustainability of aquaculture simultaneously. This conference will be an important step towards the innovation of such a transformative technology, in line with the Sustainable Development Goal of creating a better world. 

• 28 October (Mon) -- 30 October (Wed), tentative schedule (24/Jul/2024)

• Rakusui Kaikan, Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology, access information

• ZOOM link will be available in the morning of 28 Oct.

• Registration -- If you are interested in attending the conference (both on-site and via the web space), please register using our registration form. Please understand that although this is an open event, there is a limit to the number of attendees.

• This conference is free of charge.

• Dr. Sho Hosoya, University of Tokyo, Japan (contact)

• Prof. Ryosuke Yazawa, Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology, Japan

• Dr. Shotaro Hirase, University of Tokyo, Japan

• Prof. Kiyoshi Kikuchi, University of Tokyo, Japan

• Prof. Goro Yoshizaki, Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology, Japan

• Prof. Koichi Okuzawa, Fukui Prefectural University, Japan