Features
From the Editor: An eventful year

Does anyone else feel like this year absolutely flew by? Mentally, I think I’m still living in 2019 (and many of you might feel the same way), as the world still looks to get back to some form of ‘normal’. But will we ever get back to ‘normal’? With so many challenges impacting not just our industry and jobs, but our personal lives as well, many aspects that we once thought were normal, have forever changed. We need to not only continue to adjust to the new normal, but accept it as well.

In the aquaculture industry alone, companies have had to adjust to different working schedules, work around supply chain challenges, and look at how to become sustainable and self-sufficient so that if a global incident ever makes an impact again, there isn’t the need to rely as heavily on external sources and companies can provide food for their local communities. 

For RAStech, one major shift has been the production of virtual events. Since the in-person RASTECH Conference needed to be put on hold in 2020, our team has had the opportunity to run the RAS Connector Series, which has seen more than 350 registered attendees during the two virtual events that have taken place. 

On Sept. 14, we held the second virtual event in the series, the RAS Roundtable Panels and I had the opportunity to moderate the ‘Technology Meets Biology’ panel. I was (virtually) surrounded by industry experts with different backgrounds and knowledge of the RAS sector, and while we were separated by boarders and time zones, the realization that this day and age allows us to still meet and see each other during a global pandemic, puts me in awe. While we cannot yet meet in person, virtual events have filled a void: connecting with your peers to continue driving the industry forward. 

On Nov. 3, we will hold our third and final virtual event in the RAS Connector Series: RAS Virtual Summit, which will consist of several presentation and open-panel sessions, including:

• Blue Ridge’s perspective and experience with ‘Thinking outside the tank’, and moving to vertical integration;
• Q&A on the ‘Future of feed’ with Texas A&M regents professor, Delbert Gatlin III;
• ‘The fish are fine’, which will present evidence-based recommendations for effectively ensuring the optimum environment for fish in land-based, closed containment systems;
• ‘Workplace safety in RAS environments’ and; 
• an open-panel Q&A on ‘RAS tech support’.

RAStech looks to continue educating the aquaculture industry through the organization of virtual webinars, to drive the industry toward further growth and innovation. While we were unable to meet in person this year, we look forward to touching on these and several other topics, during the in-person 2022 RASTECH Conference and Trade Fair, which will be held on March 30 and 31 at Westin Hilton Head Island Resort in South Carolina, USA. We hope to see you all there, and be sure to save the date, and check out www.ras-tec.com for updates on the event!

Is there a topic you would like to learn more about, or would like to teach your community about? Feel free to send me an email at cmuia@annexbusinessmedia.com, I would love to hear your feedback and get to know the members of our community. I’m looking forward to meeting and learning from each of you.

With that, I leave you to read, learn, and enjoy the final issue of 2021. 

Happy reading!