51st U.S.-Japan Natural Resources Aquaculture Panel Scientific Symposium

The NOAA Office of Aquaculture, in cooperation with USDA’s Agricultural Research Service, will host  the 51^st UJNR Aquaculture Panel Scientific Symposium in Freeport, Maine, United States. The UJNR Aquaculture Panel is a cooperative research exchange between the U.S. and Japan, jointly addressing environmental and technical issues that affect the aquaculture industries of both nations.

The 51^st UJNR Aquaculture Scientific Symposium is the final year of the current three-year theme of Control and Management of Aquaculture Disease. With an increasing global demand for seafood and a rapidly growing aquaculture industry, the prevention and control of infectious disease is important for all sectors including fish, shellfish, and seaweeds. Disease problems often constitute large economic losses in aquaculture. Effective control of disease is a top industry and government priority. We anticipate the following outcomes from this meeting:

• exchange of scientific information,
• exploration of research collaborations, and
• a comprehensive three-year proceedings consisting of “mini-papers” (i.e., abstracts, presented research and annotated bibliographies) on the Control and Management of Aquaculture Disease

This year’s presentations from invited speakers will focus on the following topic areas:

1.  The status of disease occurrences, and current systems for monitoring, treatment and prevention.

2.  Development of emerging, efficient preventive measures to control diseases before they start.

3.  Systems for disease management and efficient controls under changing environmental conditions.

4.  The development of human and educational resources in the aquaculture industry addressing aquatic organism health.

Registration Information 

There are two types of registration:

1. Symposium Attendee Registration: 
   • Attend the Scientific Symposium* only (August 29th ~1:00 to 5:30 PM, and August 30th ~8:30 AM to 5:30 PM)
   • Cost = free (meals and transportation not included)
   • Please register at the link here
2. Full Registration: 
   • Attend the Scientific Symposium* and field trips (August 29 to September 1, 2023)
   • Intended for panel members and optional for speakers
   • A registration link will be provided

* The Scientific Symposium will include presentations covering recent advances achieved by researchers in the United States and Japan related to the theme “Control and Management of Aquaculture Disease.”

Abstracts and Annotated Bibliographies

Abstracts and a 3-5 paper annotated bibliography are due August 4, 2023.

Submit abstracts and annotated bibliographies to Clete Otoshi at NMFS.Aquaculture.Science@noaa.gov with the subject line "UJNR Submission."

Guidelines

Abstracts should be no more than 500 words.

An annotated bibliography with 3-5 key papers on the topic of your symposium presentation along with your abstract is required prior to the meeting. The goal is to focus the exchange of literature citations on the Science Symposium topic and to allow for experts in the field to highlight key papers from each country to assist their counterparts to explore, in more detail, references specific to individual presentation topics. This will be especially helpful to the U.S. members as much of the literature published in Japanese is difficult for U.S. researchers to access and/or translate. A combined annotated bibliography of key papers on the Symposium topic consisting of contributions by all presenting scientists will be published as part of the proceedings.

The annotations for the 3-5 bibliographic references, which the author considers key works in the field, should provide a brief description of the work, the results, and the reasons why the author considers it a key work. Key works should relate to the topic of your presentation and could be your own work or that of other scientists. When possible, key works should be from your own country. An example is given below to aid in formatting. Links to key papers would be helpful if they are available.

Example of Annotated Key Reference

Mozaffarian, D. and E. Rimm.  2006.  Fish intake, contaminants, and human health: Evaluating the risks and benefits.  JAMA, Vol 296:15.  Pp 1885-1899.

The authors for the first time present a comprehensive human health model based on concentrations of mercury, dioxins, polychlorinated biphenyls and long chain n-3 fatty acids for fish and project the impact of increased seafood consumption in the United States on the population’s health. This model accounts for the increased risks associated with consumption of contaminated seafood along with the benefits from increased consumption of long chain n-3 fatty acids. Overall the authors predict that increasing the per capita consumption of seafood in the United States from 16 to 26 lbs/person (1-2 servings per week of species high in n-3 fatty acids) would result in a decrease in coronary death by 36% and an overall decrease in total mortality of 17%. Further the authors provide the amounts to consume of various species and the cost to provide the benefits associated with seafood consumption. Implications for target nutrient and contaminant levels in aquacultured fish can be derived from the information presented in this paper.

All material should be provided in a standardized computer format (Microsoft Word), Times New Roman font, 12 pt font size, and one inch margins. The unedited abstracts and annotated bibliographies will be available at the symposium.

Travel Awards for U.S. Participants 

UNJR Travel Assistance

If you are an invited speaker interested in receiving travel assistance to present your research at the 51st UJNR symposium, answers to the following questions should be submitted to Clete Otoshi (NMFS.Aquculture.Science@noaa.gov) by July 14, 2023 with the subject line "UJNR Submission”:

1. Are you looking for an active collaboration with a Japanese scientist?  If so, what area(s) are you interested in collaborating?
2. Do you foresee yourself continuing this collaboration for an extended period of time and participating in UJNR in the future?
3. Have you presented at a UJNR meeting either in Japan or the US before?  If so, what year and where?
4. Do you agree to submit the items included in the “Due Dates for U.S. Participants” section below on time?

We will be making travel awards based on three criteria:

1. How well your presentation topic relates to the symposium topic and matches with a Japanese presentation.
2. Desire to develop collaborative research projects with the Japanese.
3. Past history with UJNR.

Accommodations

For U.S./Japan panel members and speakers:

Hilton Garden Inn, 5 Park St., Freeport, Maine, 04032

Due Dates for U.S. Participants

By August 4, 2023:

1.  Presentation abstract (500 word limit).

2.  Annotated bibliography that contains 3-5 references.

By April 1, 2024:

1. A 4-8 page mini-paper, including your abstract, the research you presented, and your annotated bibliography will be included in the comprehensive three-year proceedings. A guide to authors for the mini-paper will be provided.