The Virginia Tech Seafood Agriculture and Extension Center (VT) has received a prestigious award for its Mid-Atlantic regional aquaculture best management practices training workshops funded by Virginia Sea Grant (VASG).
On September 9, 2015, the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Food Safety & Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) presented the Honor Award for Outstanding Customer Service to Brett Koonse, FDA Customer Safety Officer who co-led the workshops with Mike Schwarz, VASG extension with VT, and six others. The FDA selects one recipient for the award a year.
Aquaculture is the fastest growing sector of the world food economy. The US marine aquaculture industry grew by 8% in 2014 and now accounts for a significant portion of the seafood consumed in the US.
The workshops, which will be continued in the future, share practices that are best suited to produce safe, high quality, and sustainable seafood. Workshops address every step of production, from hatchery management to post-harvest, and include a holistic approach to disease prevention and the minimal use of chemicals and antibiotics to control outbreaks. They support the FDA’s mission to assure the safety of the nation’s food supply, as well as to help members of the public receive the accurate, science-based information needed to use medicines and foods to maintain and improve their health.
Five regional mid-Atlantic workshops have been conducted to date in Maryland, North Carolina, and Virginia. Attendees from the private and public sectors have included aquaculture producers, educators, dieticians and government regulators.
