WAS/IAF Photo competition - Illustrating aquaculture in a great way!

From some 90 digital images submitted to the WAS Adelaide / International Aquafeed 2014 Photo Competition over the past few months, we can now announce the winners of the two sections: The Open and The Student Categories. And in the words of the three-person judging panel, which covered Australia to Norway, it was "not an easy task – but some of the pictures illustrate aquaculture in a great way!"

Open Competition First Place Winner

In the Open Competition the judges awarded first prize to Bernd Ueberschar for his image called 'Hatching'.

Hatching - by Bernd Ueberschar

Open Competition Second Place Winner  

Second prize has gone to marine biologist and artist Akihiro Shiroza for his image 'Glorification of the Dead - aquacultured Thunnus albacares (Yellowfin tuna).' Aki is from Japan but was educated and lives in Coral Gables, Florida, USA. The image is a product of his work using scientifically collected larval specimens and magnification up to 200 times the size of the natural body sizes.

Glorification of the Dead - by Akihiro Shiroza

 
He says: "My most recent work as an artist stems from interacting, on a quotidian basis, with dead specimens and reflecting on my role as a larval fish collector and taxonomist. Using scientifically collected larval specimens, I glorify the fish through embalming rituals of cleaning, chemical treatment, and digital transformation.

"The finished pieces are digital retouched collages of multiple super-macro photographs of chemically treated larval fish, some magnified up to 200 times to the size of their mature bodies. I conceived the concept and images after sorting and identifying larval fish all day, every day, under the microscope. 

Prior to identification, and while using needles and forceps, I take my time to clean the specimens, and free them from dust and other foreign objects attached to their surface, as an act of respect to the deceased before their last judgment in the Big Book of Records. 
"It’s only then, when I ask what they are, that they finally speak to me," he adds.

More of his work can be found at: http://www.studioelcondor.com/aki.html 

Open Competition Third Place Winner

Third prize winner is Greg Marett of the AVID Program 'Pearl industry development in the Western Pacific'. The image, 'Thumbs up for aquaculture' was taken this year at the Nago Island Mariculture and Research Facility in New Ireland Province in the northeaster most region of Papa New Guinea.

Thumbs up for aquaculture - by Greg Marett

 The Student Category

In the Student Category the overall student points winner was Bonnie Philp, for 'Basil and Goldfish', second prize goes to Rachel Cortese, for 'Big Bubbles' and third place goes to Shae Butler, for an image he titles 'NFT Aquaponics'.

All of the entries are from 'Year 12' students studying aquaculture at Broome Senior High School, Broome which is located approximately 2000km north of Perth on Australia's west coast and is famous for Cable Beach and Pearls. 

"The students are given the option to study a Certificate II or Certificate III in Aquaculture at Broome Aquaculture Centre with the High School curriculum supporting what the students are learning at TAFE. The course has been developed over a number of years and is aimed at teaching students how to think sustainably and to think about alternative methods of food production," says Mr Andy Smyth of Broome Senior High School. 

Bonmie Philp says, "I took this photo during my science class where we are learning about aquaculture and aquaponics. The idea behind the photo is to show how simple aquaponics can be and how any type of fish can be used to grow plants. We have built our own systems in class and it has been fun watching the plants grow." 

'Basil and Goldfish - by Bonnie Philp

 
Rachel Cortese says. "This is a photo of my Goldfish at home, I really enjoy keeping fish and have a few tanks at home. Its a cool photo because it really shows the detail of the fish, especially its eyes. I study aquaculture at TAFE and am doing my Certificate III and really enjoy it. I see aquaculture as the future of food production, as long as we can make it sustainable."

Big Bubbles - by Rachel Cortese

 
Shae Butler says, "This is a photo of the Home Aquaponics system that I made at school for science class. We are learning about Aquaponics at school and were challenged to design a set up that can be used at home so I designed this. We have a bigger tank in the class  where we are growing Barramundi, they are heaps more fun than Platy's and Goldfish."

NFT Aquaponics - by Shae Butler

All Digital Images

The full set of digital images entered in the competition can be viewed here!

The Prizes  
Open:   
1st PRIZE – AU$1000 

2nd Prize – Au$750 

3rd Prize – AU$500
 

Student:   
1st Prize – AU$750 

2nd Prize – AU$500 

3rd Prize – AU$250

The winning photographs in each category were printed, framed and showcased at the WAS Adelaide 2014 conference and auctioned off in a Silent Auction to raise funds for charity. Images will appear in International Aquafeed magazine with appropriate photographer acknowledgement.

Thank you to our Sponsors
WAS Adelaide and IAF wish to thank the sponsors of the competition: The competition's Gold Prize Sponsor is Gold Coast Tiger Prawns of Queensland, Australia, Silver Prize Sponsor Baader Seafood Innovations of Germany with International Aquafeed providing the third place winner's prize. Additional sponsors included AQ1 Systems of Tasmainia, Australia, and LMC Training and RadAqua, both of Queensland, Australia. 

The Aquaculturists
This blog is maintained by The Aquaculturists staff and is supported by the magazine International Aquafeed which is published by Perendale Publishers Ltd.