Prof. Sena Susantha DE SILVA from Deakin University visited IHB in September 2014.

Prof. Sena Susantha DE SILVA, who is a professor of the School of Life and Environmental Sciences at Deakin University and the Visiting Professorship for Senior International Scientists, paid a visit to Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IHB) in September 2014.  

On Sept. 23, Prof. De Silva gave an oral presentation with the title of “Aquaculture- a newly emergent food sector and perceptions of its impacts on biodiversity and conservation” for the researchers and students at IHB. In his presentation, Prof. De Silva explained the significant role that aquaculture plays in the global economy and food industry. He analyzed the pressures and challenges that the environment keeps facing against the background of population growth, climate change etc.  

Prof. De Silva made an analysis of the relations between aquaculture and the loss of biodiversity from the four aspects, namely, the reduction of redwoods, use of anti-biotics and chemical substances, invasion of foreign species and the potential impact of aquaculture on wild population. He proposed a suggestion that pays more attention to the balanced development between aquaculture and biodiversity conservation.     

Prof. De Silva is currently the editor-in-chief of Reviews in Aquaculture. He has over 35 years experience in many areas related to aquaculture development and inland fisheries management. He has acted as the principal investigator and coordinated aquaculture related projects in many Asian countries and coordinated the delivery of the first ever post-graduate course in aquaculture in the “distance mode” at Deakin University. He is a leading researcher 14 recognised by peers for his contributions to inland fisheries, fish nutrition and aquaculture, with over 250 publications in peer reviewed journals, senior author of three advanced texts and editor of many conference proceedings; he also serves on the editorial board of many journals.