Aquaculture Education
Aside from our “boots-on-the-ground” projects worldwide, Island Creek Oysters Foundation is committed to educating the public about the value of aquaculture as a sustainable protein source and an answer to the question of how we are going to feed a rapidly expanding human population. Not only does aquaculture actually improve the surrounding environment, but choosing to eat farmed shellfish and certain types of farmed fin fish alleviates pressure on wild fisheries and on resources depleted by less efficient, terrestrial protein cultivation.
ICOF Aquaculture Club:
The goal of the ICOF Aquaculture Club is to create an interactive education program between Middle School students and the Island Creek Oysters Foundation. ICOF is dedicated to teaching young students our core value of “We Believe in Aquaculture.” Teachers, students and ICOF will work together to create a curriculum that will engage students as they learn about food production and sustainability using the Foundation’s vital Caribbean Harvest work in Haiti as a model.
Crossroads for Kids
ICOF and Crossroads for Kids are collaborating in the Summer of 2013 to offer the C5 Teen Leadership Program a “Mini Aquaculture Club.” Interested teens in each session will learn about the power of aquaculture through our work in Haiti and Zanzibar. The Crossroads teens will visit the ICO Hatchery and Farm, engage in hands on aquaculture activities and be inspired to effect change by helping others.
Middle School Curriculum
ICOF is in the pilot phase of Aquaculture Club and just completed a successful first year at Duxbury Middle School. Aquaculture Club will continue to flourish at DMS and plans are afoot to expand to another school in 2013-2014.
The club activities include visits to the ICO Farm and our restaurant, Island Creek Oyster Bar and of course, tasting our oysters. Students in the club will about aquaculture by developing and maintaining a salt water aquarium, growing algae, and other hands-on science activities. We are planning interactive Skype sessions with team leaders in Haiti, asking students to capture club activites on video and to brainstorm ways to share the club experience with the rest of the school.
Special thanks to Battelle for their support of Aquaculture Club.
Past Educational Events:
Dr. Valentin Abe to Present in Duxbury:
Thursday, September 6 7:00 p.m. Duxbury Bay Maritime School – Clifford Hall
Free and open to the public
Island Creek Oysters Foundation and the Duxbury Bay Maritime School invite you to meet Dr. Valentin Abe, Founder of Haiti-based Caribbean Harvest Foundation and one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in 2010. Dr. Abe’s work has brought sustainable fish farming to thousands of rural Haitians, greatly improving their quality of life through new income, education, and social programming. It has also helped to create a sustainable and affordable protein source for the impoverished island nation, where unemployment is near 70% and more than half of the population lives on less than a dollar a day. Dr. Abe’s achievements have attracted support and praise from world-renowned organizations such as the Clinton Foundation, Partners in Health, and Food for the Poor. He is widely regarded as one of the world’s foremost advocates for the poor.
On September 6th, Dr. Abe presented to the Duxbury Community about how Caribbean Harvest donor, Island Creek Oysters Foundation is impacting life in Central Haiti through aquaculture. He will also attended Island Creek’s Friends for Haiti benefit on Duxbury Beach September 8th as the guest of honor.
Friday, September 7, 2012
8:30 a.m. Duxbury Middle School Assembly at the PAC “Everyone Has Something to Give”
Dr. Valentin Abe’s journey from the Ivory Coast in Africa to Haiti where he has devoted himself to serving the rural poor was a long one. On September 7th he shared that experience with Duxbury Middle School students. Dr. Abe is quick to emphasize that other than incredibly hard work and dedication, he has been successful because of the skills he developed both in and out of school.
Saturday, June 3, 2012
The Foundation partnered with the New England Aquarium on World Ocean’s Day on June 3, 2012 to sponsor an oyster picking contest and family-oriented educational program on farm raised seafood as one part of a solution to the depletion of wild fisheries and marine habitats.
