On September 10, 2019, AfriMAQUA was officially launched at the Welgevallen Experimental Farm (Stellenbosch University, South Africa) in the presence of scientists from the partner countries and representatives of DAFF, UCT, National Research Foundation, and IRD.

Brett Macey (DAFF, South Africa), Martin Tjipute (UNAM, Namibia), Samwel Limbu (UDS, Tanzania), Mary Opiyo (KMFRI, Kenya), Nadeem Nazurally (UoM, Mauritius), Célestin Blé (CRO, Ivory Coast), and Maria Darias (IRD, France) presented the marine aquaculture research conducted in their countries and institutions.

The kick-off meeting continued with scientific presentations on September 11. Researchers and students from South Africa, Tanzania, Mauritius, Kenya, and France presented recent results on various farmed organisms such as finfish, mollusks, urchins, and seaweeds.

Finally, AfriMAQUA’s general assembly on September 12 allowed to discuss about the functioning of the network and the planned activities for the next years.

On September 13, a field trip was organized to visit an abalone farm in Hermanus.