GAA has debuted a new online portfolio, which includes redesigned GAA, Global Aquaculture Advocate and Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) websites as well as the new MyGAA community forum and GAA Films. The new online portfolio comes as GAA celebrates its 20th anniversary in 2017.
The URLS for the new websites are www.aquaculturealliance.org for GAA, www.bapcertification.org for BAP and www.aquaculturealliance.org/advocate for the Advocate, which now resides within the GAA website.
The MyGAA community forum can be accessed through the GAA website. There, users can build a profile, meet other aquaculture professionals through discussion boards, blogs and directories and find opportunities like employment, project funding, volunteer work and speaker engagements.
Also featured on the GAA website is the new GAA membership structure. GAA has reorganized its membership structure to be more accessible, especially to individuals. Anyone can join GAA as a supporter for a one-time donation or as an individual for only $50 per year. Same with businesses, which can join the organization for only $500 per year.
The 19-year-old Advocate brand, which transitioned from print to digital in 2015, now generates more than 30,000 pageviews per month. Advocate content will remain free, but, in the future, readers will be asked to log in to view articles. A free user profile, which takes only moments to set up, will be your ticket to view all articles from our global network of technical aquaculture experts and a growing roster of professional freelance journalists.
Also among the highlights of the new GAA website is the debut of GAA Films, which sets out to highlight the untold stories of the different stakeholders in aquaculture. The first short film features a second-generation, women-owned trout farm in rural Mexico: https://vimeo.com/206235201. The film will make its official debut at a reception in GAA’s exhibit (No. 481) at Seafood Expo North America in Boston on Monday, March 20, at 4 p.m. All are invited.
Among the improvements to the new BAP website are a new map feature allowing users to pinpoint the exact location of all 1,600-plus BAP-certified processing plants, farms, hatcheries and feed mills, and simply by clicking on a map pin more information on a facility can be accessed. To access more information on a facility in the map feature and in the table of BAP-certified facilities, users are required to log in.
The backbone of GAA’s online portfolio is its PORTal, which will act as the database of record for all GAA- and BAP-related activities, allowing users to log in once and seamlessly conduct GAA- and BAP-related business activities.
PORTal allows users of GAA’s websites to join the organization and renew membership, register for the GOAL conference, customize Global Aquaculture Advocate content and participate in MyGAA. It also allows facilities to apply for BAP certification and re-certification using an online form.
GAA’s online portfolio will be on display in GAA’s exhibit at Seafood Expo North America from March 19 to 21.
