Musings late on a Friday night in Maryland

I have been in Maryland the past week at my home in North Potomac.

Still feels strange being here without Lori.

Also, it is the first time in 30 years that I spent time in one of my homes with no animals.

Thank goodness the possums and raccoons and deer all hang out in the yard, they remind me of what is important in life.

Been doing an enormous amount of research on certain species of fin fish that I believe will have the ability to be produced in our system.

It is amazing the amount of stupidity being written in the literature out there, especially that from so called "experts"
and noted academic powerhouses.

Who was it that said "the only thing we learn from history is that we do not learn from history" ?  Whoever he was, he was a damned smart guy. 

These open net pens, these restocking schemes, and everything in between fail to address the magnitude of the damage we have and are doing to the ocean, fail to address the pollution and by catch issues, fail to understand the enormity of the food needs for the world's population, and so forth and so on.

It is now being said so often that people no longer even listen, but "future wars will not be fought over religion and money and fuel but over food and water."

In any case I am (as usual) underwhelmed by the intelligence quotient in the literature so I have decided to use tonight's blog to remind myself of the good things in my life and I will worry about saving the world again starting Monday.

One very wonderful thing I forgot to mention is that Stephen, my son, and Victoria, got formally engaged over Christmas. Below is a picture of the three of us in Vegas over Christmas with Piglet, my first grand child. 

I also saw my horses this week. Every time I come back to Maryland I promised Lori I would take carrots to Charm and Annie. I have written a lot about Charm who I have had for 28 and 1/2 years but Lori and I rescued Annie about 15 years ago. She is a sweetheart and when she sees me drive up in Lori's G-Wagon she comes flying through the field to get a carrot from the window of the vehicle.

This is a picture taken yesterday of a muddy but happy Annie. 

Speaking of animals Lori and I rescued over the years, our last two cats Oliver (20 years old) and Wigs (19 years old) made it to Texas and are now full time with me in the house there.

This is Oliver and I think you would agree he seems to be quite comfortable in his Texas residence. (that is Bunnie in the foreground and she is not happy when someone tries to take her picture).

I could not resist taking the picture last week of gas prices in Rockport, Texas.

Do you remember when the politicians and world leaders talked of $5.00 a gallon gas and that we would run out of fossil fuel by 2027? 

I think it was Will Rogers who said, "the way you know a politician is lying is that his lips are moving."

I used to let stuff like this bother me but frankly now in the words of Rhett Butler, "I don't give a damn." 

The picture below is the face of a little bundle of life and love that has had more of an impact on my life than gas prices, business, and even taxes. She was the last rescue Lori and I adopted and she came after Lori got cancer in February 2011. 

We really did not want to keep her knowing what Lori was facing, but in hindsight thank the good Lord we did. She has brought and continues to bring more joy into my life and every life that she touches than all of the gold owned by Midas.

Her name is Rebel Jean and yes, she is named after Lori.

And finally tonight, because despite everything that I could think of to bring my mood down, by thinking of Rebel Jean, my dogs, my cats, my horses, (Lily, our parrot), Annie, Lori, Stephen and Victoria and Piglet and the future of GBT and the great team I have around me and the friends I am blessed to have, I perked up.

So, in celebration of my good mood and positive moment, I will leave you with a great statement of fact sent to me a few weeks ago by one of our key investors and team members, and good friends,  Steve Groe.

I smiled when I first read it and then decided it was more than amusing, but actually it is a great insight into life. 

Now that is a piece of knowledge that rings true. 

The FAO and Third Party Certification for SeaFood

A very serious issue that has been brewing in the world of seafood and sustainability for the past two decades is that of third party certification. 

The simple fact is that most countries have abysmal track records at guaranteeing the species, or the source, let alone the safety, of where the seafood we consume comes from, and how it is handled and how safe it is to consume. 

If you think I am overstating the problem just click on this link 
( http://wapo.st/1tpcDmw ) and read a recent article in the Washington Post on where our shrimp comes from and what species we believe consume here in the US.

And if you consider that just within the USA we imported in 2014 over 1.1 billion pounds of shrimp worth about 6.1 billion US dollars, then you can see the potential magnitude of the risks with not knowing where your shrimp/seafood is coming from, what species we are consuming, and how it is being processed and handled. 

In any case if you read the paragraphs below which came from the FAO Marine and Aquaculture Statistics for 2014 you can see why I have been arguing that an impartial and  legitimate third party label for organic and sustainable seafood is long overdue.   

The second paragraph is the most interesting to me because I have negative feelings about all private third party labeling schemes, be they industry driven or those put forth by NGO's. 

The second paragraph with FAO/COFI stewardship also is the closest to the position advocated since 2004 by our foundation "IFCNR" (The International  Foundation for the Conservation of Natural Resources).  

To restate the obvious I think private third party labeling must be eliminated simply because even the best of private third party labeling schemes are fraught with self interest, usually driven by monetary concerns, and frankly, have no uniform standards that can protect the consumer or the oceans. It appears that it may be time for IFCNR to re-engage in the dialogue on this issue. 

"An important governance issue that remains to the fore in aquaculture debates is aquaculture certification. Public concerns have been expressed that some forms of aquaculture are neither environmentally sustainable nor socially equitable, and that they yield unsafe products for consumers. In response, many countries have put in place policies and regulations governing environmental stability and requiring aquaculture producers to comply with more stringent environmental mitigation and protection measures. Food safety standards have been raised. 

Nevertheless, interest in the certification of aquaculture production systems, practices, processes and products is increasing. The motives are to address environmental and consumer concerns and secure better market access. 

In response, aquaculture certification schemes have been developed and implemented at the international and national level. Certification of aquaculture farms, inputs, marketing and processing is under way, both individually and collectively. 

A good example is the application of the Global Aquaculture Alliance’s (GAA) Best Aquaculture Practices to certified processing plants all over the world such as in Australia, Bangladesh, Belize, Canada, Chile, China, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, 

New Zealand, Norway, Thailand, the United States of America, and Vietnam. 

The aim is to prove to the public that aquaculture production systems and processes are not sources of pollution, disease vehicles, threats to the environment or socially irresponsible. Some countries are also introducing state-mediated certification procedures to assure consumers as to the safety of the products they eat.

Concerned by the confusion and unnecessary cost of the multiplicity of certification schemes and accreditation bodies, the international community requested that FAO lead the preparation of international aquaculture certification guidelines. 

Thus, FAO developed the technical Guidelines on Aquaculture Certification, which were approved by the COFI Sub-Committee on Aquaculture in 2010. 

Noting the absence of  a clear international reference framework for the implementation of the minimum criteria set forth in the technical Guidelines, FAO Members expressed the need for a “conformity assessment framework for aquaculture certification guidelines”, the fear was that, in the absence of such an instrument containing appropriate standards for their implementation, certification systems could become unjustified barriers to trade. 

Hence, FAO developed the Evaluation Framework for Assessing Conformity of Public and Private Certification Schemes with the FAO technical Guidelines on Aquaculture Certification. the COFI Sub-Committee on Aquaculture approved this framework in October 2013. However, an outstanding issue with respect to aquaculture certification is its capacity for development on aquaculture certification in developing countries."

Changes

Well the New Year is almost ten days old and as I promised I am making several major changes that I think are going to benefit both our company and me personally.

I am very proud of the team that we have assembled in the GBT family. We have in virtually every position within our company some of the most qualified, dedicated, and enthusiastic people any company could hope to employ.

And as everyone who has ever tasted success knows, it always takes a team and a team comprised of individuals with complimentary talents, to achieve that success.

And from a personal standpoint I can honestly look in the mirror and for the first time since I embarked on this insane journey (over a decade and 1/2 ago) to try and show the world a better way to produce marine protein and indeed maybe even feed the world in a sustainable fashion, I can say that if I got hit by the proverbial bus tomorrow, this company would go forward.

So, as to changes, effective immediately Eduardo Figueras is now totally running all the production aspects of the farm here in Texas.

Steve Groe, one of our investors and part of the great Iowa team that is making GBT a reality, has taken on the position of Chairman of the Construction Committee and with Lee Barnes as Construction Project Manager and my son, Stephen, handling purchasing and contract negotiations, and with John Aquilino now full time here in Texas acting as he has for twenty plus years as my right arm, I am free to focus on what I think I do best which is figuring out how to expand GBT production overseas. 

GBT-Japan is underway, which Stephen and Lee will direct during the construction phase, I am now going to start seeking the next location for another GBT shrimp production facility outside of the USA.

Tim Aberson and Ross McDaniel and Kurt Solari are doing the final Reg D offering raising the final ten million dollars we need to finish phase 1 of the Texas production project. And they have already broken escrow and are well on their way to having that offering completed in the next few months. 

Tim is also now becoming involved in the international side of the company as well as the USA based operations. 

The truth be told, I need to find another site and project because frankly the team we have is so good, I am now virtually un-employed. They simply do not need me. 

I am also excited to start seriously working to secure the funding to begin the R&D phase of selecting several species of fin fish to see which species is best suited to be grown in the GBT system.

And if anyone thinks we are chasing a pipe dream, please read the article below.

(This article was printed in Bob Rosenberry's "Shrimp News" and I want to acknowledge that "Shrimp News" is the source for the article below.)

That said, the GBT system is the only commercially industrial scale system in the world of which we are aware, that addresses virtually every aspect of the problems that have plagued traditional aquaculture. 

After 15 years it look like our time has arrived. 

The world needs what we have and we are looking to go global. 

And with the world's oceans in peril, with traditional aquaculture practitioners refusing to evolve, and with a growing global population demanding healthy and sustainable protein, we may be coming on line just in time. 

January 6, 2015

The World No Quick Recovery in Global Shrimp Production Dr. Stephen Newman (sgnewm@aqua-in-tech.com) reports: Despite the fact that I’ve been saying it for many months, shrimp production is not likely to recover to the levels of a few years ago any time soon.  It seems that all too many people are still not getting the message.  Disease is a fact of life! This is a partly a result of production paradigms that ignore time-honored biosecurity measures and long-term sustainable production and instead concentrate on short-term gains. Shrimp farmers in Southeast Asia are wracked by several diseases.  Early Mortality Syndrome (EMS) is the most visible right now.  Production continues to be affected by EMS as well as a microsporidian disease that is causing growth problems.  EMS has not gone away, although there are signs in some areas that paradigm shifts are successfully lessening its impact.  Meanwhile, it continues to spread into new regions.  As farmers adapt to the challenges of new diseases, there should be a gradual increase in production in the hardest hit areas; however, there will be no sudden increase in shrimp production and no return to the status quo. Although I am optimistic that shrimp farming will eventually recover, without substantial changes in the fundamental production paradigms, I see little reason to think this will be any time in the near future.  There are reports of companies selling tools that claim to solve specific problems, and companies are looking at a myriad of solutions, but the challenge is getting shrimp farmers to use the tools they already have. Many diseases are spread by the movement of shrimp around the world, legally and illegally.  Individuals and companies who think the grass is greener elsewhere ignore basic common sense biosecurity measures and ship shrimp to disease-free areas.  Globally, shrimp farmers pay a very high price for this.  Recovery will be slow, and the high price of farmed shrimp will stimulate production in areas that are not yet affected by EMS and several other pathogens that are widely problematic in Southeast Asia, including microsporidian diseases and the nodavirus that causes covert mortality disease. Until there is a substantial shift in awareness and increased concern among shrimp farmers, I don’t think global farmed shrimp production will reach the production levels that existed prior to the current crisis, which is only the latest in what seems to be a never-ending cycle of crises, any time in the next several years. Information: Dr. Stephen G. Newman, Ph.D., President and CEO, AquaInTech, Inc., Lynnwood, Washington 98037, USA (phone 1-425-787-5218, email sgnewm@aqua-in-tech.com, webpages www.bioremediationaquaculture.com and www.sustainablegreenaquaculture.com). Source: SeafoodSource.com.  Editor, Sean Murphy (smurphy@divcom.com).  Bullish Predictions for Farmed Shrimp Recovery Are Pipe Dreams.  Stephen Newman.  January 5, 2015.

Christmas 2014

There is a scene at the end of Lord of the Rings, in the "Return of the King" where Frodo says in a monologue, "how do you pick up the threads of your life, how do you go on when in your heart you begin to understand, there is no going back. There are some hurts that go too deep, that have taken hold."

2014 delivered that kind of mortal wound to me. 

I, for the first time understand the pain and the damage that Frodo felt when the "ring wraith" stabbed him with the unholy blade on the mountain "Round Top."

No words, no rationalization, no time, no scar, can heal that wound or dull that kind of pain.

So, I am not doing a traditional Christmas this year. No cards, no wine baskets, no popcorn tins, that was what Lori always did.

I tried in Maryland to get down her Christmas notebook and look at who she sent gifts to in our name, and frankly the tears blurred the pages. 

So, Stephen, Victoria, and I are going to Vegas. We are going some where Mom would never, ever, have gone and every time we think of her there, we will laugh. 

Again, she would never, ever, have gone to Vegas.

So, my Christmas present to everyone this year is simple, I am following or copying Charlie Brown in his Christmas special, and it comes from Luke 2:8-14. This is the greatest gift we were ever given. I will write again in the New Year. 

" And in the region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an Angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And the Angel said to them, "be not afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people; for to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the Angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased."

True Christmas Miracles

Today was a day of true Christmas miracles. 

Today two disparate events occurred that confirmed yet again, my faith that God is real and heaven exists.

Norway (finally) after years of bull headed stupidity voted to stop the subsidy that supports the annual barbaric seal hunt in Canada. 

www.bangkokpost.com/news/world/449279/norway-scraps-controversial-seal-hunting subsidy

This should mark the the beginning of the end of that atrocious, barbaric, and cruel, annual hunt.

Then Pope Francis while comforting a young boy who had recently had his dog die, said be comforted, that the boy and all of us will see our pets in heaven. 

The actual quote by Pope Francis was, "all God's creatures will be welcome in Paradise. One day, we will see our animals again in the eternity of Christ. Paradise is open to all of God's creatures."

This echos what St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals said centuries ago. 

(This current Pope actually took his name from the patron saint of animals.) 

In 1990 Pope John Paul the 2nd said animals have souls, but few took notice.  

Today, Pope Francis' comments have been quoted and carried around the world.

To me, both of these events are true Christmas miracles and maybe they are heralds of a future when we human animals will recognize that non-human animals have souls, were created by the same God that created us, and are worthy of moral consideration and kindness, and frankly better treatment at every level from our species.

And I think Lori is already very busy saving animals on earth from her place in heaven above.

Smiles

This will be a short blog.  

As you know, for me and my family, 2014 has not been a good year.

So, it was very heartening that two very positive things have happened in the past few days.

First, after many significant and extremely diligent visits and examinations and questions and taste tests, GBT was able to announce this past week that we have signed our first overseas deal.

The following release was placed on the company web site this past Monday. (I think or maybe it was Sunday night.)

GBT Inks First International Project: Japan

GBT-International is honored to announce the signing of a joint-venture agreement to build a shrimp aquaculture facility using the GBT technology in Japan.  This will be the first GBT facility located outside of the United States. 

Contracts were signed after nearly a year of intense discussions with and in-person visits to GBT’s operations in Texas (that included multiple “tastings” of GBT shrimp) by an impressive range of the highest level of representatives of Japan’s cultural, financial and agricultural sectors.   Each approached the potential of bringing GBT to Japan with the same focus: safeguarding that nation’s strict standards of quality, safety, and excellence of seafood for the Japanese people. 

On every level, GBT shrimp received outstanding acclaim and approval.

The initial production “footprint” for Japanese operations is designed to increase according to an incremental and practical timetable.  The construction phase of the initial Japanese facility is targeted to break ground in the first quarter of 2015. 

The project will operate under the corporate auspices of GBT-International’s Japanese partners as GBT-Japan.  GBT-International will oversee construction, training, and technical management of the system.  GBT-Japan will provide on-site staffing and be responsible for day-to-day operations.  The chain of GBT bio-security will be maintained by the exclusive use of GBT-provided brood stock and PLs (Post Larvae) for stocking the bio-secure ponds.  Sustainable Sea Products International (SSPI) working with GBT-Japan will handle marketing and distribution.

This should mark a turning point and hopefully put an end to the past three years of countless questions such as, "do you really think your system will work?" or "are these projections and numbers real?"

The second very positive thing was that I came back to Maryland for a few days to attend to some things, both business and personal that I had simply let go unattended for far too long.

This is only the second time I have been back to our home in Maryland since the funeral and the last trip home (for Thanksgiving) my melancholy almost overwhelmed me.

Today, I went up take some carrots up to Charm and Annie, our two horses. I have not been able to even look at them the past year without tearing up.

Today, feeding Charm her carrots, remembering back over the almost 29 years I have had her, I smiled remembering how she looked as a six month old filly when I purchased her in Michigan. 

I smiled remembering how much Lori loved Charm and vice versa and the hours those two spent together back when we lived in Beallsville and brought Charm to Maryland from Michigan and virtually every week since that day Charm arrived. That is now over 18 years ago.

Arabian horses, if taken good care of, can live a long time. That said, Charm is approaching 29 (next March) and she is showing her age, but then again so am I.

But the point I am making is I smiled.

And that these two totally unrelated events were the first time in the past year that I have felt a true, good, and happy emotion inside of me, that let me actually smile.

                                      Charm and I today, December 10, 2014.

Thoughts on What is Important

I am in my new house and I have my cats and my dogs with me so do not think this blog is a whiny one.

Since the time I was 22 years old I have wanted to make a difference in the world. 

It started with my disgust and revulsion over how we treat our pets. 

We, a developed leading nation, kill millions of dogs and cats a year simply because we refuse to give them non-human rights and make it illegal to breed them without a guarantee of a home.

Then I looked at hunting. I hunted. As a kid growing up in Virginia, I was forced to hunt. It is disgusting, killing a life for fun, (and don't even try the argument I eat what I kill) is grotesque. 

Then I traveled the world. 

I went from a "dumb ass red neck" in Virginia to an educated world traveler, and as my late wife called me, became an "erudite redneck". 

I saw the global picture. 

I started out believing the guy who killed the elephant for 20 dollars for a tusk was the criminal. 

Then I learned the corporate CEO who flew in private planes while exploiting the world's resources were the real criminals and they were being aided and abetted by the governments of the world.

So, I set out 15 years ago to see if I could make a difference. 

Along the way I lost my wife and best friend to cancer. 

I have risked every nickel I owned to make my vision work. 

I have developed a persona of loneliness to be able to stay above the emotions and keep my eye on the end goal. 

Some one once said, "the only thing that allows evil to exist is for good men to do nothing."

GBT is going to break big and impressive in 2015. 

The real impact of what we have spent 15 years and 75 million US dollars developing will not be felt probably until long after I am dead.

It has been a few days over three months since Lori died and everyday I miss her. 

Our life together was not perfect, in fact it was a bit dysfunctional. 

But like the current popular song says, "my family is dysfunctional  but we have a good time killing each other." I miss Lori every day.

I am determined, even obsessed, to do something that can show the world that you can make a difference. 

In the next few weeks and months I am going to get more aggressive.

Has anyone even noticed that last week, India, has declared dolphins as "non-human persons" worthy of moral consideration?

Does anyone understand that the reason oil is $65 a barrel is because war is no longer the way to deal with thugs like Putin, but economy is?

Does anyone understand that without food and water, oil and gas, and beach houses are meaningless?

Does anyone get the fact that the world is no longer American -centric?

The world is totally inter connected which means inter-dependent. 

The insanity of "ISIS" and the foolishness of fundamentalism be it Christian or Islam or anything is that they are all dinosaurs. 

They are extinct and they just do not realize it. 

A few weeks ago not long after Lori died I received a vitriolic e-mail from the wife of a "very real friend."

In this e-mail she accused me of betraying my friend. 

Her e-mail was so hurtful, so filled with un-truths, so wrong at every level, I wanted to write back in kind. 

But I did not. 

I would like to think that finally after decades of being a total asshole, my wife has, finally from heaven above, looked down and is guiding me to do the right thing, not the "make me feel good thing" that I used to do.

So tonight I want to leave all of you with a great and warm story.

Charm, my Arabian mare I have had in my life for 29 years recently lost her buddy, a gelding of the last 4 years.

She was depressed, but through the wonderful kindness of Betty Davis, who takes care of Lori's and my two horses (Charm and Annie)  Charm found another friend, and she is no longer alone.

Maybe the secret to happiness or at least contentment is just that simple. 

Do not be alone. 

Charm and her new friend.