Colin Edward Nash

Colin Edward Nash - 1937 to 2021

Colin Edward Nash, Ph.D., a long-time member of the international community of aquaculture professionals, passed away on January 14, 2021, on Bainbridge Island, after a long illness. Dr. Nash was a highly respected scientist, administrator, and distinguished champion and supporter of the international aquaculture and fishing industries. His career took him all over
the world, and he and his wife Patricia, sons Simon and Alistair, and daughter Emma, variously lived in the UK, the San Juan Islands, Hawaii, Italy, and France before finally returning again to Bainbridge Island, to where they had first moved in 1978.

Born in Liverpool, England, Colin studied Zoology and Anthropology at The University of Leeds. After obtaining his Ph.D. in 1963, he joined the UK’s White Fish Authority where he developed flat-fish farming in the hot effluent water of powers stations in Scotland. In 1971, he was appointed a Director of The Oceanic Institute (OI), a private research enterprise in Hawaii. OI had been researching mullet aquaculture since the late sixties, and it developed successful techniques for captive spawning of Grey Mullet larvae.

Under Colin’s leadership, the Mullet Program refocused on improving larval survival and application of these techniques to other marine fish. As a recognized leader in artificial spawning and larval rearing of marine fish, OI was able to attract Federal and Foundation funding to screen various fish candidates and targeted several reef fish, Mahi-Mahi and Milkfish, and important
food species in Southeast Asia. In addition, staff carried out a theoretical feasibility study of open ocean mariculture, which resulted in a workshop and a book, Open Sea Mariculture, which received considerable attention.

Colin left O.I. in 1978 to join the new consulting firm of Kramer, Chin, and Mayo International (KCMI) in Seattle, as the Applied Sciences Manager. KCM, the parent company, with experience in designing salmon hatcheries, offered services in engineering, architecture, and applied science. It had recognized after the historic 1976 UN-FAO Kyoto Conference that global aquaculture development was a growth area. What followed were large-scale projects in China, SE Asia, and the Middle East. Colin stayed with KCMI until the mid-eighties when his international experience landed him the job of Programme Leader
for the UNFAO Aquaculture Development and Coordination Programme (ADCP) in Rome. ADCP was established after Kyoto to oversee and support global aquaculture expansion.

As head of ADCP, he directed the organization to carry out a number of influential studies to better understand the complexities of aquaculture development on a global scale, helping benchmark aquaculture progress and publicize the successes and constraints of global aquaculture. To name some important study topics during his time: Women in Aquaculture, Legislation Governing Aquaculture, Aquaculture Project Guidelines and Formulation, and Risk Management in the Industry. ADCP became an indispensable resource to countries around the world that were considering the benefits of aquaculture development.

Colin continued with ADCP until 1994 when he became Technical Director of Cofrepeche, France. On his return to the United States in 1998, Colin joined the aquaculture group at the NOAA Northwest Fisheries Science Centre’s Research Station at Manchester. Dr. Nash was a member of The American Fisheries Society, The Smithsonian Institute, and the World Mariculture Society, and served on the Editorial Board of “Aquaculture” magazine - for 10 years as Editor-in-Chief. In 2005, he was made an Honorary Member of the European Aquaculture Society. He contributed to numerous scientific and technical papers
across an enormous range of aquaculture and fisheries subjects, as well as writing a definitive
book on “The History of Aquaculture”.

Colin was involved in sports all his life. He was an all-around athlete at his prep (boarding) school in Shropshire, England. At the University of Leeds, he was Captain of the University Rugby Team and was selected to play on English University international teams against France, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. He was a long-time youth sports coach, including many
a season out at Battle Point with the B.I. Soccer Club. For a few years, he enjoyed driving team buses to away games for Bainbridge High. Colin was a low-handicap golfer and was an early-bird regular on the links at Wing Point Golf Club (at one time proudly serving as President of The Club, as well).

Upon retirement from NOAA, he and his wife enjoyed living on their small Bainbridge Island farm surrounded by their English Pointers, a llama, horses, a herd of sheep, and a coop of chickens and ducks.

Arrangements are entrusted to the Cook Family Funeral Home of Bainbridge Island, Washington.