Elmore Stoutt student Niaeika Aymer wins 2026
Seventeen-year-old Elmore Stoutt High School student Niaeika Aymer was announced as the winner of the 2026 Agriculture & Fisheries Exhibition & Market theme competition and received a $250 prize during a presentation on Wednesday, October 22, 2025. The Department of Agriculture and Fisheries chose Aymer’s theme “Farming the Land, Fishing the Seas, Nurturing Lives & Legacies,” which will guide next year’s exhibition messaging as officials continue to push youth involvement in agriculture and fisheries (reports from JTV and VINO).
Seventeen-year-old Elmore Stoutt High School student Niaeika Aymer has been named the winner of the 2026 Agriculture and Fisheries Exhibition & Market theme competition, officials confirmed on Wednesday, October 22, 2025. Aymer received a $250 prize presented by Mr. Vernol Richards, Veterinary Assistant with the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, during a brief presentation attended by Agriculture Management Officer Mr.
The competition, organised by the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries under the brief "Unleash Your Creativity," was open to all Virgin Islands residents. Applicants could submit up to five entries and had until September 12, 2025, to apply; Aymer used the maximum allotment, submitting five concepts before one was selected as the winning theme (VINO).
Aymer’s winning entry, titled "Farming the Land, Fishing the Seas, Nurturing Lives & Legacies," was announced at the presentation and will set the tone for promotional materials, educational programming and community engagement tied to the 2026 exhibition. The theme explicitly links farming and fishing with the transmission of knowledge and community wellbeing, highlighting the Territory’s reliance on both land and sea resources for food, livelihoods and the preservation of local heritage (VINO).
Vernol Richards praised Aymer’s creativity and consistency in the competition and used the occasion to urge greater youth participation in the primary industries. "Congratulations, Niaeika, for the remarkable job," Richards said. "I encourage more youth to be involved in agriculture and fisheries.
Niaeika submitted five entries, and I was happy to be the one to have chosen her winning entry, which was ‘Farming the Land, Fishing the Seas, Nurturing Lives and Legacies.'" The comments were reported by both JTV and VINO. Department officials have in recent years stepped up efforts to involve young people and schools in agriculture and fisheries programming as part of a broader strategy to strengthen food security, diversify livelihoods and pass traditional knowledge to new generations.
The theme contest is one of several initiatives intended to make the sector more visible and attractive to students and young residents (VINO; JTV). The Department has not yet indicated whether additional prizes or specific public events will explicitly adopt Aymer’s phrasing beyond the award presentation, but officials say the overall youth-focused push points to a more participatory exhibition in 2026.
VINO’s coverage also notes that its online site is operated by Advance Marketing and Professional Services (dba Virgin Islands News Online) and that the outlet supplied details about the prize amount and ceremony. Aymer’s phrase — tying agriculture and fisheries to the nurturing of lives and legacies — will now frame conversations at next year’s exhibition about sustaining local production and celebrating the people who work the land and the sea.
Organisers hope the theme will encourage more students and young residents to explore careers and cultural value in the Territory’s farming and fishing industries.
Primary source: VINO