Presidenfs column Time is flying by in my abbreviated Presidency, which ends in March since WAS leadership changes at the annual meetings. My term is shorter than some due to the fact that triennial meetings, usually held· in February or March, are preceded by out-of-USA meetings, usually held during May. My term as WAS President is nine months while the term of our Presidentelect, Dr. Sungchul C. Bai, will be almost 15 months. Therefore, this will be my last President's column. Like most WAS presidents before me, I have found the position both rewarding and taxing. I am pleased that I have in some small way contributed to our society's continuing leadership in aquaculture information exchange and advancement as a worldwide organization. By the time you read this, the San Antonio Triennial will be a thing of the past. I am confident it will have been another very successful meeting, and at least based on the preliminary registrations, it may have the largest attendance of meetings WAS has ever held in the United States. I again want to give special thanks to the Program Committee and Steering Committee members for ensuring such a successful conference. The Program Committee consisted of Sandy Shumway (Chair), Jay Parsons (WAS), Leroy Cresswell (NSA), Mike Frinsko (FCS), and Betsy Hart (NAA). The Steering Committee was made up of Joe Tomasso, Sandy Shumway, and John Nickum. I am pleased to report that the recently voted upon bylaws changes passed overwhelmingly. I personally want to thank all of you who took the time to vote. Now the Board �-4�1 of Directors will amend our Policy, Rules, and Regulations document (this supports the bylaws by clarifying the daily procedures or rules of how the Society carries out its functions) to make them conform to the by-law changes. A new discussion item for the Board that needs membership feedback is the idea of "Aquaculturist Professional" certification. Many other professional societies have optional certification programs for their membership. An example in the USA is the American Fisheries Society (AFS), one of our Triennial partners. The AFS offers its members the opportunity to apply for a "Fisheries Professional" certification at three levels or tiers. Each tier has minimum requirements of education, experience, and professional development and the Society charges a fee to review members for certification. So what do you think? Should WAS develop an "AquacultureProfessional" certificate?Please discuss this with WAS Board members, myself or Dr. Bai and help guide us in this important decision. With the San Antonio meeting behind us, we should all look forward to the next WAS meeting in Busan, Republic of South Korea. I was fortunate to be invited to represent WAS at the 2006 Busan International Seafood Exposition and provided a presentation entitled "Present Status of World Aquaculture." The Exposition was held at the same convention center that will be the site of our WAS 2008 conference. Busan is a beautiful seaside city and the convention center is an outstanding facility ( Continued on page 8) 200 ·· t:::ll,\_g�1, AJ,\tc:10� . r- ==� � ��;=�;· _ �5� =:./....:- � Busan International Seafood & Fisheries EXPO WAS President Michael Masser (eighth from left) was part of the ribbon cutting ceremony to open the 2006 Busan International Seafood Exposition. The Busan convention center is the site for World Aquaculture 2008. WORLD AQUACULTURE 3
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