World Aquaculture 57 Asian-Pacific Chapter Report The Board selection process was finalized during March, resulting in some personnel changes. We are ever grateful to Board Members who have contributed their time and I would particularly like to mention Graham Mair and Ian Lyall who have been the backbone of the organization for a number of years. Graham retains his position on the WAS Board so is not lost to us. Thanks also to Minh Anh Pham, Miao Weimen and Abdul Md Wahab for their contributions. The new Board composition can be seen at https://www. was.org/APC/view/APC-officers-and-organization.aspx. I particularly want to congratulate Lukas Manomaitis, Wayne O’Connor, C. Mohanakumaran Nair, Gay Marsden and Mark Oliver for being appointed for the first time and for Zuridah Merican in her reappointment. We are planning a meeting in Hobart during Australasian Aquaculture 2010, so will be aiming to get some new activities in train. APAC Kuala Lumpur The Asia Pacific Aquaculture Conference and Trade Show along with the Malaysian International Seafood Exposition held at the Putra World Trade Centre in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia was opened by Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia, The Honorable Tan Sri Dato’ Haji Muhyiddin Bin Mohd. Yassin on November 4, 2009. Other dignitaries included Malaysian Minister of Agriculture & Agro Based Industry, The Honorable Datuk Seri Noh Bin Hj. Omar; Malaysian Deputy Ministers Rohani and Johari; and Ambassadors and Trade Commissioners from 10 countries. As Hoang Tung could not be present I, as incumbent President for WAS-APC, stepped in as Joint Chairman of the meeting. In my opening speech I congratulated Malaysia on being able to establish this event so quickly and particularly thanked the Malaysian Government for their sponsorship and commitment, and in particular, Dato’ Junaidi Bin Che Ayub, the Director General of Fisheries Malaysia and his team and the partners in the Conference, the Malaysian Fisheries Society and UPM. In setting the tone for this important conference I mentioned, “The world today is a strange and difficult place. Despite all the positive technology, research and knowledge that we have there is still the uneasy truth that when one out of every six people in the world woke up this morning they had no idea whether they will have sufficient food to keep them alive for the day ahead. By 2050 the predictions are that the world population will be nine billion and that we will need 70 per cent more food than we have today. “The only answers that seem to be coming forward, that I hear, are the continuing use of land for food. No one seems to talk about what is over 70 per cent of the world‘s surface – the oceans and waterways that we have. Currently, those oceans and waterways produce the world’s most traded food commodity – seafood. But given a new paradigm in thinking in this area they could easily be the answer for the additional food that the world desperately needs. Additionally, seafood is the healthiest protein you can put in your mouth. Research over the past few decades has shown that the nutrients and minerals in seafood can make improvements in brain development and reproduction and has highlighted the role for seafood in the functionality of the human body. So many chronic diseases can be avoided simply by higher consumption of seafood. “With wild caught fishing at its maximum clearly this is Aquaculture’s opportunity. Aquaculture is already producing about 50 percent of the world’s seafood and this region of Asia-Pacific dominates the production with nearly 90 percent in terms of quantity and just under 80 percent in terms of value. In the early 1950s less than one million tonnes per year was produced from Aquaculture and now production is over 50 million tonnes with a value of around US$80 billion. “How we can improve the chances for guaranteed food for everyone in the world, how much we can extend and improve aquaculture, how well we sell our stories and get this paradigm in thinking changed depends much on all of us in this room today.” The Deputy Prime Minister cut the ribbons on both Trade Shows for both the Conference and Seafood Exposition and spent a good amount of time with his entourage looking around and asking questions of the exhibitors. Having the opportunity to see both the production end and the finished products was unique and rewarding for everyone. Later in the day at the Conference dinner I was able to confirm that this was clearly going to be the most supported aquaculture conference held in the Asia Pacific region as registrants had exceeded 1,700. This highlights how important Aquaculture is to the region and enables us to build with confidence on the foundations that are rapidly growing within the Society. The Conference program was organized with aplomb by Professor Fatimah and Geoff Allan. The John Cooksey team, including Mario Stael as show coordinator, did an excellent job. The results of the Student Abstract Competition (thanks to organizer, Mark Oliver) were: 1. 1st Prize — Haniyeh Rostamzad for “A comparative study of the influence of vacuum packinging and ctiric acit on quality of Persian sturgeon fillets during storage.,” coauthored by B. Shabanpour , M. Kashaninejad and A. Shabani (Department of Fishery, Gorgan University of (Continued on page 70)
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