World Aquaculture 3 President’s column The World Aquaculture Society has a well-organized and decentralized system to promote and achieve the goals of the Society. This system consists of and is operationalized by committees, working groups, and chapters. I would like to take this opportunity to have a short discussion about the chapters of WAS. The idea of chapter formation was launched about three decades ago with the main goal of increasing global participation in WAS. At present there are five chapters within the Society: the United States Chapter (USAS), the Asian Pacific Chapter (APC), the Latin American and Caribbean Chapter (LACC), the Korean Chapter, and the Japan Chapter. Each represents a specific geographic area of influence and is an essential mechanism to promote WAS in that area. Chapters with more than 200 members are entitled to send one voting delegate to the meeting of the Board of Directors of the World Aquaculture Society (Bylaw 10, Section 2). It is expected that chapters become administratively and independently self-sustaining within a short time of their establishment. It is also expected that chapters organize scientific meetings for their members and actively participate in the development of aquaculture in their geographic area. Since their establishment, chapters have been supporting the goals of the parent society in various ways. Most have been very active in editing and publishing books, organizing scientific meetings, and organizing sessions at WAS annual conferences. As evidence of this, the two major upcoming events are WAS chapter conferences. The first one is the Annual Conference and Exhibition of the US Chapter that will be held in Las Vegas, Nevada from February 29 to March 2. The mid-year meeting of the WAS Board of Directors will be held immediately after that conference. I will provide my impressions about the US Chapter conference in the next issue of World Aquaculture magazine. Another upcoming conference will be held in Melbourne, Australia from May 1-4. The conference and trade exposition has been organized by the Asian Pacific Chapter and a large audience is being expected. There were more than 1,500 participants at the APC meeting held in Kochi, India last year. Any individual can join a chapter; however, it is a pre-requisite to be an active member of WAS. To join a chapter it is also necessary to pay an additional modest membership fee of US$ 5.00 per year. Society members can join as many chapters as they like, as long as they are willing to pay for the privilege. I encourage all members to join at least one chapter. During the meeting of the WAS Board of Directors in Natal, Brazil last June, there was some discussion about the current situation with some chapters. Over the years the Board of Directors has been very careful to approve a petition for establishment of a new chapter. The Board must judge that the chapter has a reasonably good probability that it will achieve administrative and financial independence. This is to prevent the undesirable situation that a chapter would have to be closed because of the lack of activities, which could cause losses to WAS and its members. Therefore, despite the decentralized organization of the Society, chapters are governed by the WAS Bylaws and rules for the establishment of a chapter are provided in Bylaw 10 (www.was.org). Chapters must submit reports to the WAS Board of Directors, which in turn will support the chapters and ensure that their activities will continue to promote benefits to WAS members and to the development of aquaculture in each chapter’s geographic area. — Ricardo C. Martino President Book Review Aquaculture and Fisheries Biotechnology: Genetics Approaches, 2nd edition by Rex Dunham Christopher C. Green1 Integration of genetics with aquaculture and fisheries, specifically through the application of technology, and an understanding of recent advances in genetics are critical for the development of high-performance culture species. There is often difficulty understanding how new genetic approaches and advances will benefit or be integrated in an aquaculture framework and this book attempts to address that issue. Rex A. Dunham is an Alumni Professor in the Department of Fisheries and Allied Aquacultures at Auburn University and is uniquely poised to relate his own work in aquaculture and genetics as well as draw from other research in this rapidly developing field. Channel catfish are featured to a perhaps excessive degree as the example organism for the wide array of topics covered in this volume as the author (Continued on page 66)
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