WORLD AQUACULTURE 3 President’s Column As I begin my term as President of the World Aquaculture Society, I am reminded of all the outstanding people I have worked with on WAS Boards over the years. People with a heart for service, dedication to the science of aquaculture, mentors to students, and leaders with a missionminded goal to expand WAS services to countries around the globe. I am proud and honored to spend the next year working as your President to provide the kinds of services that you – our members – want from the World Aquaculture Society. Today our society has expanded membership to more than 84 countries, formed Chapters that are providing services to 811 members in the United States (USAS Chapter), 422 members throughout Asia and the Pacific (Asian Pacific Chapter), 267 members in the Caribbean, Central and South America (Latin American Chapter), and 81 members in South Korea (Korean Chapter). Following their 10th Annual Aquaculture Technology Workshop at Fukuyama University, the Japan Chapter merged with the Asian Pacific Chapter in August 2012. The 40 members of the Japan Chapter will now become members of our Asian Pacific Chapter. The World Aquaculture Society links together with other societies and associations to hold our annual meetings in venues around the globe. AQUA 2012 is taking place in the Czech Republic in partnership with the European Aquaculture Society. We are expecting more than 2500 delegates from around the world to join us in the beautiful city of Prague and attend some of the 78 technical sessions focusing on the theme Global Aquaculture: Securing our Future. Both before and after the Prague conference, your Board of Directors will meet to plan future directions for the Society, make financial decisions and plan the services WAS will provide to the membership. We will welcome several new Board members, including Michael Schwarz (President-Elect), Luis Sampaio and Sandy Shumway (Directors), and Rebecca Lochmann (re-elected as Secretary). In Prague, we will also present two Honorary Life Awards and three Fellows of the World Aquaculture Society. The recipients of these awards will be acknowledged in the next issue of World Aquaculture magazine. I look forward to working with Immediate Past-President, Ricardo Martino, and the WAS Board in 2012 and 2013. Ricardo and I share a common goal to expand our membership in parts of the world where aquaculture is well underway – especially China and India. Through our Promotions and Membership Committee, our Affiliations Committee and our Chapters, we will work to expand the services we provide to our global membership and to disseminate the science and technology needed for sustainable production of seafood. Another area of focus during my Presidency is to expand When the September issue of the World Aquaculture magazine begins to reach our readers, the term of my presidency will have finished. Looking back, I have the sensation that the last 14 months have passed by very quickly. There was 14 months of hard work but also of a very enjoyable time. Therefore, I would like to write a few lines to express my acknowledgments. I would like to start by thanking John Hargreaves, Bob Stickney, and the magazine staff for the strong support I have received in preparing my columns. As I am not an English native speaker, and despite the help I’ve had, it was a bit difficult to write five President’s Columns. However, I had had a lot of fun in preparing them and I hope you liked what I wrote. I want inform the membership that the magazine has a new layout editor, Linda Noble, who I welcome. Because the deadline to submit this column comes a few days before the end of the WAS election, I don’t know the results. However, I congratulate those colleagues who will take a seat on the next Board of Directors and offer encouragement to those not elected, who I hope to see as future Board A Note from the Immediate Past President members. Thanks to all who participated in this democratic process by casting votes. The election would not have succeeded without the work of Jay Parsons, Chair of the Elections Committee, who led the process with great competence. I want to express my sincere gratitude to all Board Members, with whom I had the honor to work with and share the time of my presidency. Without their support I wouldn’t have made it. My sincere gratitude to John Cooksey (I just received the news that he will soon be a grandfather), Mario Stael (our new Director of Conferences), and the Home Office staff of Carol Mendoza and Judy Andrasko (we are lucky to have them with us). I also want to thank my successor, Dr. Kevan Main, for all the help and support and wish her all the best during her term as WAS President. I am very confident she will do a great job. Finally I would like to finish by repeating the words written in the first paragraph of my first President´s Column: it is a great honor and privilege to serve as President of the largest professional aquaculture society in the world. — Ricardo C. Martino, Past-President (CONTINUED ON PAGE 18)
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