8 DECEMBER 2012 • WORLD AQUACULTURE • WWW.WAS.ORG Asian Pacific Chapter Update Prague has come and gone — quite the event and quite the location — with good representation from around the world. Many WAS APC members were in attendance and this was also the meeting that formalized the merger of the Asian Pacific Chapter and Japan Chapter into one. Following recent elections, we have one returning and one new APC Board member. Congratulations to Dr. Zuridah Merican who is returning to the APC Board and to Ramakanta Nayak, a new addition to the APC Board, who will be replacing Dr. Mohanakumaran (Mohan) Nair, whose term has expired. We thank Mohan for his service and particularly for his tireless efforts to help make the APA2011 meeting in Kochi, India a reality. As a result of APA2011, his college was also upgraded to university status after this event. A quick note and an early reminder to all who are interested, the WAS APC Board will have many positions open for election before the next regional conference in December 2013. It is never too early to start thinking about this. Also, consider volunteering some time before being nominated to get a better sense of chapter activities. On the meetings front, since the last report the APC has finalized the Arid Land Aquaculture Symposium to be at United Arab Emirates University (UAEU) in Al Ain, UAE from 24-25 March 2013, with workshops and tours planned after the event. We are currently seeking qualified speakers and registration for this event should be open shortly through the WAS website. If you have an interest in aquaculture in arid areas, particularly in North Africa, the Middle East and Australia, then this symposium will be valuable to you. If you have an interest and qualifications for a speaking slot, please email us at apcwas@was.org. We also hope this event will be the start of a strong membership drive to increase WAS and WAS APC membership in the region. The event will feature reports from the major production areas, the environmental benefits of arid land aquaculture, multi-industry integration topics, benefits to food security and population health, and phytoplankton and biofuel production. Roy Palmer and I travelled to Japan in October to finalize plans for the High Value Marine Finfish Aquaculture Symposium, in cooperation with Professor Koshio Shunsuke (who is also the WAS APC Executive Advisory Council representative for Japan) and Kagoshima Fisheries University. This event will start in conjunction with the Kagoshima Sushi Festival on 16 October 2013 and a highlight will be ‘Aquaculture Sushi 101,’ a half-day workshop to highlight aquaculture’s link to sushi. The next two days will be for a symposium, followed by field trips. This event will be a precursor for the Asia Pacific Aquaculture 2013 (APA2013) meeting in Ho Chi Minh City in 10-13 December 2013 — Positioning for Profit” and particularly for the World Aquaculture 2014 (WA2014) meeting in Adelaide on 7-11 June 2014 — “Create, Nurture, Grow”. We hope to see a good turnout for both the APA2013 and WA2014 events! After Kagoshima, Roy and I continued to Jeju, Korea, the site of the World Aquaculture 2015 (WA2015) meeting in May 2015, which will be a global WAS event and the regional meeting in 2015 for both the Korean and APC Chapters. Roy is serving as Program Chair and I am on the Steering Committee, along with several other APC members. For those who have not been to Jeju, the best way to describe it is as the ‘Asian New Zealand,’ with striking natural features, plenty of opportunities for hiking and camping, great seafood and many new facilities, not least one of the largest aquariums in the world. Just be careful of the “kiss cam” during the Ukrainian water ballet and aquatic mammal performance. And be sure to learn how to dance “Gangnam Style”! As a Chapter we continue to look for ways to improve the benefits of membership for WAS in general and for WAS APC members in particular. We are always open to suggestions, so if you have a good idea, please feel free to contact us at apcwas@was.org or contact your local APC Country Ambassador or APC EAC representative. Throughout our region more people have been joining or rejoining WAS and WAS APC. Several current WAS members who were not also APC members have added APC to their membership. Hopefully, if you are not yet a member of WAS or the APC, all the activities we are doing will encourage you to join. Even if you are a member of WAS already and in a different chapter, it is not too late! You can contact Carol Mendoza at the WAS Home Office (CarolM@was.org) and she can guide you through the procedure to join the APC. This is just a short update of our Chapter activities, if you are in the Asian region and not yet a member of the WAS or APC Chapter please feel free to contact us via our email apcwas@was.org and be sure to visit out website www.was.org/ APC. We know that processing the actual payment for WAS and WAS APC membership can be difficult for some to accomplish, if that is the case for you please look to contact your APC CA or EAC representative who may be able to take a cash payment and process your membership for you with the WAS Home office. Looking forward to an eventful and an exciting 2013 for the WAS and the APC Chapter! — Lukas Manomaitis, President (L-R) Dr. Zaw Moe Myint (APC-Myanmar), Dr. Kevin Fitzsimmons (WAS Past-President, APC lifetime member), Ms. May Myat Noe Lwin (APC-Thailand), Mr. Lukas Manomaitis (APC-Current President) in Myanmar.
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