WWW.WAS.ORG • WORLD AQUACULTURE • MARCH 2013 11 (as I am sure will be evident in the other tributes to his life and work) and I think I may have contributed to his work overload by asking him to become chairman of AwF. In this I feel a personal guilt and responsibility. His work and achievements will live on; indeed, it seems particularly poignant that as I was writing this tribute, I received one of his last publications (for FAO) to edit. It is especially sad to lose one so young and a man who had the ability to contribute so much more to the teaching of aquaculture technologies, to the role of women in aquaculture, to our international aquaculture scientific community, to the World Aquaculture Society, and — last but perhaps most important to him — to the alleviation of poverty through small-scale sustainable aquaculture (the mission of AwF). Michael B. New, OBE Founder & Patron, Aquaculture without Frontiers Past-President, World Aquaculture Society Past-President, European Aquaculture Society It’s so sad that the person who inspired and encouraged me is no longer alive. We lost him, India lost him, Asia and the whole world of aquaculture lost a man who is impossible to replace. I knew about his work in Bangladesh, Cambodia, and other countries since the early 1990s. I became closer to him since the 8th Asian Fisheries Forum in Kochi in November 2007. After listening to my presentation on “Women in Aquaculture Project in Nepal,” he encouraged me to submit a proposal to Aquaculture without Frontiers (AwF) because he was the Director responsible for the AwF program in Asia. Implementation began in 2008 and the project continues. Since the launch of that project, email communication with him became very frequent. I met him several times face-to-face during conferences, seminars, workshops, and sometimes in my own office and at his place. I will never forget any moment with him, especially the workshop that he organized at his Fisheries College in 2011. I was invited, along with other colleagues to travel to the southern tip of India to Thoothukudi (in Tamil Nadu) to give a presentation and take part in discussions. All the deans and senior colleagues of fisheries colleges throughout India were invited for the workshop, organized as a part of a process that aimed at reforming or revitalizing fisheries education in India to meet 21st century aspirations. Due mainly to his efforts, the birth of a full-fledged Fisheries University has taken place in India. As a part of the process, we also started exchanging students and staff. It was just beginning when the tragedy happened. I wish his inspirational work will continue, and his dreams come true and his soul rest in peace! Ram C. Bhujel, Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), Thailand Dr. M.C. Nandeesha’s commitment to social justice in all matters was very strongly expressed in his championing of women and gender equity in aquaculture and fisheries. I believe that this will be an area where his influence and vision will have an enduring impact. In gender efforts in the fishery sector, Nandeesha initiated and interested a growing circle of others to develop and disseminate this work. I know first-hand that he was the single most important person in starting off the gender work of the Asian Fisheries Society. Nandeesha’s foray into women in the fishery sector seems to have started when he was still in India, probably in the late 1980s. In 1990, when he was Secretary of the Asian Fisheries Society Indian Branch, he developed the theme and organized the 1990 AFSIB “Women in Fisheries in India” workshop (genderaquafish.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/1992-procs-indiawomen-in-fisheries-1990-workshop.pdf). When Nandeesha moved to Cambodia to work for Padek in 1992, the country had more women than men in many rural areas and hence many households were headed by women and usually suffered lower than average income. In 1994, Nandeesha convened the “Women in Cambodian Fisheries” workshop and, in 1996, the “Women in Fisheries in IndoChina Countries” seminar. In 1995 he persuaded Padek to hold the Asian Fisheries Society’s first Women in Fisheries photo competition at its 5th Asian Fisheries Forum (Beijing). Padek went on to host a further two photographic competitions in 1998 and 2001. On a personal note, I first started interacting with Nandeesha when he invited me to give a short address at the 1996 seminar in Cambodia. This began one of my most treasured professional friendships that lasted until his untimely death last December. From this gentle introduction to the theme of women in fisheries in the AFS, Nandeesha suggested to the Asian Fisheries Society and WorldFish Center that we organize an Asian Women and Fisheries Symposium. We did this at the 6th Asian Fisheries Forum in Chiang Mai. Then we went global on women in fisheries (2001, Kaohsiung), and switched to global issues on gender in aquaculture and fisheries (GAF) (Penang 2004, Kochi 2007, Shanghai 2011). In each of these, Nandeesha played a major role and also presented. At the time he died, he was also involved in organizing the 2013 GAF event in Yeosu and we and our colleague Choo Poh Sze were preparing a joint paper for presentation. Nandeesha also helped mainstream gender in his own work institution’s work. While Department Head at the College of Fisheries in Tripura State, he persuaded the university to build a dormitory for women students so that women could actually take the aquaculture courses. When his team won a best paper award in 2007 in Kochi, he used the funds to provide an award for women students of merit. On the personal side, Nandeesha was a wonderful, creative, visionary and practical friend. He had a way of getting each of us to get outside our comfort zones and take the next step. I know I am not alone in having had my life and my professional interests profoundly changed by meeting and working with Nandeesha. In my case, it was being introduced to and led along the path of thinking and doing something about gender inequality in the fishery sector. Gender in aquaculture and fisheries is certainly a key theme which will miss Nandeesha’s guidance, but where his legacy will live on. Meryl C. Williams Honorary Life Member Asian Fisheries Society
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