6 MARCH 2013 • WORLD AQUACULTURE • WWW.WAS.ORG Asian Pacific Chapter Update In terms of events, things have been calmer since the last APC report. However, plenty of things continue to happen behind the scenes and 2013 should be a banner year for the APC. As many of you know Dr. M.C. Nandeesha, a long-time supporter of WAS, a member of the APC and an active member of the aquaculture community passed away after an unexpected and sudden illness. Nandeesha (as many knew him) was also a strong supporter of aquaculture in India and in particular supported a focus on those in the industry that lacked access to capital and expertise but had a strong interest in aquaculture, perhaps exemplified by his work with Aquaculture without Frontiers. His enthusiasm and dedication to the industry will be sorely missed. On a happier note, in the recent WAS elections we had three Chapter members and strong supporters of WAS in general either elected or reelected to the WAS Board. Roy Palmer, Immediate PastPresident of the APC (and one of the most active and involved members of your APC Board) was elected as a Director of the WAS Board and we look forward to his active participation on the Board for the betterment of the Society. Francisco Gomes, of Novus, has also been elected as a Director, and we look forward to his voice as a representative from the commercial side to have a positive impact on the expected new directions of the Society. William Daniels was reelected as WAS Treasurer and therefore we expect to remain a strong society financially. A reminder to all who are interested, the APC Board will have many positions up for election before the next regional conference in December 2013. Now is the time to register your interest in running for a position in our dynamic chapter. Also, consider volunteering some time before getting nominated to get a better sense of APC activities. The APC has quite a few exciting events coming up. The first Arid Land Aquaculture Symposium will be held at United Arab Emirates University in Al Ain, UAE from 24-25 March 2013 with workshops and tours planned on 26 and 27 March. Dr. Imad Saoud, as the program manager and APC Executive Advisory Council (EAC) member for the Middle East Region, has been working hard to gather speakers for this event and will speak himself. (He was also recently featured in a TED talk “More Crop Per Drop,” worth a view on YouTube. Links can be found on the APC Facebook page.) You can register for this event and/or the workshops on the WAS website (www.was.org). 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. We 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, the benefits on food security and population health, and phytoplankton and biofuel production. Email us at apcwas@was.org if you have any questions. We recently confirmed a Biofloc Workshop from September 27-28 in Singapore, headlined by a world-renowned expert on the topic, Dr. Yoram Avnimelech. This will be done in cooperation with Temasek Polytechnic and is being organized by Jimmy Lim, who is also one of the APC Executive Advisory Council members for the Southeast Asia region. Plans are ongoing for a High Value Marine Finfish Aquaculture Symposium in cooperation with Professor Koshio Shunsuke (who is the APC EAC representative for Japan) and Kagoshima Fisheries University. This event will be held in conjunction with the Kagoshima Sushi Festival on 16 October 2013 and a highlight will be ‘Aquaculture Sushi 101,’ a half-day workshop to emphasize aquaculture’s link to sushi. The two-day symposium will be followed by field trips. This symposium is also being held in recognition of the importance of the recent merger between the APC and Japan Chapters. The Japan 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.” Now is the time to submit abstracts and if you are interested in doing more, particularly co-chairing a session, please contact Wayne O’Connor though the APC email address. We are also planning to create a summary publication that will feature expanded discussions of key abstract submissions that link to the theme. The publication will be prepared prior to the conference and available for purchase at the event itself. This is why it is important that you submit your abstracts as soon as possible so our APC Publications committee (led by Zuridah Merican) can contact you if they judge that you have a topic worthy of inclusion in this publication. ABOVE: APC President Lukas Manomaitis and President-Elect Amrit Bart at Dominion Farms in Saiya, Kenya through a Farmer-to-Farmer program run by the University of Arizona in December 2012. Our team travelled to help the tilapia industry improve in Kenya. (CONTINUED ON PAGE 16)
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