WWW.WAS.ORG • WORLD AQUACULTURE • SEPTEMBER 2013 5 Summer is officially here and I am taking my annual leave again away from the warmth of Asia and am now on the colder shores of the northeast USA. I have been President of the APC for over two years and am well into my third year. I finally understand why most people in this position are older and usually without young children! That being said, I am working with our APC Board to finish up my term and have set a list of issues and targets for the remainder of my term (which concludes at the end of the Asian Pacific Aquaculture 2013). Elections for many new positions for the APC will be coming up soon. New APC board members are needed to replace quite a few of our current board members whose terms will end after APA2013. If you have an interest in volunteering your time to better regional aquaculture, please nominate yourself or have someone nominate you to apcwas@ was.org. If you are a dynamic person, we are a dynamic chapter. Join us! Starting in December, after the APA2013 event, our chapter will be led by Dr. Amrit Bart, Professor and Director of the Asian Institute of Technology (in Vietnam), a very good friend and someone with a long-time involvement with Asian and international aquaculture. At this point I am going to ask Amrit to add a few words here to discuss where he would like to lead APC in the next two years. Hopefully this will spur people to nominate themselves to APC Board positions and be active members, with Amrit in the lead. Thank you, Lukas, for giving me space to say a few words. Lukas has been one of the most dedicated and active WAS chapter presidents I have known. His ambitious goals have taken the APC into being one of the most dynamic and strongest (financially and programmatically) chapters in the WAS family and I only hope to continue to follow on the buzz he has created, starting this December. I will outline some of my vision for the APC for the coming two years in the next issue. I would like to take this opportunity to invite you to Asian Pacific Aquaculture 2013 in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon, as the locals call it) from 10-13 December. As you may well know, Vietnamese aquaculture continues to go through turbulent periods (as it has from the start) as it finds its way to becoming the third most important producer of aquatic products globally. Despite great market, disease and financial challenges of the current era, Vietnam continues to meet its volume and financial targets. Although targets are met, benefits along the value chain are not shared equitably. There is a great deal to be learned from the Vietnamese experience in working towards resilient aquaculture globally. Please join us in sharing this experience. As Chair of the Steering Committee, I see the overwhelming support for this event from the Ministry of Agricultural and Rural Development and Gold, Silver and other event sponsors. The allocated exhibition booths filled so quickly that we were forced to request additional space to open more booths in the Saigon Exhibition Center. The program is coming along well with several innovative extra sessions and workshops on disease outbreak simulation, innovation in aquaculture education and manuscript writing. An exciting farmers’ day is planned to attract producers to the conference and exhibition from all over the country. We are also planning to take groups to visit aquaculture in the Mekong Delta and Ha Long (Pangasius, shrimp, oyster and tilapia farms). We are expecting and gearing up for a record number of participants from all over the world and hope to see you here. We are always looking for more volunteers for our chapter. There is much that could be done but can’t because as volunteers the APC Board can only devote so much time. Therefore, if you have an interest in becoming more active in aquaculture and want to expand your network, please contact us via our email and tell us of your interest to help regional aquaculture improve. If you are in the Asian region and not yet a member of the WAS or APC, contact us via our email and visit our website (www. was.org/APC). We know that processing the payment for WAS and APC membership can be difficult for some to accomplish. If that is the case for you, contact your APC Country Ambassador or Executive Advisory Council representative, who may be able to take a cash payment and process your membership with the WAS Home Office. We are looking forward to an eventful and an exciting final quarter of 2013 for the WAS and the Asian Pacific Chapter! —Lukas Manomaitis, President Asian Pacific Chapter CHAPTER REPORTS ABOVE: APA2013 Steering Committee Meeting in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, June 2013.
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