WWW.WAS.ORG • WORLD AQUACULTURE • SEPTEMBER 2015 5 The outlook for the Asian Pacific Chapter for the second half of 2015 is good but not without challenges. Upcoming events for the chapter have a lot to offer, including ICFA 2015 in Colombo, Sri Lanka from 25-27 August, the Middle East and Central Asia AquaForum 2015 in Tehran, Iran, and Asia Pacific Aquaculture 2016 in Surabaya, Indonesia. Everything is well prepared according to the determined schedule. The joint APC and AIT workshop on shrimp farming in Bangkok has been postponed to January 2016. We have new board members joining as follows: Mr. Roy Palmer (Immediate Past President), Mr. Allen Wu (Director), Dr. Felix Suga (Director) and Ms. Katherine Hawes, who started June 1, 2015 as Secretary-Treasurer. Global shrimp production is improving as countries hard-hit by early mortality syndrome (EMS) recover and as Ecuador, Vietnam and Indonesia boost output. There has been moderate recovery in farmed shrimp production in Thailand and also in Mexico, while India, Vietnam and Indonesia continue to focus more on Pacific white shrimp aquaculture. In the past seven months, the production of P. monodon in Vietnam has increased about 4.5 percent, but production of L. vannamei has dropped about 23 percent compared with the same period last year. However, overall production is expected to be better in 2015 compared with 2014. Harvests in India could be lower than projected due to disease incidence. Market demand for shrimp in the U.S. remains sluggish. I anticipate flat to softening prices in the U.S. towards the end of the year as restaurants return shrimp to their menus. Meanwhile, the weakening of the euro is likely to reduce imports to the EU in the coming months. Japanese importers are also likely to be selective due to the weak yen. While prices for small shrimp may drop, the prices for larger sizes will remain more stable as harvests of small shrimp in Mexico, India, Indonesia and Thailand keeps the market tighter for larger sizes. While the way to combat EMS is still in doubt, farmers are facing other diseases such as running mortality syndrome (RMS) in India and white spot disease and white feces. Last, fish production is promising as a global sustainable food source, but recent climate change has adversely affected production, especially from mariculture. — Farshad Shishehchian, President Asian Pacific Chapter CHAPTER REPORTS After Writing this report gives me great pleasure, as usual, but also causes a little melancholy because it is the last one I write as President of the Latin American and Caribbean Chapter of the World Aquaculture Society (LACC-WAS). During my nearly 20-year career (and many more years to come, hopefully), I have performed different jobs in aquaculture: extension agent, professor, consultant, farmer and recently public servant. All these years have had only one constant: I have been an active member of WAS. The Society has given me the opportunity to interact with many specialists, but more than anything, to make good friends that share the love of aquaculture. Aquaculturists in general have the trademark of being very passionate and maybe a little bit crazy. However, regardless of nationality or language we can easily communicate with each other. WAS has been a place where I have always felt home and where people that have very similar dreams to my own gather in extremely beautiful places all over the world. When I was candidate for the LACC presidency, I ran against one of my best friends and a renowned professional. I did not have much hope, but the membership supported me with their vote and gave me the responsibility to lead and put my personal touch on the chapter from what is going to become the most important aquaculture area in the world, at least as I envision the future. The first objective was to create a trademark congress that could integrate the region and all its participants. We had to differentiate ourselves from other regions and integrate academia, producers and government agencies. LACQUA was conceptualized with the support of John Cooksey, Mario Stael and the LACC Board of Directors. Our own conference in our own language (Spanish or Portuguese and a special room in English) so the producers could make the most of it and attend the meeting that previously was of no interest to them. LACQUA 13 took place in Villavicencio, Colombia and it was a big success. In Villavicencio, we tried to integrate Colombian producers by giving e-memberships to all participants. The number of members increased significantly, although the renewal rate has been quite low. Nonetheless, I think it was a good try. During 2013, LACC was considered as a permanent advisor for the Aquaculture Network of the Americas (Red de Acuicultura de las Americas, RAA) where it has a voice in meetings, a major step to connect the dots between all members of regional aquaculture. In 2014, LACQUA took place in Guadalajara, México, and again participants were very pleased with the quality of the talks and the event in general. Two major milestones were achieved in the land of mariachi and tequila. The first was that the LACCWAS office was for the first time operated with an Executive Officer located in the region (Nash Rodriguez). The second was that a rotation system was established for LACQUA where every three years the event would take place in Mexico and every three years in Brazil, leaving a third spot every three years for different Latin American and Caribbean Chapter (CONTINUED ON PAGE 8)
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjExNDY=