WWW.WAS.ORG • WORLD AQUACULTURE • MARCH 2016 5 U.S. Aquaculture Society Well, a year has come and gone and it’s been an honor for me to serve as President of the United States Aquaculture Society. The term of a president in our society is only one year, but it’s the continuity provided by working with the president preceding you as well as the president that comes after you that drives accomplishments for our members. Recently we have seen significant improvements to our society, beginning with Kathleen Hartman’s leadership in the form of investment in student members and expansion of the awards program by working with industry partners. We now provide almost $18,000 in travel support and monetary awards for oral and poster presentations for students. I have also worked hard to increase student participation and attendance at the conferences and expand our student support base. We will announce additional travel awards in the coming months. I know that Gef Flimlin, the incoming president, feels similarly about the role students have in the society and has plans to pursue student involvement on every board committee to give students the board experience they need should they choose to serve the society in the future. Dave Cline was recently elected as President-elect and having served as vice president for the last two years has been administering the student awards program. So we have strong continuity for the near future in support of our students and providing them the opportunities and experiences to transition to become long-term committed members of our society. This year we asked you to respond to our membership satisfaction survey. One of the results of the survey identified that our membership’s primary means of getting information about society news was through the website. As I have mentioned in previous communications, we moved to a new domain, USAquaculture.org, and hired a web development company to redesign the pages to make the interface easier to use so that we can now easily update pages and maintain current content in a cost-effective way. The feedback thus far has been positive. In 2015 we also completed our Five-Year Strategic Plan (usaquaculture.org/strategic-plan) and all of committees are focusing on executing that vision. One of our objectives for 2015 was to increase visibility of USAS by supporting regional aquaculture conferences. The USAS had a strong presence at the 35th Fish Feed and Nutrition Workshop in Bozeman, Montana and the North Central Regional Aquaculture Conference in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In the strategic plan we also committed to developing stronger partnerships with other aquaculture organizations. Recently we partnered with the National Aquaculture Association and are co-sponsoring a series of webinars on aquaculture topics identified by our members and others in the aquaculture industry. Advertisements will be sent out through the website and emailed to chapter members. Another strategic goal was to increase member services. Our continuing education committee is currently developing a number of workshops to be held at the upcoming Aquaculture America Conference in San Antonio, so stay tuned. I’m confident that we have the leadership in place and the plan to follow to make the society more relevant to the membership for the foreseeable future. As we close the year its time to thank board members for their service to the society and welcome some new faces. Amy Stone and Luke Roy cycle off the board. Both distinguished themselves as board members heading up our student activities committee and publications committee, respectively. They will be succeeded by Eric Peatman and Allen Patillo who offer great new ideas and energy to the board. If you get the opportunity, offer them your support as a committee member as they take over two key committees. I have found these last few years on the board of directors very rewarding and I look forward to supporting Gef and Dave over the next two years. — Michael Denson, President CHAPTER REPORTS Korea, continued from page 4 Due to the retirement of Prof. Hur, the 2,419 species of microalgae that are growing in 10-ml test-tubes are being prepared for transfer to the Korea Institute of Ocean Science & Technology (KIOST), a government-affiliated organization of Pukyong National University. This is the first time that the career-long research of one professor will be transferred to the nation. “At least 5 or 6 microscope have devoted their lives to the laboratory until now,” said Hur smiling, “and I look forward to much more advanced research from our descendants on the basis of our research which took a lot of time and effort.” <Pukyong Today> Upcoming Events in Korea Busan will host the Seventh World Fisheries Congress under the theme “Challenge to Sustainable Fisheries and Safe Seafoods” from 23-27 May 2016 at BEXCO. There will be 38 sessions on the following topics: Aquaculture, Bycatch, Climate Change and Fisheries, Fish Biology, Fisheries Assessment, Food Science, Hydropower and Energy, Management and Social-Ecological Systems, New Techniques and Technology, and Stock Assessment. A successful WAS meeting was held in Busan in 2008 and you are cordially invited to return for WFC 2016. — Ik Kyo Chung, President
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