6 JUNE 2017 • WORLD AQUACULTURE • WWW.WAS.ORG NEW BOOK IN THE WAS ONLINE STORE Design and Operation of Super-Intensive Biofloc-Dominated Systems for the Production of Pacific White Shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei — The Texas A&M AgriLife Research Experience. Editors: Tzachi M. Samocha, David I. Prangnell, Terrill R. Hanson, Granvil D. Treece, Timothy C. Morris, Leandro F. Castro and Nick Staresinic. Available for download only. ISBN: 9781888807233 U.S. Aquaculture Society I am very excited by the opportunity to serve as President of the United States chapter of the World Aquaculture Society. It is an honor to serve a chapter with so many great members representing academia, industry, government, extension and more. Diversity of membership is part of what makes an organization strong. As of 17 February 2017, the US chapter had 1032 members, making it the largest of the WAS chapters. Based on self-identification, USAS members represent research (40 percent), government (20 percent), academia (15 percent), extension (15 percent), producers (5 percent) and industry suppliers (5 percent). The chapter could not function without the selfless dedication and expertise of the executive committee, including Gef Flimlin (Past President), Dave Straus (President-elect), Angela Caporelli (VicePresident), Matt Parker (Secretary Treasurer), and Board Members Allen Pattillo, Eric PEatman, Susan Laramore and Bill Walton. The student liaison is Carter Ullman. The chapter also functions well due to the efforts of the WAS Home Office staff and the 30+ members who volunteer to serve on committees. If you are interested in how the chapter operates, I encourage you to get involved with a committee or communicate with the Board of Directors. I would like to extend a special thanks to Gef Flimlin and Mike Denson, who have been wonderful mentors, and President-elect Dave Straus, whose expert organizational skills are helping to keep things running smoothly. The 2017 meeting in San Antonio was an unqualified great success, with almost 1900 attendees representing 57 countries. It was also one of the largest trade shows, with 187 vendor booths. The success of the meeting keeps the chapter in good financial health. Members and trade show sponsors were happy with the venue and plans are underway to return there in 2021. Angela Caporelli did a wonderful job of wrangling judges for the student abstracts and presentations and coordinating with sponsors for the various awards. With the help of our generous sponsors, USAS was able to provide more than $12,500 for student awards. Please go out of your way to thank the sponsors and vendors as you encounter them, as they are an important part of meeting sustainability. I would also like to encourage any students reading this to apply for the awards that are detailed on the USAS web site (usaquaculture. org/student-awards). It is important for students to be members of USAS at the time they send in their abstracts in order to be eligible for awards and make sure to submit them by the deadline, which is several months before the meeting. Last year, USAS collaborated with the North Central Regional Aquaculture Center and the National Aquaculture Association to develop and deliver 15 excellent webinars on various aquaculture topics. Links to these webinars can be found in the continuing education section of the USAS web site. With the help of Allen Pattillo and Gef Flimlin, we plan to produce several more webinars in the coming months. If you have ideas for important topics and know a willing presenter, please share that information with us. The USAS feels so strongly that continuing education opportunities provide such a considerable benefit to our members that the continuing education committee is developing two pre-meeting workshops for the Aquaculture America conference in Las Vegas next year. Last year’s pre-meeting workshops drew more than 100 attendees who were able to deepen their knowledge of water quality thanks to Dr. Claude Boyd and others. In addition, a new (to USAS) LEAN Aquaculture workshop demonstrated LEAN concepts that will help any company or organization develop standard practices, reduce waste and improve quality. The Las Vegas meeting will feature a statistics workshop organized by Steve Rawles and Dave Strauss and an innovative aquaponics workshop developed by Allen Pattillo and Janelle Hager. These workshops are offered to USAS members at a substantial discount and are a splendid way to network while learning. In an effort to increase our communication among USAS members, Bill Walton and the social networking committee have been recruiting a social media intern to provide a student or earlycareer aquaculture professional the opportunity to connect with other aquaculture professionals and help enhance and diversify the social media presence of the USAS. If you have news or would like to spotlight U.S. regional perspectives or species, student research, aquaculture organization activities or other pertinent U.S. aquaculture tidbits please contact Bill. Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to lead USAS. I welcome input on how the chapter can better serve the society, the members and the aquaculture community. — David Cline, President CHAPTER REPORTS
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