10 DECEMBER 2017 • WORLD AQUACULTURE • WWW.WAS.ORG CHAPTER REPORTS Three months have passed since my last column and I am thrilled that the board has done some fantastic work for the Asian Pacific Chapter. The last few months have seen several new members joining the APC, and I would like to extend a very warm welcome to them. You did what was right! The board and I Iook forward to serving you the best we can in the years to come. As promised in my last communication, we have drafted a first set of internal guidelines to boost the training and efficiency of new board members running the Chapter. I will revise these again before sending them to the board for approval. Nate, our secretary, has been extremely resourceful with this task and I see this as a great step in supporting the APC in the long run. The Board had approved support of the International Aquaculture Conference Indonesia (IACI 2017), which APC PastPresident Dr. Farshad Shishehchian and I participated in. I had the honor to present the opening lecture on aquaculture sustainability and carrying capacity studies, setting the scene for the two days of meaningful discussions. The studies and research presented were remarkable, and notably Prof. Rokhmin Dahuri offered the audience a very clear and positive overview of ongoing challenges faced in Indonesia. The APC also participated in the AquaSG17 Conference held at Temasek Polytechnic in Singapore, where Nate proudly represented our organization at the WAS-APC booth. There are many events still in the pipeline. The APC has approved support of the 11th Indian Fisheries and Aquaculture Forum (11th IFAF) on November 21 to 24. The Chapter will have a booth at the exhibition hall and we hope to attract new members during this event. We will be actively participating in three additional workshops in India, and we eagerly encourage our members there to get involved. At MPEDA (Kochi, Kerala) on November 25, Dr. Sagiv Kolkovski will offer lectures on Artemia enrichment techniques, disease diagnosis in shrimp, and octopus aquaculture. On the same day, also in Kochi-Kerala, Dr. Dinesh Kaippilly will present a lecture on best management practices in aquaculture. In addition, Dr. Felix is organizing a workshop on intensification of shrimp production in Chennai on December 3. This last event is a paid workshop, but APC members will receive an exclusive 25 percent discount on registration fees. More information on these workshops can be found on our website. With these four events in India this year, I can confidently say that we have offered our members in India a wide range of opportunities to network, learn and share information, which in turn will support the development of our industry. I am delighted to see our board members so active! The board is still working on the ongoing plan to develop opportunities for our members in other regions of the chapter, particularly in the Middle East and Myanmar, and hopefully soon in the Philippines and Cambodia. On this note, I would like to remind all members that they are encouraged to suggest topics that should be the focus of conferences and workshops. Please feel free to contact us, we are here to support you! The preparations for APA18 (#APA18) and APA19 (#APA19) are going smoothly and I hope to see many of you at these events. We have also held the first steering committee meeting for WA2020 (#WA2020) in Singapore. I would like to thank all committee members for their active and fruitful contributions. I can assure you that Dr. Leila Basti, as scientific program chair, will be very busy in the near future preparing for this event, and we look forward to making it another great success for WAS. My final word goes out to all members voting in upcoming elections. I have already mentioned how vital is the participation of our members in this imperative and constructive election for the APC. Prof. Endhay Kusnendar is chairing the election process and the ballot is about to be formulated and will be sent to all chapter members very soon. On behalf of the Board, I would like to wish you great success in your work and I hope to bring you more great news three months from now. — Guillaume Drillet, President Asian Pacific Chapter World Aquaculture 2020 to be Held in Singapore WAS Executive Director John Cooksey shakes hands with Mr. Aloyisius Arlando, CEO of SingEx Venues Pte Ltd to begin the process of planning for World Aquaculture 2020, which will be held 8-12 June. Also attending the signing ceremony was WAS-APC President Dr. Guillaume Drillet (R) and, Dr. Farshad Shishehchian (L), Co-chair of the WA2020 Steering Committee and WASAPC Past-President.
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