World Aquaculture December 2018

WWW.WA S.ORG • WORLD AQUACULTURE • DECEMBER 2018 23 Commission in San Antonio, Texas. The subcommittee was charged with informally coordinating mariculture activities in the states bordering the Gulf of Mexico. A few months later, in early 1969, a meeting was held on Grande Terre Island, Louisiana. with 45 individuals from the Gulf and South Atlantic areas with an interest in mariculture in attendance. Ten states were represented. A steering committee was formed to determine how to proceed. After consideration of options, the decision was made to form a new professional society. In September 1969, a second organizational meeting was held in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, with 44 attendees. A charter and bylaws were drafted and the name World Mariculture Society (WMS) was adopted. The first meeting, called a workshop, was held in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in February 1970. Incredibly with respect to a fledgling T he World Mariculture Society/World Aquaculture Society (WAS) has been, I believe, instrumental in the development of global aquaculture growth through the collection and dispersal of information from its publications, expositions, educational programs and outreach. A really comprehensive review of the history of WAS would require at least a few hundred pages. The objective of this article is to provide an overview of the history (Table 1). That includes a summary of the beginnings of the Society, the status of the Society at the 25th anniversary, development of the Journal of the World Aquaculture Society (JWAS) and World Aquaculture magazine and a few other topics. The Formation of WMS In October 1968, a mariculture subcommittee was authorized at the annual meeting of the Gulf States Marine Fisheries A Fifty-year History of WAS Robert R. Stickney Officers elected at the first annual workshop of the World Mariculture Society in 1970. From left to right, Terrance R. Leary, chairman of steering committee; Theodore B. Ford, President; Samuel R. Monroe, Vice-President; and James W. Avault, Jr., Secretary-Treasurer. ( C O N T I N U E D O N P A G E 2 4 ) In October 1968, a mariculture subcommittee was authorized at the annual meeting of the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission in San Antonio, Texas. The subcommittee was charged with informally coordinating mariculture activities in the states bordering the Gulf of Mexico.