12 JUNE 2019 • WORLD AQUACULTURE • WWW.WAS.ORG around 850 people from Egypt, Africa and worldwide will attend Africa Aquaculture 2020. In addition, around 135 Egyptian and international aquaculture commercial companies will be part of the trade show. As a big boost to aquaculture development in Africa, this First Aquaculture Africa Conference 2020 will be a good opportunity to define the course to take. Different technical and administration tools are needed to support the continent’s developmental agenda because currently aquaculture is only contributing less than 2 million t, or around 2.5 percent of global aquaculture. In this regard, we are indebted to the Egyptian Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation that has agreed to be the main hosting agency, with its affiliated agencies such as the General Authority for Fish Resources Development, the Central Laboratory for Aquaculture Research and WorldFish. The Egyptian Aquaculture Society, with its volunteer membership of over 350 and also a key affiliate of WAS, will also be instrumental in planning and hosting this conference and exposition. I am also appreciative of the gesture demonstrated by other parties in supporting this big upcoming event, such as by Aller Aqua (our Chapter Founding Gold Sponsor), Skretting Egypt and some Egyptian academic institutions. We continue to welcome more parties and collaborators on board. The African Union Development Agency (formerly NEPAD) has promised to walk the journey with us. With reference to the structure and governance of the Chapter, I promised in my previous chapter report to discuss our intentions to elect a permanent board for the Chapter, as we have been operating under an Interim Board since Chapter inception. The nomination process has just started and after elections we hope to have our first substantive permanent board by next quarter, a team that is willing to serve and take the chapter forward. I urge and remind all aquaculture stakeholders from within Africa and from outside Africa with interest in aquaculture in Africa to join WAS or renew your memberships such that you continue to enjoy many of the benefits in store. On the registration portal, do not forget to choose the African Chapter as the chapter of choice. Let’s all team together and build the African Chapter we want! — Sherif Sadek, Interim President to learn many things and provided an opportunity to expand my professional network, which has greatly benefitted the students and faculty of my university. Many undergraduate students have been sent out to foreign countries for their internship for the first time and I am sure that those students have seen the light of experience and are happy with their international exposure. These sorts of activities brings a feeling of fulfilment and I am thankful to the board and will be happy to see its growth in the coming years! I thank all the steering committee members of APA19 and the conference management team, especially John Cooksey, Mario Stael and Noah Cooksey, for doing such a wonderful job. I also thank the APC Chapter secretary Ms. Nate and national organizing secretary Ms. Menaga for contributing a lot to the APA19 meeting. I also thank all the program chairs, session chairs and co-chairs, ICAR fisheries institutes and state fisheries universities, sponsors and industry people who have participated and made this event successful. One of the important benefits of your WAS membership is free online access to all issues of the Journal of the World Aquaculture Society (JWAS). As always, we strongly encourage members of the APC to support the journal and submit your quality manuscripts to JWAS. I also would like to remind you that the APC is posting selected magazine articles translated to Chinese on the APC website. Now WAS has a strategic partnership with the Global Aquaculture Alliance (GAA) and you’ll benefit much by having membership in two major organizations with a single payment. The next APC conference (World Aquaculture 2020) will be held in Singapore on 8-12 June 2010. I encourage your active participation in this major international conference. I finish this column by wishing that all of you – scientists, students, producers and all aquaculture enthusiasts – keep working hard to improve sustainable aquaculture production in the APC region. I thank all APC members for entrusting me with the leadership of our chapter and I am grateful to our staff and governing board members for their tireless efforts on behalf of the organization. On behalf of the APC Board of Directors, I invite each one of you to get engaged in WAS. This is YOUR society and its strength and success depend on YOU! — S. Felix, President CHAPTER REPORTS Africa Chapter, continued from page 10 Asian Pacific Chapter, continued from page 10 secure and to prevent proxy voting. These changes include member IDs no longer being used as passwords and computer software code that can detect proxy voting attempts. We regret the imposition to both the candidates and the membership due to the re-vote but sincerely felt that the integrity of the election process demanded the delay. The Society is eagerly awaiting the next two Chapter Conferences. The Asian Pacific Chapter is hard at work on the Asian President, continued from page 2 Pacific Aquaculture (APA’19) Conference and Exposition to be held June 19-21, 2019 in Chennai, India. LACQUA19 will be the 2019 Annual meeting of the Latin American & Caribbean Chapter held November 19-22, 2019 in San José, Costa Rica. San José will be the site for the WAS Board of Directors Mid-year meeting. I look forward to seeing the WAS Board, the LACC Board, and members in beautiful Costa Rica! — Jimmy L. Avery, President
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