12 SEPTEMBER 2019 • WORLD AQUACULTURE • WWW.WAS.ORG making processes that have taken the Chapter to where it is today. They have both expressed interest to continue working in an advisory capacity in strengthening the Chapter. I salute both Zuki and Flower! And thank you African Chapter for entrusting me to substantively lead you for another term. Secondly, after so much negotiations and internal consultations, the Chapter’s inaugural Annual International Conference and Exposition (Aquaculture Africa Conference) slated for November 2020 in Egypt has finally been approved by the Egyptian authorities! We have dubbed this event AFRAQ2020. The event will be launched on 4 September 2019 at a planned special Steering Committee meeting in Cairo. The necessary Committees to undertake all planning formalities have been constituted. WAS Conference management is now working round the clock to get things organized in line with the way WAS does business with conferences. Soon after the launch, we shall do an extensive publicity and promotional drive as well as reaching out to partners, collaborators and sponsors. We will keep you updated. For this, I especially wish to thank the Egyptian government – particularly the Egyptian Security Agency and the General Authority for Fish Resources Development (GAFRD) – for approving the event. GAFRD will be the main hosting agency, supported by its collaborative partners, the Central Laboratory for Aquaculture Research (CLAR), WorldFish and the Egyptian Aquaculture Society (EgAS). Some universities active in aquaculture research and development are already on board, including the University of Alexandria and Suez Canal University. Our Chapter Founding Gold Sponsor, Aller Aqua, has agreed to be AFRAQ2020 Gold Sponsor as well. Thank you AllerAqua! This is in addition to traditional WAS Premier Sponsors. We hope to rope in more international parties soon after the launch. Let’s now slate the dates of 7-10 November 2020 into our diaries for AFRAQ2020 in Alexandria, Egypt! Will update you with more information in the next column. So far so good for the African Chapter. Keep supporting us as we keep growing! — Sherif Sadek, Interim President environmental impacts be minimized and resource efficiency maximized, but also the benefits from aquaculture should be made equitable. It is paramount that both small-scale and large-scale aquafarmers and industrialists coexist, sharing profits and enjoying benefits. In a market economy world, this can only be achieved through better governance by enacting people-centered and poverty-addressing policies and regulatory frameworks. This is of course the responsibility of the state. WAS-APC is fully committed to support the countries in the region to achieve these goals. We will in the coming years look out for the opportunities for better engaging with regional states, with the view to provide the scientific basis for evidence-based decision making and policy development in the fisheries and aquaculture sector. We will use Asia Pacific Aquaculture (APA) conferences as our main vehicle for this. We will bring our valued scientific and academic community, positive and business community, farmers and cooperative community, and the states together for stronger dialogue over the coming years. Knowledge, experience and wisdom of our Board of Directors will provide the platform. — Rohana Subasinghe, President Africa Chapter, continued from page 9 Asian Pacific Chapter, continued from page 9 USAS Chapter, continued from page 5 goals for the future that will be complementary and productive. The USAS Student Committee is still developing the benefit and opportunities for sub-chapters and helping those schools develop their plans and bylaws that will help in establishing more chapters. The USAS Board of Directors has also committed to be a Gold Sponsor for the Virginia Aquaculture Association Conference and trade show. This is a prime example where student chapters benefit, as two students from established student sub-units will be supported to attend this conference and given the opportunity to network and make significant contacts within industry and education sectors. All said, it has been a very busy and productive six months, with more work to do to ensure that the future of US aquaculture continues to move in a positive direction. — Angela Caporelli, USAS President Scite Science, continued from page 10 The use of infographics is just one of many initiatives of the JWAS re-invigoration effort. Improving dissemination of important scientific results published in JWAS will help make the information more accessible to the aquaculture community worldwide. Keep up with future infographics and other initiatives of JWAS by following JWAS on Twitter (JWrldAquaSoc) and Facebook (JWrldAquaSoc). — Carole R. Engle, Executive Editor, Journal of the World Aquaculture Society
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