WWW.WAS.ORG • WORLD AQUACULTURE • MARCH 2024 5 Sinking to floating. Sub-millimeter to pellet. When you select an Extrusion Processing System from Extru-Tech, you have a complete Universe with the ability to maintain size yields over 95%. As your business evolves, you have the flexibility to change your finished product without the need for significant capital expenditures. In an industry where aquafeed can represent 50% of your operation cost, don’t gamble. Contact Extru-Tech and optimize your flexibility and profitability. OUR UNIVERSE EXTRU-TECH AQUAFEED UNIVERSE Sub 1 Millimeter Pellet Master Your Aquafeed Universe P.O. Box 8 100 Airport Road Sabetha, KS 66534, USA Phone: 785-284-2153 Fax: 785-284-3143 extru-techinc@extru-techinc.com www.extru-techinc.com ET-338F.indd 1 1/28/21 8:46 AM you (including those that we missed this year) at the Triennial Aquaculture conference in New Orleans, LA in March 2025. Mark your calendars! I’d also like to share some highlights from board activities over this quarter. At Aquaculture America 2024, we awarded an impressive 8 professional awards, 1 Early-Career, 3 Distinguished Service, 3 Lifetime Achievement, and 1 Douglas Drennan II Industry Award. We issued 9 student travel and abstract awards as well as additional oral and presentation awards at the conference. We offered a Continuing Education Workshop on “R” Syntax and Applications and you can expect 1-2 workshops covering various topics at the next meeting. For the second year in a row, the Diversity and Inclusion Committee hosted 33 local high school students for a half-day event at the conference. They learned about the many career paths in aquaculture but were most impressed by the trade show and all the “cool swag” they got. The jumbo shrimp and aqua pins were such a hit they insisted on going back for seconds before lunch. Our Promotion and Membership Outreach committee completed U.S. Aquaculture Society Hello all! For those of you that don’t know me, my name is Abigail Bockus and I’m beginning my term as USAS President. I’m thrilled to share the many exciting initiatives happening within the USAS chapter and welcome ideas and feedback on ways to strengthen our society over the upcoming year. As Anita Kelly, Immediate Past President, mentioned in her previous column we had a phenomenal slate of candidates on this year’s election ballot. I’ll begin by thanking our four outgoing board members for their time and dedication over the previous year and extending a warm welcome to our three incoming board members (as well as Mick Walsh who transitions from her role as Board Member to President Elect). Our current board represents a diverse range of industries and specializations and will no doubt guide this year’s initiatives in new and fruitful directions. We had a great turnout at Aquaculture America 2024 in San Antonio, TX with over 2,100 attendees. Of those, we had 210 students attend and present. Big thank you to our student body for sharing your work and bringing so much enthusiasm and energy to the conference. I enjoyed seeing new and old friends alike and hope to see many of CHAPTER REPORTS (CONTINUED ON PAGE 6)
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