WWW.WAS.ORG • WORLD AQUACULTURE • JUNE 2025 19 At the Triennial AQUACULTURE 2025 conference in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, the United States Aquaculture Society recognized three recipients of the USAS Distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award: Dr. Michael Rubino, Dr. David Straus, and Dr. Yonathan Zohar. The Distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes individuals who have made contributions and broad impacts throughout their career to aquaculture in the United States through research, education, extension and/or industry development. This award recognizes a long-time commitment of service to aquaculture that is deemed highly significant and enduring. Dr. Michael Rubino Dr. Rubino transformed federal aquaculture policy, research, and development and is a preeminent thought leader in the fields of seafood, fisheries, aquaculture, and marine policy. As Director of NOAA Fisheries Office of Aquaculture from 2004 to 2019, he led the rebuilding of NOAA’s Aquaculture Program, which includes activities at NOAA Fisheries, the National Sea Grant College Program, and NOAA’s National Ocean Service. Since 2019, he has served as NOAA’s Senior Advisor for Seafood Strategy. Dr. Rubino has been the driving force behind numerous federal aquaculture actions including: • the first National Aquaculture Development Plan since 1983 • the National Shellfish Initiative which inspired a dozen state shellfish initiatives • the USDA-NOAA Alternative Feeds Initiative • and many, many more built by strong collaborative working relationships with other federal agencies, such as USDA, US Fish & Wildlife Service, the Army Corps of Engineers, EPA, and FDA. Prior to his work at NOAA, he spent a decade at the World Bank, and earlier was a partner in a shrimp farm in South Carolina and an aquaculture R&D company with facilities in South Carolina and the Caribbean. He holds a PhD from the University of Michigan. Dr. David Straus Dr. Straus is one of the most valuable scientists working in US aquaculture based on the practical significance of his research and his professional and industry service. His years of contributions, dedication, impacts and tireless service to USDA/ARS - Stuttgart National Aquaculture Research Center, the United States Aquaculture Society, and the entire warmwater aquaculture industry make him well deserving of this award. Dr. Straus served as Lead Scientist developing information on fish diseases and effectiveness of therapeutants for the FDA-drug approval process on copper sulfate and potassium permanganate. He also conducted research with Aquaflor and methyltestosterone. He worked with a group of international collaborators to introduce peracetic acid for use in aquaculture. As an example of his versatility, while attempting to produce triploid hybrid striped bass by temperature shock and pressure shock, he researched different compounds to prevent egg adhesion. He found that whole or evaporated milk worked best, and a major hybrid striped bass producer in the United States began using it immediately. Dr. Straus has authored over 85 refereed journal articles, and many reports, abstracts/proceedings, popular articles, and newsletters in addition to mentoring several graduate students. Besides research, he has contributed many other ways to promote aquaculture, among them being his time on the Board of the United States Aquaculture Society, the Steering Committee for Aquaculture America 2017, and ultimately serving as President of USAS 2018-2019. Dr. Yonathan Zohar Dr. Zohar has over 40 years of substantial record in the field of marine biotechnology with a focus on sustainable aquaculture. He is recognized globally for his pioneering research and technology development on high value marine fish, which he has translated into commercial applications in the aquaculture industry. Early during his research career, Dr. Zohar made the breakthrough discovery that a key brain hormone, gonadotropin releasing hormone (which he also discovered as a novel fish hormone), malfunctions in captivity, which is why in aquaculture setups many fish fail to spawn. He then synthesized super-active analogues of the hormone and incorporated them into biodegradable implants that very efficiently induced captive ovulation, spawning and milt production in scores of farmed fish. More recently, Dr. Zohar has led an industry-funded research program aimed at using transient gene silencing technology to generate reproductively sterile fish. His work has gained worldwide recognition and he has received several prestigious national and international honors and awards, including the 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Society for Fish Endocrinology. Dr. Zohar is Presidential Professor and Chair of the Department of Marine Biotechnology, Director of the Aquaculture Research Center at the Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology, and former Director of the Institute that is part of the University System of Maryland. On behalf of the United States Aquaculture Society we wish warm congratulations on these well-deserved awards. TOP LEFT. Dr. Michael Rubino and USAS President Dr. Mick Walsh BOTTOM LEFT. Dr. David Straus and USAS President Dr. Mick Walsh RIGHT. Dr. Yonathan Zohar and USAS President Dr. Mick Walsh 2025 USAS Distinguished Lifetime Achievement Awards
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