16 SEPTEMBER 2024 • WORLD AQUACULTURE • WWW.WAS.ORG From the Past President I’ve said before that sustainable aquaculture produces healthy and nutritious food, is the most efficient protein production industry, generates less environmental pollution and has a lower carbon footprint that other industry. To meet world challenges for food security we need to apply knowledge-based state-of-the-art technologies in businesses run and operated by highly trained human resources. The World Aquaculture Society strives to divulge scientific knowledge through the Journal of the World Aquaculture Society and the latest information from producers in different regions through the World Aquaculture Magazine. Our conferences, workshops and regional meetings bring the best and most recent scientific and technological aquaculture information, and well as the opportunity to review the latest supplies and equipment for the industry. We just finished the joint AQUA24 Conference in Copenhagen, organized between the World Aquaculture Society and the European Aquaculture Society. Attendance was well over 3000. This follows our very successful efforts at Aquaculture America in San Antonio and our Asia Pacific Meeting in Surabaya, Indonesia, where more than 6000 people from 63 countries were present. Before you read this, we will already be inaugurating the Latin American Chapter Meeting in Medellin, Colombia at the end of September. After Tunisia in November, 2025 looks just as bright and global with Conferences in New Orleans, USA, Qingdao, China and Entebbe, Uganda, among others. Not a bad comeback after a global pandemic. Presently we are following the tasks the WAS Board set for the 2020-2025 Strategic Plan, aimed at consolidating the Society. I am happy to report that today we have a vibrant association, thanks to the support of our members and the tireless efforts of the board and the Executive Director, John Cooksey, and his team. We are working on updating the bylaws and Policy Rules and Regulations, to reflect the needs of our members, and to make operations and management more efficient. I am extremely happy to report that our Journal of the World Aquaculture Society has increased the number of received submissions (22% over 2022), has an impact factor of 3.4 and is ranked in the top 7 scientific journals for Aquaculture and 12 for all Fisheries publications. This is the result of the reinvigorating effort by past and present Editors and Section Editors and the decision to make the Journal fully Open Access. The aquaculture industry will grow based on the strength of our stakeholders, having to incorporate a significant number of knowledgeable people in the coming years. To that end, we also decided to make the World Aquaculture Magazine open to the public through our web page, with an emphasis on broad dissemination of highly useful and relevant information. We now have a free complimentary membership offer for students to join the Society. To support them, we created a web page so that they can interact among them, as well as with experts form different Universities and Research Centers, and work with our Employment Services to interact with the industry. The effort is paying off. Before San Antonio, we had 143 students registered. After Copenhagen, more than 800 are now members. The Board decided to create a Communications Committee that works with the Executive Director and the Industry, Student and the Publications Committees to better divulge information and improve networking. As part of our plan to improve interactions with members and the public, we will start increasing our presence in social media platforms, such as LinkedIn and Facebook, host Webinars with worldrenowned experts, on topics such as “The Future of Aquaculture”, and promote our scientific journal and the magazine. We have also recently approved the creation of a complimentary free membership offer for small farmers and farm workers that will benefit from the opportunity to better access this information, network and share their experiences. We expect that our Regional Chapters will soon become a central part of our effort to incorporate these producers to WAS. This is my last column as President. I thank you for your patience while reading. It has been an enormous pleasure to work with our executive Director and his staff. I was fortunate to have one of the best and hardworking Board of Directors, always willing to go the extra mile, looking outside the box, to discuss ways to improve the operation of the Society. With all his experience, I am certain that our new President, Dr. Dave Cline, will do an excellent job conducting WAS to the next level. My gratitude to all. Please consider writing an article for the Journal of the World Aquaculture Society or the World Aquaculture Magazine and share your experiences at the Regional or World Conferences of our Society. Hope to meet with you at one of our upcoming events. Cheers. The State of the World Aquaculture Society Humberto Villarreal, PhD. President World Aquaculture Society CALLING ALL READERS Do you have something you would like to contribute to World Aquaculture? We welcome general features, articles and news covering a variety of aquaculture-related topics, preferably well-illustrated with photographs and line art. Published quarterly, the magazine keeps WAS members up to date with research results and reviews of aquaculture trends and topics. Guidelines for authors are available here. Submit manuscripts to Mary Nickum, Editor, World Aquaculture Magazine, at Editor@worldaquaculture.us. Please copy C. Greg Lutz, Editor in Chief, at glutz@agcenter.lsu.edu when emailing your submission.
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