Thank you to those who voted to elect me to lead this esteemed organization. I am honored and humbled to follow in the footsteps of past presidents and board members who have created such a dynamic global organization.With your help, we can lead the positive global support and advancement of aquaculture production and science. Special thanks to the previous 3 presidents, Huberto Villarreal Colmenares, Jennifer Blair and Antonio Garza de Yta whose guidance, efforts and friendship have helped build my confidence to fulfill this important role. Even after 30 years as an aquaculture Extension Specialist I don't feel like an expert in any particular area and am continually learning new and valuable information from our subject matter gurus. Extension work has provided remarkable opportunities to interface with academic, research and production communities in the U.S. and around the world to gain a clear understanding of the opportunities and challenges facing our industry.

I often feel that we are preaching to the choir in our organization and need to expand our efforts to reach out with positive messages about the clear potential and inherent challenges of aquaculture in a transparent and honest way. It is often difficult to combat the misconceptions and myths about aquaculture with science-backed information when a 15-year-old in his basement has the same, and sometimes greater, online voice than aquaculture research professionals.
Communication is critical to the success of our mission to advance aquaculture and help develop the next generation of scientists, teachers and practitioners. While our meetings, journal and magazine provide for essential networking and distribution of the latest scientific information, I believe that we can create even more opportunities for education though the development, organization and promotion of video and online resources. These resources should be aimed at increasing public knowledge and acceptance of aquaculture as well as bringing new opportunities for our members to learn from one another. We are in the process of organizing 6 free webinars in the next 12 months that should be of interest to a wide audience. Please make an effort to share these within your circle of influence and beyond as the details become available.

1. The Future of Aquaculture
2. Where Does my Seafood Come From?
3. Alternative Feed Ingredients for Aquaculture
4. The Socioeconomic Impacts of Aquaculture
5. Aquaculture and Climate Change
6. The FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries: Aquaculture
7. Thank you to the WAS

Thank you to the WAS staff and conference organizers who provide the outstanding meeting opportunities to network and grow our knowledge. The regional chapter meetings are excellent arenas for gathering experts with special knowledge of local conditions, challenges and opportunities. The annual global meetings offer even greater exposure to the latest innovations and advances. These events are the anchor of our society and are among the primary benefits of membership. The recent AQUA 2024 joint meeting of the World Aquaculture Society and the European Aquaculture Society (EAS) was a resounding success. Here are some statistics from the meeting:

• Total Attendees: 3,684
• Countries Represented: 80
• Students: 382
• Abstracts Submitted: 1,132
• Booths: 235
• ePosters: 275
• Oral Presentations: 945
• Sessions: 66

Thank you to our members and readers who support the society, our meetings, publications and each other. The board is here to serve you, and we welcome your input on how to make the society better. If you would like to participate on one of our committees, I am sure the committee chairs would appreciate your assistance. You can find a description of the committees in section 9 of the bylaws at https://was.org/page/ByLaws.aspx. We are in the process of updating the bylaws, the WAS policies rules and regulations, and the committees with the latest information. The latest updates will be posted on the website soon.

We made the decision to make this magazine open access in hopes that it would become a beacon for those seeking information about aquaculture. It is by design meant to be inclusive, accessible and understandable to a wide audience and those beyond the typical scientific journal reader. Please do your part in driving traffic to it and consider contributing an article. You can see from this and past issues the types and variety of topics and formats. Please contact the editor with your ideas.
If I or any of the board members can be of service, please feel free to reach out.
— David Cline, President, World Aquaculture Society