E-Newsletter June 2011
04 Oct, 2011

President's Message

As the new President of the Asian Fisheries Society (AFS), I am looking forward to my short time at the helm of the AFS. Because the 9AFAF was delayed a bit, I will preside over AFS for only two years, but although this period is short I would like to make a difference. My main goal during this period will be to make the Society more relevant and useful to its members, especially its younger members – the scientists of tomorrow. The Society started with a large number of members and considerable enthusiasm to provide a platform to promote effective interaction and cooperation among scientists and technicians involved in fisheries research and development in Asia with a view to encouraging and facilitating research activity complementation, sharing of information and publication of research results. In the early days, the Society certainly achieved this goal but in recent times the interaction and cooperation has declined along with the number of active members. As the new President I will be seeking active feedback on how we can improve this situation, especially through the use of more modern social networking and communication tools.

2011 has already been a big year for AFS. The 9AFAF held at the Shanghai Ocean University was a great success. The forum was attended by 748 participants – 484 international and 264 local (including Taiwan and Hong Kong). Participants came from 46 countries, covering Europe, Asia, Oceania, America and the Middle East. A total of 772 abstracts were included in the 9AFAF Book of Abstracts; 539 oral presentations and 233 posters. During the forum about 400 oral presentations were given during 22 sessions and 175 posters were presented. A total of 34 companies and institutions joined the 9 AFAF Trade Exhibition and the forum provided a large income for the AFS, money that can be spent over the next two years to improve the AFS.

We have also just heard that the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) has just provided AFS with a generous grant for the new AsiaPacific-Fish Watch Project to complete web pages for four species of tuna - skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis), yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacores), bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus) and albacore (Thunnus alalunga). To redress the public knowledge gap for Asia-Pacific fisheries, the Asian Fisheries Society has developed and is starting to implement AsiaPacific-FishWatch that will give users access to direct, authoritative online information about Asia-Pacific fisheries. Conservationists, consumer groups and social welfare agencies will be able to use AsiaPacific-FishWatch to compose consumer guides, brochures and educational materials for a variety of media and audiences. Experts will use it to get comprehensive and authoritative information rapidly for in-depth projects and reference. Among the thousands of aquatic species produced in the Asia-Pacific region, skipjack, yellowfin, bigeye and albacore tuna are of high priority for AsiaPacific-FishWatch because they are fisheries of global trade, ecological and employment significance. Some of the other species that will be included in AsiaPacific-FishWatch are by-catch species in tuna fisheries.

	AFS Newsletter Issue No. 12 June 2011