Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.
I am Toshio Takeuchi, vice-president and professor at Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology. I was appointed as President of the Japanese Society of Fisheries Science, or JSFS, for fiscal 2010 and 2011. Thank you for inviting us to this annual meeting of the Korean Society of Fisheries and Aquatic Science.
First of all, I am delighted that an agreement on academic exchange between the Korean Society of Fisheries and Aquatic Science and the Japanese Society of Fisheries Science was signed together with former President Dr. Ryu in Tokyo last December. We look forward to more active research on fisheries science in both Korea and Japan.
Currently, we are working on an academic exchange agreement with the Chinese Society of Fisheries. Japan inflicted much damage on Asian nations, including the Republic of Korea and China, during the last war, and we are deeply aware of the fact that the trauma lingers on, even though 65 years have passed since the war ended. We need to work together to build a new era. Korea and Japan are connected via the sea. The organisms living in the sea know no borders, and these resources are the common property of humankind. Our two societies and members are working in the same field, so let's come together and work hand in hand toward the common purpose of developing fisheries science. President Dr. Lee visited Japan this March, I am now here in Korea, and we plan to hold a joint symposium with the Korean Society of Fisheries and Aquatic Science on the sidelines of the JSFS Spring Meeting next March. We look forward to closer communication following the signing of the academic exchange agreement.
Please let me briefly introduce the Japanese Society of Fisheries Science. JSFS, which is one of the oldest societies in the field of fisheries and oceanography, was established in 1932. Our society has about 4000 members, including 38 from Korea, making it the third largest of all the 52 agricultural societies in Japan. The Society, as required by its articles of association, is dedicated to promoting all aspects of fisheries science by publicly presenting the results of basic and applied studies, promoting the exchange of knowledge among fisheries-related experts and workers, and distributing information related to the goals of the Society.
To achieve these goals, the major activities of the Society include: (1) holding the JSFS Spring Meeting and Autumn Meeting annually, as well as research meetings, lectures and symposiums on issues relevant to their regions once a year independently held by the respective seven branches; (2) publishing the Society's two scientific journals: Fisheries Science, which has 6 volumes a year and is the only fisheries journal in English, and Nihon Suisan Gakkaishi, which also has 6 volumes a year. These two journals cover a broad range of fields including fisheries resource management, aquaculture, aquatic environment management, seafood chemistry and processing, seafood logistics and economics, and so on; and (3) cooperating and networking with 12 related scientific societies and associations in Japan, as well as overseas societies, including the Korean Society of Fisheries and Aquatic Science.
We held the 5th World Fisheries Congress in Yokohama Japan in 2008, with the cooperation of the American Society of Fisheries and the Fisheries Society of the British Isles, in order to publicize the results of academic research on fisheries to the world as a member of the World Council of Fisheries Science (WCFS).
Finally, I urge the JSFS to exert their full capabilities in the realms of fisheries-related research, administration, education and industry to achieve further progress, thus ensuring human prosperity into the future.
We would appreciate your continued support and understanding, and look forward to long-lasting collaboration between our two organizations.