Asfa Advisory Board Meeting Umt Terengganu Malaysia 22 26 September 2019

The 47th bi-annual Meeting of the Aquatic Sciences and Fisheries Abstracts (ASFA) Advisory Board was hosted by the University of Malaysia Terengganu and took place from 22 to 26 September 2019 in Terengganu, Malaysia. The Meeting was attended by 34 participants from: 21 National ASFA Partners, 1 UN ASFA Partner, 2 International ASFA Partners, 2 Collaborating Centres and the ASFA Publishing Partner. This meeting was a key milestone in gearing the ASFA transition towards a new business model, with many changes already proceeding. Partners showed support for ASFA’s future direction and plans, and committed to contributing their skills, expertise and time as far as their capacities allow. A number of major changes were approved by Partners, including a new Publishing Agreement and new FAO project to administer the ASFA Trust Fund. Overall, the progress made at the meeting ensures ASFA is on track to adopt its new Business Model by the end of its 50th Anniversary year (2021). This contains the Minutes of the meeting and the working documents (Annexes 1-19).

The conservation, sustainable use and development of aquatic genetic resources (AqGR) is critical to the future supply of fish. The State of the World’s Aquatic Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture is the first ever global assessment of these resources, with the scope of this first Report being limited to cultured AqGR and their wild relatives, within national jurisdiction. The Report draws on 92 reports from FAO member countries and five specially commissioned thematic background studies. The reporting countries are responsible for 96 percent of global aquaculture production. The Report sets the context with a review of the state of world’s aquaculture and fisheries and includes overviews of the uses and exchanges of AqGR, the drivers and trends impacting AqGR and the extent of ex situ and in situ conservation efforts. The Report also investigates the roles of stakeholders in AqGR and the levels of activity in research, education, training and extension, and reviews national policies and the levels of regional and international cooperation on AqGR. Finally, needs and challenges are assessed in the context of the findings from the data collected from the countries. The Report represents a snapshot of the present status of AqGR and forms a valuable technical reference document, particularly where it presents standardized key terminology and concepts.

Balances are struck in this luminous first novel-between two radically distinct cultures, between obligation and self-will, between past and future, between hilarity and heartbreak-as the Jordanian family of Matussem Ramoud settles in a small, poor-white community in upstate New York.

Clinical Biochemistry covers the core biochemistry that biomedical science students need to know, placing it in the context of human disease. Throughout the text, the theory is continually related to laboratory practice through the use of examples and case studies.

This is a brilliant and revelatory first novel by a woman who is both an Arab and an American, who speaks with both voices and understands both worlds. Through the narratives of four cousins at the brink of maturity, Laila Halaby immerses her readers in the lives, friendships, and loves of girls struggling with national, ethnic, and sexual identities. Mawal is the stable one, living steeped in the security of Palestinian traditions in the West Bank. Hala is torn between two worlds-in love in Jordan, drawn back to the world she has come to love in Arizona. Khadija is terrified by the sexual freedom of her American friends, but scarred, both literally and figuratively, by her father's abusive behavior. Soraya is lost in trying to forge an acceptable life in a foreign yet familiar land, in love with her own uncle, and unable to navigate the fast culture of California youth. Interweaving their stories, allowing us to see each cousin from multiple points of view, Halaby creates a compelling and entirely original story, a window into the rich and complicated Arab world.

Pillars of Salt is the story of two women confined in a mental hospital in Jordan during and after the British Mandate. After initial tensions they become friends and share their life stories.