Dr. Hanping Wang honored by Fisheries Advance Magazine of China

Dr. Hanping Wang, principal scientist and director of aquaculture research and development at Ohio State University South Centers was recently honored by Fisheries Advance Magazine, an aquatic time magazine of China, for his influential activities and significant contributions in establishing an international platform for perch and bass research and development collaboration. This publication is a monthly circulated magazine featuring Chinese and global aquaculture and fisheries news and influential people in aqua-related fields. The magazine selects an individual to be featured on the cover of the magazine monthly. Dr. Wang was selected to be on the cover of the first issue of 2017 (In the thumbnail image, Dr. Wang is featured on the magazine cover to the far right). The issue included an article highlighting Dr. Wang’s contributions and achievements on establishing an international platform of research and development collaboration in perch and bass, and the development superior yellow perch. 

Perch and bass have worldwide importance as food and recreational fish. Global production of perch and bass is around 1,000,000 ton, with 70% produced in China. The economic value of perch and bass is comparable to cold water species salmons and trout. Aquacultural production of perch and bass is in the early stages of development and expanding rapidly. Therefore, there is much potential for expansion of perch and bass aquaculture.  In perch and bass aquaculture, global collaboration is still in an infant stage when compared to salmons and trout. Particularly, collaboration between China and developed countries, e.g., U.S.A, Europe, and Australia, is insufficient. Even though China ranks first globally in perch and bass production, their aquaculture outreach with research results and information has been mostly limited to Chinese publications.

In order to speed up the advancement of the perch and bass aquaculture industry, establishing an international platform of research and development collaboration is necessary. For this purpose, Dr. Wang in collaboration with Huazhong Agricultural University (HZAU), an official partner of OSU, organized the first International Symposium of Perch and Bass at HZAU in Wuhan, China, in September 2013, focusing on the industry development of perch and bass in China and the U.S. In October 2016, Dr. Wang organized the 2nd International Symposium of Perch and Bass at HZAU. Scholars from the United States, China, Spain, Belgium, United Kingdom, Singapore, and Australia attended the Symposium.  As the Editor-in-Chief, Dr. Wang with his colleagues completed a bilingual book “World Perch and Bass Culture: Innovation and Industrialization” based on these two symposiums. The book manuscript has been submitted to a publisher and will be published by the end of 2017.