This article was featured in Eurofish Magazine 5 2026.
Széchenyi István University in Győr, Hungary, in cooperation with EUROFISH and HUNATiP, will organise the first International Catfish Conference (ICC) on 5–9 April 2027. Designed as an industry-focused international event, the conference will bring together catfish producers, processors, researchers, technology providers, policymakers, and other stakeholders from Europe and from major catfish-producing regions around the world.
According to Prof. Béla Urbányi, Chair of the Organising Committee, African catfish (Clarias gariepinus) in particular is attracting growing interest among European aquaculture producers. The conference therefore aims to create a common platform where researchers and industry experts working with different catfish species and production systems can exchange knowledge, discuss practical challenges, and develop new cooperation efforts that support the growth and competitiveness of the European catfish sector.
The planned programme reflects this strong connection between science and industry. Scientific and technical sessions will address feeds and nutrition, genetics and breeding, production technologies and animal welfare, and processing and marketing. A dedicated farmers’ session will discuss the practical challenges and opportunities facing European catfish producers, while policy discussions will consider the future development of freshwater aquaculture more broadly.
The event will also include an Open Catfish Day with product tasting and cooking demonstrations, networking and industry activities, sessions on digitalisation, climate change impacts, and the energy transition in freshwater aquaculture, as well as a technical tour to commercial catfish production and processing facilities. The organisers expect the first ICC to attract around 150–200 participants from Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Americas, establishing a new international platform for cooperation and knowledge exchange across the catfish value chain.
Abstract submission and registration will open soon on the conference website, www.unicatfish.com, where further information and programme updates will also be available.
