Behnan Thomas

(Romania) The 5th edition of the National Fish Festival "PESCIA" has been organised in Ia?i during October 24th - 26th. The Festival gathers fish farmers, processors, importers, wholesalers, retailers and chefs in an effort of increase the fish consumption in Romania combining information on species, farming techniques, processing diversification and creative recipes. The activities are organised through a European Fisheries Fund financing which aims to increase the awareness of the high quality protein that fish is providing and of the positive effects on improving the health of the consumers. The event included also conferences on the positive effects of fish consumption, fish cooking shows, tricks and tips for fish freshness assessment.

The APROMAR association is developing and promoting a project entitled assessment of the exploitation and sustainable management proposals of macroalgae farming in ANDALUSIA, ASTURIAS AND GALICIA. The project members are the University of A Coruña (BioCost Group, Dr. Javier Cremades Ugarte), the Fisheries Experimentation Center of Asturias (Dr. Eva Maria Llera González) the IFAPA-Toruño of the Junta de Andalucía (Dr. José; Pedro Cañavate Hors) and the technical consultant and project coordinator, Mr Juan Manuel Fernández Aldana. A GENERAL STUDY will assess a first overview of the macroalgae sector, followed by an ANALYSIS on the current situation of the exploitation and seaweed cultivation in Galicia, Andalusia and Asturias. A SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT PLAN, a GUIDE OF GOOD PRACTICES and, finally, a STRATEGY OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT for producing value added products from macroalgae will be produced.

An upcoming event, "Resolving key fisheries issues through targeted communication," will take place on Friday, 30 January 2015 at the Museum of Natural Sciences, Vautierstraat 29, 1000 Brussels, Belgium, starting at 9.00 with a planned introduction by Mr. John Bell, Director, DG Research.  The plenary speakers include: Mr. Bernhard Friess, director of Atlantic, Outermost regions and Arctic, DG MARE. The presentation is entitled: "Future of European fisheries" Mr. Lahsen Ababouch, director of the Fisheries and Aquaculture Policy and Economics Division (FIP), FAO. The presentation is entitled "Future of world fisheries: FAO perspective" Mr. Poul Degnbol, head of the Advisory Programme, ICES. The presentation is entitled: "Transparency in scientific advice and quota setting" This session will be followed by reports from partners in the ComFish project on the North Sea, Baltic, North Atlantic, Mediterranean and Black Sea regions, describing challenges and lessons to be communicated to stakeholders. Four concurrent afternoon workshops will provide an opportunity to network and brainstorm on frameworks of action for selected fisheries issues.

Confidence in culture was the theme at the third edition of FEAP's annual European aquaculture event, Aquaculture in Motion, which was co-organised with FEFAC, the European Feed Manufacturers' Federation in December. To satisfy consumer and society's expectations of European aquaculture, the sector knows that it must provide confidence in the professional activity and its products, adapting to change and investing in new tools for production, management and innovation. Over 90 participants from 18 different European countries attended the event. The meeting was opened by Mathieu Berg, responsible for aquaculture in the Aquitaine Region, the FEAP President, Arnault Chaperon, and Niels Alsted, chair of FEFAC's fish feed committee. Lowri Evans, Director General of DG Mare made a keynote introduction highlighting that the EU will continue to do all it can towards putting the framework in place to provide the business conditions and the support that will encourage growth and jobs in European aquaculture.

A forum on innovative packaging for the seafood industry took place on 29 May 2015 in Gdansk,…

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The European Commission set up the European Marine Observation Data Network (EMODnet) six years ago.…

About 11,700 visitors at fish international and GASTRO IVENT  Exhibitors and organisers drew a positive balance in the Bremen exhibition halls at the end of the 15th fish international and the second GASTRO IVENT. With about 11,700 visitors the fair even surpassed the organisers' expectations. And the exhibition of Fleischer-Einkauf AG which took place parallel to the main event also achieved a good result with about 1,800 visitors. Germany's only trade fair for fish and seafood once again proved its reputation as the industry's meeting place, and with numerous product innovations set the tone for the entire industry. "fish international stands out for its great audience", said Stefanie Görtz (Vidal Feinkost from Staudt): "It's not only the right place for maintaining existing contacts but also for attracting new ones." For Egil Magne Haugstad (Pelagia, Norway), a producer of raw materials for industry, the special charm of the fair is in its compact size: "Here you have time combined with short distances. That leads to interesting, in-depth discussions. In comparison, larger trade fairs have more the character of speed-dating." Among the biggest exhibitors at fish international were Deutsche See and Transgourmet Seafood from Bremerhaven. "The fair was marked by good discussions, not only with our regular customers but also with new prospective ones," said company spokesman Andreas Kremer in an initial assessment. Jörgen Bergmann, Communications Manager at Transgourmet, came to a similar conclusion. Transgourmet had brought with them 20 partner companies. "It was a very good opportunity to present the full product and service portfolio", said Bergmann. "The fair isn't only important for us as a company but also for the location Bremerhaven."

The FAO is looking to fill a couple of Senior Fishery Officer posts at their headquarters in Rome.…

A discussion of the European Market Observatory for Fisheries and Aquaculture Products (EUMOFA), an initiative of the European Commission, took place as a side event in Agadir, Morocco, on 22 February 2016, in conjunction with the FAO COFI Sub-Committee on Fish Trade. Its purpose was to introduce this important initiative to a wider audience around the globe and showcase the possibilities offered by the database, both to the policy-makers and industry. Xavier Guillou, Market Analyst of DG Mare of the European Commission, said that he believes EUMOFA can be of great interest to a wide-ranging group of institutions and operators by providing more structured data. The rationale behind the tool is to provide aggregated and easily comparable data covering the whole value chain from first sale to consumption, covering a 15-year period. He is confident that EUMOFA can facilitate trade flows in the EU market and make clear to policy-makers what factors are influencing policies.