A multi-national workshop “Aquaculture as a key factor for sustainable food security”, dedicated to supporting Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine in harmonising their aquaculture approach with EU requirements took place 15-16 June in Brussels. The event was organised by DG NEAR and DG MARE through its Technical Assistance and Information Exchange instrument (TAIEX). The agenda was focused on exchanging good practices for sustainable aquaculture development in order to ensure food security, growth, and employment by developing local aquaculture production and reducing import dependency. Experts from governmental institutions, professional organisations, and scientists from Spain, Romania, Poland, and Hungary shared their experiences with challenges and practical ways of solving them. Good practices were also presented by the stakeholders from the three countries targeted by the workshop. The debates were vivid around the main themes of the aquaculture sector: simplification and improvement of licensing, capacity-building programmes for farmers, researchers, and decision-makers at both national and regional levels, increasing the participation of aquaculture farmers’ organizations in sector governance and decision-making processes.
European or regional organisations, such as the Fisheries and Aquaculture Monitoring, Evaluation and Local Support Network (FAMENET) and the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM), highlighted the importance of cooperation among all actors involved in aquaculture development. One of the main conclusions of the event was that aquaculture holds a strategic importance in providing multiple socio-economic benefits and this significance should be recognized and supported by the national administrations. As shown recently, in the multiple crisis environment of the last years, aquaculture had an active role on the local and regional level in providing food security. It is expected that in the near future, the EC will work further with the three candidate states and will develop within the TAIEX instrument tailor-made workshops, expert missions, and study visits for all the topics discussed within the event.