It is 20 years since Eastfish, an FAO-executed project funded by Denmark, became the International Organisation for the Development of Fisheries and Aquaculture in Europe (Eurofish). From an initial five member countries in 2002, today Eurofish has 13 (Albania, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Romania, Spain, and Türkiye). Over the years, cooperation with the members has become closer, participation in externally funded projects that allow the organisation to offer benefits to its owners has increased, and the range of activities that Eurofish is involved in has diversified. The hope is that this trajectory will sustain the organisation, increase its competencies, and enable it to do more for its members in the decades to come.
Marco Frederiksen the Eurofish Director wrote the following editorial:
Dear Reader,
It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to this issue marking twenty years of the international organisation Eurofish, the publisher of the Eurofish Magazine.
We decided to design a new cover for the magazine to commemorate this anniversary. The new cover has a logo similar to that developed for the Eurofish organisation last year which now makes it crystal clear that the publisher of Eurofish Magazine is Eurofish International Organisation.
The two decades of our existence have been both challenging and successful. From five founding countries (Albania, Denmark, Latvia, Norway, Romania) in 2002, membership in Eurofish has increased to 13 (Croatia, Estonia, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Spain, and Türkiye). Nine people are employed at Eurofish—and they are all from member countries. Our projects portfolio has expanded hugely as have the activities we carry out for the benefit of our member countries.
We have achieved important and encouraging results, which would not have been possible without the trust and support of our member countries and our associates. Since its establishment in 2002, Eurofish has worked to offer advice to and disseminate information about the fisheries and aquaculture industry. Eurofish aims to further develop the fisheries and aquaculture sector in Europe and beyond and we will do that mainly through projects, conferences, workshops, special assignments in our member countries, the Eurofish Magazine, and specialised Eurofish guides.
Eurofish consistently focuses on acquiring projects that provide external funding, develop our expertise, and solve specific challenges that benefit our members. More than 150 cooperation partners form the basis of the Eurofish network that we continuously develop further.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Eurofish member countries for supporting and helping to make Eurofish the effective organization that it has become today. My gratitude also goes to the Food and Agriculture Organization that facilitated the establishment of this regional organization, our host country Denmark, and to all our partners for the good and constructive collaboration we have had over the years.
We remain committed to promoting cooperation and trade relations in the fisheries and aquaculture sectors in the region in line with our mandate and aligning our activities with the real needs and priorities of our member countries and their industries.
I look forward to contributing to Eurofish’s development and to helping it thrive in the years to come.
Yours sincerely,
Marco Frederiksen
Eurofish Director
Managing Editor of the Eurofish Magazine
