Page 41 - FAO Aquaculture News, May 2021 - No. 63

EIFAAC Research Supports Regional Solutions for

Freshwater Aquaculture of Europe

Aquaculture Updates by Region

stablished in 1957, the European Inland Fisheries and – Workshop on Citizen Science in Fisheries.
1
EAquaculture Advisory Commission (EIFAAC) is a A workshop was to be scheduled in Finland in
pan-European platform intended to provide science-based November 2020 but was cancelled due to the
data and advice on a wide range of issues facing the inland COVID-19 pandemic. The topic has been included in
aquatic resources of Europe. The overarching mission the next EIFAAC Symposium.
of EIFAAC is to promote the long-term sustainable – EIFAAC Symposium on Food Safety and
development, utilization, conservation, restoration and Conservation in Inland Fisheries and Aquaculture,
responsible management of European inland fisheries which will be hosted by the Government of Ireland,
and aquaculture resources and to support sustainable Killarney, Ireland, 20–21 June 2022.
economic, social and recreational activities enabling these
goals. The Commission currently operates under a project- In 2020, the TSC called upon its members to propose
oriented structure that was approved by the 27th Session, new projects based on their priorities in inland fisheries
which was deemed a more efficient structure for delivery and freshwater aquaculture. The following five project
of EIFAAC goals. A Technical and Scientific Committee themes were approved by the Management Committee
(TSC) was established in 2010 to accommodate the in December 2020; virtual meetings with experts from
project structure. Proposals for EIFAAC projects may participating countries were held in the first quarter of
be developed by the TSC, a member, a donor, a partner 2021:
organization or an independent partner institution. Theme 1: The problems and challenges of climate
change and its impact on inland aquatic resources and
As of December 2020, there were six active EIFAAC fisheries of Europe.
projects: Theme 2: Interactions of inland fisheries and
– Management/Threat of Aquatic Invasive Species aquaculture with other freshwater uses: conflict
in Europe. This project organized the conference identification and potential benefits.
“Following the Freshwater Invasives – Networking Theme 3: Environmental DNA in freshwater fisheries,
for Strategy (FINS),” followed by three symposia: current status and future possibilities – a review.
FINS Symposium in Ireland (2013); FINS-II in Theme 4: Determination of economic, cultural and
Croatia (2016); and FINS-III, which will be held in social values of inland fisheries and freshwater
Hungary (2022). The project has produced several aquaculture in Europe.
publications. 2,3,4 Theme 5: Fish stocking guidelines, including general
– Monitoring the Performance of Fish Passes; principles, best practices, economic aspects,
European Committee on Standardization (CEN) interaction with natural stocks and safeguarding
Standard. The aims, scope and contents of the draft biodiversity.
standard were presented at the German Federal
Institute of Hydrology workshop on standardizing As EIFAAC is an advisory regional fisheries body under
fish passes in Koblenz on 7 June 2018. The finalized Article VI of the FAO constitution, project funding
standard was submitted for vote in February 2019. is through country or donor contributions, with FAO
– Developing Advice on Sustainable Management providing support for publication and dissemination of
Actions on Cormorant Populations. A cormorant research findings.
symposium was held in Lillehammer, Norway, 9–10
October 2018. This project produced a publication.
5
– Joint EIFAAC/ICES/GFCM Working Group on Eel.
The report of the Working Group was published by the
International Council for the Exploration of the Sea
(ICES) on its website.

1. See: www.fao.org/fishery/rfb/EIFAAC.
2. FAO. 2015. Aquatic invasive species – top issues for their
management. EIFAAC Occasional Paper No. 50, Rome.
3. Caffrey, J.M. et al. 2014. Tackling invasive alien species in Europe:
the top 20 issues. Management of Biological Invasions, Vol. 5, Issue 1:
1–20.
Written by: 4. Vilizzi, L. et al. 2019. A global review and meta-analysis of applications
Victoria Chomo of the freshwater Fish Invasiveness Screening Kit. Reviews in Fish
Biology and Fisheries.
E-mail: Victoria.Chomo@fao.org
5. Jepsen, N., Flavio, H. & Koed, A. 2019. The impact of cormorant
FAO Fisheries Division, Rome, Italy predation on Atlantic salmon and sea trout smolt survival. Fisheries
Management and Ecology, 26: 183–186.

40 FAO AQUACULTURE NEWS – Nº. 63 ■ MAY 2021