As a first step, a questionnaire was sent out to the EIFAC national focal points to get an overview on organic fish farming in Europe. As a second step a scoping meeting of the Working Party was held at Nuremberg, Germany on 18 February 2002. Finally a second version of the questionnaire is being sent at out the time of the preparation of this report in order to obtain an updated version including brackish and marine cultures.

The Scoping Workshop of the EIFAC Ad Hoc Working Party on Organic Fish Farming was convened by V. Hilge of the Federal Research Board of Fisheries, Institute of Fisheries Ecology, Ahrensburg, Germany, and attended by individuals from the conventional trout and carp farming sector from Germany and Hungary, researchers from Hungary, Italy, USA and Germany, and a representative of a certifying organization from Germany.

A detailed interim report of the Convener with the findings of the questionnaires, summary and recommendations of the Workshop in Nuremberg is enclosed as Annex 2.

Working Party on Market Perspectives of European Freshwater Aquaculture (jointly with the European Community)

Convener: L. Váradi

During the 21^st EIFAC Session in Budapest, held 1-7 June 2000, the delegation of EC made a proposal for the next EIFAC Symposium in 2002, with the thematic focus being on "European aquaculture in fresh water: its place and future in the globalization of the markets of fish products". The EIFAC Session agreed that the theme was urgent and warranted the holding of a meeting of experts within a year. Subsequent to the Session, the Chair of EIFAC Sub-Commission on Aquaculture, the EIFAC Secretariat (at FAO) and officials of DG FISH of the European Commission, jointly organized and facilitated a meeting of an ad hoc EIFAC/EC Working Party on Market Perspectives of European Freshwater Aquaculture.

The ad hoc EIFAC/EC Working Party on Market Perspectives of European Freshwater Aquaculture was held at the premises of the European Commission (Centre Albert Borschette) in Brussels between 14-16 May 2001. The ad hoc Working Party was attended by 26 invited experts, among them industry representatives, scientists, traders, journalists and FAO/EIFAC and EC officials. The presentations, discussions and recommendations of the ad hoc Working Party have been summarized in a report, which has been published as an EIFAC Occasional Paper² .

Since marketing in European freshwater aquaculture is going to be a critical issue in the future, further actions are required to address marketing issues taking into account the recommendations of the ad hoc EIFAC/EC Working Party. The international conference on Aquaculture Economics and Marketing, which will be held between 29 September and 2 October 2002 at Szarvas, Hungary, can be considered as a related follow-up action. In the program of the conference special attention will be given to specific topics, which have been emphasized by the EIFAC/EC ad hoc Working Party as follows:

OTHER ACTIVITIES

European Asian relation
The Chairman of Sub-Commission II attended the Governing Council Meeting of NACA (Network of Aquaculture Centers in Asia-Pacific) and the concurrently held Regional Aquabusiness Seminar and Exhibit 2002 in Langkawi, Malaysia between 15-18 January 2002. During discussions with local experts, who are involved in projects aiming at the development of rural livelihoods through supporting poor aquatic resources users, a proposal was made to organize an expert consultation on the application of related Asian experiences in Eastern Europe . The experiences of the recently launched STREAM (Support to Regional Aquatic Resources Management) initiative may command particular interest of experts in Eastern Europe. HAKI offered to be the host of the expert meeting in Hungary and asked the FAO Sub-Regional Office for Central and Eastern Europe in Budapest to be co-organizer of the meeting.
Relation with Eastern Europe
The Chairman of Sub-Commission II has become the Chairman of the recently established Eastern Europe Committee of the European Aquaculture Society (EAS). This will help the efforts of involving professionals from Eastern Europe into various European level aquaculture programs and initiatives, among them the activities of EIFAC. As a result of previous efforts, five professionals from Eastern Europe were involved in the ad hoc EIFAC/EC Working Party on Market Perspectives of European Freshwater Aquaculture, and experts from Eastern Europe will also be involved in the Working Party on Aquatic Resources Management in aquaculture planned to be held in Rome on 11 October 2002.
The next EIFAC Symposium in 2004 will be in Poland, thus active attendance from Eastern Europe is expected, which could further improve the participation of Eastern European experts in EIFAC activities and contribute to the better communication, exchange of experts and students between Eastern and Western Europe.

Annex 1
Interim Report
EIFAC Working Party on Fish and Crustacean Nutrition
The proceedings of the EIFAC Workshop on Fish and Crustacean Nutrition Methodology and Research for Semi-Intensive Pond-based Farm Systems (Szarvas, Hungary, 3-5 April 1996) have been published³ in 2000 in the 23^rd Volume of "HALÁSZATFEJLESZTÉS/FISHERIES DEVELOPMENT", the yearbook series of the Research Institute for Fisheries, Aquaculture and Irrigation (HAKI), Szarvas, Hungary. The proceedings had been printed in B5 format with black and white illustrations in 212 pages. Fifteen papers were published as full or short papers and for 19 lectures only the abstracts were published in the Proceedings with a list of participants. Hundred copies were sent to the EIFAC's headquarter in Rome, Italy. Each participant received one copy of the full Proceedings and 10 reprints of their papers. Additional copies were sent to research institutions and to persons who were interested in participating in the Workshop but unable to attend.
The Working Party had started a new activity in the field of quality assurance in 2001. The quality of fresh quality fish depends mainly on nutritional and environmental factors. The nutrient contents of the applied feeds and natural food, as well as, presence of the natural and antropogenic toxic material influence greatly the product quality of aquaculture commodities. Some critical elements of fish and shellfish production with special regard to the nutrition and feeding were analysed according the methods of HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points). Co-operation had been started among the Hungarian, Greek, Ukrainian, and Moldavian colleagues to establish the basic conditions for the organic fish farming in these countries. Below we outline the basic ideas of the development of Good Farming Practice (GFP) of fish and other farmed aquatic animals and the international co-operation activity aiming at the development of standards for organic fish production.
Good Farming Practice (GFP) of fish and shellfish production
The Good Farming Practice (GFP) of fish would set out the framework of fish production in fish farms. It would define the crucial elements of farming techniques for the development of best-practice pond reared fish. It will contain basic principles, minimum standards and recommendations on the following areas of fish farming in ponds, and in a separate document for intensive systems:

• selection of production sites;
  
• selection of a water supply;
  
• management of water quality during production;
  
• management of hatchery and brood stock, and purchase of seedlings;
  
• nutrition of fishes and feeding practice;
  
• aquafeed preparation;
  
• management of fish health;
  
• harvesting and transporting fish, and
  
• trade of live fish.

Standards for organic aquaculture
Private and national or international standards (e.g. IFOAM - International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements, Tholey-Theley, Germany; UK Organic Aquaculture Standards, England; Naturland - Verband für naturgemässen Landbau e.V., Gräfelfing, Germany) were reviewed during 2001. The preparation of the Hungarian standards for the organic production of fish had been started in co-operation with EIFAC Ad Hoc Working Party on Organic Fish Farming. Co-operation among the Hungarian, Greek, Ukrainian, and Moldavian colleagues interested in the standardisation of the organic fish farming had been started with exchange of information on the available national and international standards.
April 14, 2002.

Dr Istvan Csengeri, PhD
HAKI, Szarvas, Hungary

Annex 2
Interim Report
of the EIFAC Working Party on Organic Fish Farming

The European Inland Fisheries Advisory Commission (EIFAC) decided at its twenty-first session in Budapest to establish a new ad hoc Working Party on Organic Fish Farming. The terms of reference are to:

• assemble material on the status and development of organic fish farming;
  
• review and discuss the technical aspects of this type of production;
  
• consider market conditions related to organic fish farming, and
  
• define research needs.

Responses to the questionnaire on organic fish farming sent out by the Convenor to EIFAC member countries were received from Austria, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Norway and the UK. It was noted that according to available estimates organic fish farming currently covers only about 0.2% of the total volume (2 million tonnes) of European aquaculture production but deserves EIFAC's attention as organic farming growth rates in the order of 25% are typical. Species typically include carp, tench, pike, pikeperch, and coregonids in Austria, carp and trout in Germany, salmon in Ireland, and salmon and trout in the UK. Culture systems used are traditional ponds for carp and byfish species, earthen ponds for trout, and offshore cages for salmon. The label of organic fish farming is a process claim rather than a product claim. The consumer wants safe and high quality food, and it is clear that the organic production process has direct effects on product quality, but conventional production may result in a similarly healthy and safe product. In addition, organic fish farming cannot claim their products to be residue-free. This is a topic that deserves to be looked into in more detail.

The Scoping Workshop of the EIFAC Ad Hoc Working Party on Organic Fish Farming was convened by V. Hilge of the Federal Research Board of Fisheries, Institute of Fisheries Ecology, Ahrensburg, Germany, and attended by individuals from the conventional trout and carp farming sector from Germany and Hungary, researchers from Hungary, Italy, USA and Germany, and a representative of a certifying organization from Germany.
There were a presentation of the results of the questionnaire by the convener, followed by several contributions. M. Saroglia concluded that rules for organic fish farming should be based on "best management practices" which in turn should have a strong scientific basis for each applied parameter. Overall, production must be economically sustainable in order to produce fish that are affordable to the consumer - it is not acceptable that only rich people can consume "healthy" fish.

S. Bergleiter of the certifying association Naturland e.V. in his presentation discussed some technical aspects of organic fish farming particularly for carp and trout which are the two main freshwater species groups of relevance in Europe. The challenge for organic aquaculture in Europe is less linked to consumer safety, environmental destruction or technical problems in intensive/mass aquaculture production, but rather relates to the safeguarding of typically small family-run fish farm enterprises, the maintenance and promotion of its "green" character, and the protection of prices by producing small quantities of a high quality product. Important standard requirements were discussed separately for carp and trout. He concluded that technical aspects of fish feeds (residue levels in fish feeds, replacement of fish meal and oil through alternative protein sources, the use of natural antioxidants) and processing (particularly avoiding microbiological hazards in smoked vacuum packed fish) besides the more general issues (increased research and the need to work on new industry sectors such as recirculating units) are the main challenges in the future of organic aquaculture.

The presentation by D. Brister of University of Minnesota focused on the status of organic aquaculture in the USA and allowed participants to compare certain elements of the standards. Feed requirements are consistent in that they must be certified organic, but as capture fisheries is considered not to be certifiable it has been recommended recently that there is an allowance of 5% non-organic fishmeal and fish oil in combination as a feed supplement in the feed ration. This poses a particular problem for cultured aquatic animals that are naturally piscivorous, especially salmonids. Consequently, efforts are currently under way to identify low-food-chain species with potential for organic production. This will require promotion of these species through awareness raising of the public.

E. Pfeffer of Bonn University in his contribution commented the feeding section of the Naturland Standards for Organic Aquaculture part II General principles of farm management and animal husbandry. An important issue was the replacement of fish meal by plant protein in salmonid diets which is of ecological interest due to the minimization of phosphorous pollution in the water. Plant and other proteins in principle are available from various sources such as the starch industry, but if the aim is to completely replace the fish meal in the feed ration synthetic amino acids should be allowed in organic aquaculture. While the use of growth promoters is not allowed for fish in most countries, the addition of vitamins is necessary with regard to animal welfare but is currently debated.

There was a vivid discussion focussing on the scientific basis and the interpretation of particular paragraphs in the Naturland standards: the fish meal and fish oil replacement, exclusion of grass carp and other carp species, use of quick lime, conversion time from conventional to organic fish farming, pituary gland use, behavioural needs of fish (as influenced by stocking densities, migratory behaviour), and the value of oxygenation.

As a conclusion of the discussions it was pointed out by S. Bergleiter that the organic standards at least of Naturland are not set and fixed but rather there is scope for discussion and change. Also, other standards need to be considered.

The Group felt that a number of issues in organic fish farming deserve to be scientifically scrutinized in more detail in the future, and that the EIFAC Working Party should facilitate this process. Among the most pressing issues identified were:

The Group recommended for the Convenor to:

¹ Csengeri, I., Szito, A., Papp, Z. S. and A.G.J. Tacon, 2000. Fish and Crustacean Nutrition Methodology and Research for Semi-intensive Pond-based Farming Systems. Proceedings of an EIFAC Workshop, held 3-5 April 1996 in Szarvas, Hungary. HAKI, Szarvas, Hungary. HALÁSZATFEJLESZTÉS 23 - Fisheries Development (23): 211p.

² European Inland Fisheries Advisory Commission, 2001. Report of the ad hoc EIFAC/EU Working Party on Market Perspectives for European Freshwater Aquaculture. Brussels, Belgium, 14-16 May 2001. Rome, FAO. EIFAC Occasional Paper. No. 35: 136 p. ftp://ftp.fao.org/fi/document/eifac/WGmarket/OP35.pdf

³ Csengeri, I., Szito, A., Papp, Z. S. and A.G.J. Tacon, 2000. Fish and Crustacean Nutrition Methodology and Research for Semi-intensive Pond-based Farming Systems. Proceedings of an EIFAC Workshop, held 3-5 April 1996 in Szarvas, Hungary. HAKI, Szarvas, Hungary. HALÁSZATFEJLESZTÉS 23 - Fisheries Development (23): 211p.