AE2026: Half a century of aquaculture expertise

Fifty years of the EAS

AE2026 also marks the 50th anniversary of the EAS and there will be a number of special events and guests to celebrate this milestone.

 

The celebrations will begin during the opening ceremony on Monday 28 September, where, alongside the EAS Awards, speakers will take time to recognise this important milestone and reflect on how far the society has come.

 

A spokesperson for the society says: “One of the main ways we bring EAS’s objectives to life is through our meetings. We have always said that EAS ‘brings people together’, and our events have been the lifeblood of the society, providing opportunities for knowledge exchange, networking, collaboration and welcoming new members.

 

“For the anniversary, we have invited our past Presidents to co-chair a session of their choosing, based on their own interests, and we have also invited our Honorary Life Members to join us. We are delighted to welcome many familiar names who have played an important role in shaping EAS over the years, including:

 

Past Presidents: Alan Jones, Bjørn Myrseth, Patrick Lavens, Rosa Flos, Johan Verreth, László Váradi, Kjell Maroni, Sachi Kaushik, Gavin Burnell and Bente Torstensen.

 

Honorary Life Members: Patrick Sorgeloos, Javier Ojeda and Mariana Ferreira.”

 

The celebrations will continue with the Annual General Assembly on Tuesday evening, 29 September, followed by a special EAS 50 reception and buffet dinner for members.

 

The society adds: “This will be an opportunity to celebrate the milestone with the people who have built and supported the society over the past 50 years. The society will also have small gifts for members as a thank you for their continued support, as EAS is, above all, a member-based society and our members are its foundation.”

 

 

Student events

Students are a vital part of the European Aquaculture Society (EAS) and play an essential role in the Aquaculture Europe conference. Each year, around 400 students attend the event and, to support their professional growth and engagement, EAS organises a range of dedicated student activities aimed at encouraging networking, skill development and active participation.

 

Among the key activities are the student workshop, which focuses on current topics and often includes interactive elements such as hackathon-style challenges, and the student reception, offering a chance to relax, connect and enjoy the social side of the conference.

 

Additionally, the Meet’n’Eat session provides an informal opportunity for students to meet, share ideas, and discuss various topics during the lunch break.

 

At AE2026, the following awards will be presented:

 

• Student Spotlight Award, which highlights the top three student abstracts submitted to the conference. Finalists will be invited to present their work in a dynamic three-minute pitch session, showcasing the next generation of aquaculture innovators.

 

• Best Student ePoster Award, presented by EAS.

 

• Ibrahim Okumuş Award for Best Student ePoster, presented by the EAS Student Group (EAS-SG).

Plenary speakers

The plenary speakers announced for AE2026 are: Jurica Jug-Dujaković, MJD Consulting, Croatia; Larisa Lewis, SALT, UK, and James Sibley, Aquaculture Creator, USA; and Callum Howard, Senior Consultant, MRAG, UK.

 

Jurica Jug-Dujaković will be speaking on the topic: “Aquaculture - from Sustainability to Resilience.”

 

Despite being one of the fastest-growing food sectors, aquaculture faces serious threats from global change that will inevitably affect its productivity and sustainability.

 

Climate change will obviously have direct and indirect effects – not only on cultured species, but also on supply and product prices, including feed ingredients as well as goods and services required by aquaculture producers.

 

Numerous reports illustrate that climate change effects on aquaculture will vary depending on geographical areas, economy, climatic zones, production systems and cultured species.

 

As we move from “sustainable aquaculture” to “resilient aquaculture” the presentation will assess cultured species and the resilience of production systems.

 

It will also review new technologies, production methods and management strategies as a first step towards enhancing aquaculture production in response to climate change.

 

Understanding these variables is essential for assessing the vulnerability of aquaculture systems and developing site-specific adaptation strategies that will also contribute to the food security expectations.

 

Jurica Jug-Dujaković is the Head of the Biotechnology Department at MJD Advisory and Development.

 

He has built a prominent career that encompasses scientific research, education and innovative leadership in the aquaculture industry.

 

After graduating from the University of Zagreb, he was a research assistant at the Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries in Split before joining FAO as a country representative in MEDRAP.

 

After 12 years working at the institute – working as a manager in aquaculture research facilities – he moved to the USA, working first as Technical Director and then as Director of Research and Development for Integrated Food Technology Inc, an aquaculture technology company.

 

He designed the first commercial closed recirculation nursery in the US and co-designed a commercial aquaponics facility that includes fish production in a closed aquaculture system, plant production based on aquaculture wastewater, and a fish processing plant.

 

He was later elected as the representative of the state of Pennsylvania on the Technical and Advisory Council of the Northeast Regional Aquaculture Council, a body that evaluates research and development projects in aquaculture for US government institutions.

 

In 2005, he returned to Croatia as a Professor at the University of Dubrovnik for courses on aquaculture technology and design.

 

He was also the Director of the university’s Centre for Business Innovation in Mariculture, which he co-designed.

 

Plenary 2, on Wednesday morning, will be a joint presentation by Larisa Lewis of SALT, brand specialists in communication and marketing for leaders in land and ocean food systems, and James Sibley, an aquaculture content creator based in the USA.

 

Their talk is themed: “Breaking the Bubble: Making Aquaculture’s Stories Go Global.”

 

Despite rapid advances across farming systems, nutrition, health and technology, much of the sector’s progress remains largely invisible outside industry and research circles.

 

As a result, aquaculture continues to face challenges around public understanding, workforce recruitment, investment confidence, social acceptance and the visibility of research and innovation.

 

This combined presentation explores how aquaculture stories can move beyond this industry bubble – and what happens when they do.

 

Larisa Lewis will address “How Aquaculture Stories Travel”.

 

Aquaculture research generates a vast amount of knowledge, yet much of this knowledge remains difficult for wider audiences to discover.

 

The challenge is not simply communication, but how knowledge is structured, translated and discovered. Research outputs are typically designed for documentation: papers, reports and conference presentations.

 

These formats are essential, but they are not designed for many of the audiences who shape the sector’s future – including entrepreneurs, investors, policymakers, future workers and the wider public.

 

This presentation explores how aquaculture knowledge can be translated into formats designed for different audiences.

 

In Part 2, James Sibley describes: “What Happens When Aquaculture Stories Reach Millions”.

 

If storytelling pathways allow aquaculture knowledge to travel beyond the sector, digital media determines how far those stories can ultimately reach – and who encounters them first.

 

For many people, platforms such as YouTube, Instagram and TikTok are now the first place they encounter aquaculture. Through his online channels, aquaculture creator James Sibley brings global audiences directly inside farms, hatcheries and research facilities.

 

On Thursday, the final day of the conference, Callum Howard, Senior Consultant with resource management specialists MRAG, will be addressing the theme: “Towards net zero by 2050 and energy efficient EU aquaculture production”.

 

The climate crisis poses fundamental challenges for aquaculture, reshaping not only what, how, and where we farm, but placing the sector under pressure to meet legally mandated greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction targets.

 

Meeting these targets demands cross-cutting action across the entire value chain, requiring coordinated efforts from researchers, industry and policymakers alike.

 

While viable solutions exist to reduce GHG emissions from aquaculture, achieving widespread adoption remains complex.

 

High investment costs and operational demands present particular difficulties for an industry dominated, at EU level, by SMEs.

 

This presentation examines the pathways to achieving net zero in EU aquaculture, drawing on recent European Commission studies on emission reduction costs and pathways, and challenges and opportunities for the implementation of lower trophic production in Europe.

 

It covers recommendations for carbon neutrality pathways as well as discussing policy, regulatory and economic barriers that must be overcome to enable change.