EAS celebrates 50 years of evolution alongside European Aquaculture in Slovenia

Aquaculture Europe 2026 has opened in Ljubljana, Slovenia, with a day of technical tours, a workshop on climate action and an opening ceremony featuring a commemorative film and a tribute to former presidents and ward recipients of the European Aquaculture Society (EAS), which is celebrating its 50^th anniversary this year.

In an interview with misPeces, and asked about the main milestones of these five decades, EAS Executive Director Alistair Lain identified the first at 1984. Founded in 1976 as the European Mariculture Society, 8 years later the organization decided to adopt its current name to reflect the fact that its activities encompassed aquaculture across different aquatic environments, extending beyond marine farming.

The second milestone came in 2005, when EAS formally launched its student group. Lane noted that it now has around 600 members and highligheted the role they will play in the Society’s future: “They’re motivated and they have some great ideas”.

The third came in 2008, when EAS organized its own exhibition alongside its scientific conference for the first time, at that year’s event in Kraków.

For Lane, this was the point at which Aquaculture Europe as we know it today began to take shape.

He recalled that the series of meeting had begun in Venice in 1981, with attendance subsequently exceeding 1,000 people in Porto in 2010 and 2,500 in Berlin in 2019.

Looking at this year’s programme, alongside the 50^th anniversary celebrations, Lane highlighted two new additions to the Ljubljana event: a session on Aquaculture and Tourism and another devoted to Communicating Science.

Involved with EAS since 2000, Lane also describes these decades as a personal journey. During that time, he has witnessed changes both in aquaculture and in the Society itself.

Asked about his own experience, Lane summed it up simply: “When you do something tat you love and when you have a passion for aquaculture, as we do, then you don’t feel like you’re working hard.”