The history of the Federation 19682007

1
The history of the Federation1968-2007

• Courtney Hough
• General Secretary
• Federation of European Aquaculture Producers

2
How did it start?

• Trout farming had developed strongly in the
  1960s
• The EEC existed
• A desire to professionally replicate EEC
  structure so
• Associations of France, West Germany, Italy and
  Belgium plus
• Representatives of the Netherlands and
  Luxembourg
• contacted each other to create a European
  Federation of fish farmers in January 1968

3
How did it start?

• Production figures
• France 12,000 tons
• Germany 3,000 tons
• Italy 12,000 tons
• Benelux 800 tons
• Total production 27,800 tons

4
How did it start?

• A Federation of European Fish Farmers
• Meeting in Brussels to discuss the Statutes
• Disagreement on
• Fees
• Distribution of votes
• Federation based on trout only
• Official incorporation of the FES as a Foreign
  Association, in France, on 19th June 1969
• Mr. Jean Dufour - France President
• Dott. Gianni Venier Italy Vice-President
• Comte Zu Kastell - Germany Vice-President
• Annual Budget - 675

5
One of the first meetingsHotel Cypriani Venice
1972
6
How did it start?

• Baron Charles de Fierlant Dormer was charged with
  European/International affairs
• with the European Commission
• with the FAO EIFAC
• supported by Prof. Marcel Huet

7
How did it start?

• Baron Charles de Fierlant Dormer wrote to Mr
  Léon Klein at the Commission

8
Reply from the Commission
Dear Sir, I have received your letter of
26/09/1968 and I would be happy to meet you at
your convenience. Perhaps it would be easiest,
one day that you are in Brussels, to give me a
call and we can meet that same day. I hope that I
wont disappoint you because I have to admit,
since I work in Competition, that I have never
had anything to do with the problems of fish
farming. Looking forward to seeing you
soon, Yours most sincerely Leon Klein
9
First attendance at an international meeting

• EIFAC meeting in 1970
• I had no idea what I had to do
• I had no idea what subjects were going to be
  presented or discussed
• I did not know anyone at the meeting
• They asked what on earth I was doing at the
  meeting

10
Conclusion

• I have retained 2 important notions
• that it is advisable and urgent that we create
  one European Federation for all European fish
  farming
• that we should be better known in the spheres of
  international organisations (FAO, EEC etc.)
• written in May 1970

11
F.E.S. from 1980 to 1990

• Production
• Rapid growth of trout production had stabilised
  (130,000 tons)
• Emergence of salmon (108,000 tons) in 1990
• Increased funding from fees to be able to finance
  the work of the FES instead of the Association
  that held the Presidency
• Promoted the use of working groups vs. committees
  a better base for work

12
F.E.S. from 1980 to 1990

• Main tasks of FES were
• assess the state of production
• answer marketing problems
• respond to environmental problems
• establish knowledge of disease situation
• But FES did not take any action itself
• left to Member associations to lobby National
  Government
• no representation at European level

13
F.E.S. from 1980 to 1990

• EU lobbying could only be done through
  COPA-COGECA (Agriculture representation)
• Between 1974 and 1990
• Production went from 50,000 to 500,000 tons
• but the price reduced by 50
• Major regret that FES could not have gone for
  market promotion lack of funding security

14
F.E.S. 1985-1990

• Market changed towards supermarkets
• but prices did not get better
• Farmers business ability focused on increasing
  production rather than selling better
• Constant pressure on the producer from
• Regulation on environmental impact
• Efforts to stop spread of fish diseases

15
FES 1985-1990

• Subject to wildly exaggerated statements from
  environmental experts
• Need to counter the extreme restrictions demanded
  by protest groups
• Better feeds, better farm design, good effluent
  control and good farm management are much better
  than restrictive legislation

16
FES 1990-1993

• Noted the serious responsibilities of
  representing the profession at Brussels
• First examination of a Brussels-based
  Secretariat
• Wide consternation at the effects of the new
  fish health Directive
• 1991 Restructuring on the Agenda
• More species should be represented within the FES

17
FES 1990-1993

• First independent actions
• Prepared a self-financed audit on the role and
  structure of the FES in Europe
• Completed a study on the Market for
  Portion-Size Trout in Europe
• Co-organised a workshop on Effluent Control
  (Hamburg 1992)

18
FES 1990-1993

• 1992
• Big market collapse in salmon and trout
• Role of FES, in the turmoil, was to
• maintain transparency of production
• foster common policies
• review change at National and European level
• maintain communication lines between all
  representative Associations.

19
F.E.S. 1993

• It was essential that the Federation provide the
  conditions for constructive debate and the
  identification of solutions
• Proposal to enlarge FES so as to include
• Northern Mariculture
• Continental Aquaculture (all freshwater)
• Southern Mariculture
• Agreement that FES should become FEAP
• New Statutes developed
• Greece accepted as Member of the Federation
• Spain, Poland, Czech Republic followed soon
  after

20
FEAP a time for change

• In 1999, FEAP became a member of the reformed
  Advisory Committee on Fisheries and Aquaculture
  of the European Commission
• Participated in 2 new initiatives
• EC Report on Interactions of Aquaculture
  Environment
• Pilot project on Aquaculture Database

21
FEAP a time for change

• Started to be more involved in international
  relations
• EIFAC FAO
• Aquaculture committee - GFCM FAO
• EAS conferences and Aquaflow (1997)
• Contact with other international organisations
  (e.g. ISFA, NASCO, Global Aquaculture Alliance,
  NACA)

22
1998-2003 A period of change

• Important events
• Accession to the ACFA a long time coming
• Recognition by the Members of the need for
  services and stability
• Reinforcement of Member commitment to FEAP
• Green Paper on Fisheries (and Aquaculture)
• Assembly insisted that aquaculture be given due
  recognition
• Creation of the Aquaculture Unit
• Led to the Commission Communication on A
  Strategy for the Sustainable Development of
  European Aquaculture

23
A period of change

• Code of Conduct for European Aquaculture
• demonstrated foresight commitment of the
  profession
• a reference document
• integral to the Code of Conduct of the ACFA

24
2003-2007An era of development

• Since 2000, FEAP has worked on more than 15
  projects that assist aquaculture development
• Active participant in international conferences
  and workshops on aquaculture
• Participant in specific FAO initiatives

25
Position in 2007

• represents gt1.4 million tons of fish production
  in Europe
• leading professional body of the sector for
  European consultation
• active in
• development work EU projects/FAO
• communication for sector for projects
• harmonising opinions in Europe
• FEAP objectives remain the same

26
FEAP Statutes

• The aims of the Federation are
• to develop and establish a common policy on
  questions relating to the production and the
  commercialisation of aquaculture species that are
  reared commercially.
• to make known to the appropriate authorities the
  common policies envisaged above.

27
Conclusion

• Professional representation has developed and
  changed significantly in 40 years
• The Associations have to defend and promote many
  different aspects of professional fish farming
  political, technical and commercial
• Association representatives and staff are highly
  skilled and responsible people
• The European aquaculture sector has to be
  transparent, open to new ideas and developments,
  so as to guarantee its long term sustainability.