Farming carps is a rich source of ecosystem benefits

Cyprinids, which include carps and barbels, are the most farmed species in the world. With 31 million tonnes they represented the main group of species produced in 2021 with a share of 25 percent of the total aquaculture production and a value of USD65 billion. Common carp is seventh among the farmed species in the world with a global production of 4.2m tonnes in 2021 one and a half times more than Atlantic salmon aquaculture production.

Carp farming is one of the most important components of the aquaculture sector with an ancient history. Studies have demonstrated that common carp aquaculture dates back thousand years in Asia and Europe. Common carp is native to the Palearctic region but is today a geographically widespread sh and the source of a multi-billion industry in the world. Outside Asia, Central and Eastern Europe is the region where common carp plays an important role in aquaculture production, especially common carp that can be considered of European heritage.

Pond cultivation has little impact on the environment

Pond carp farming means a traditional, extensive production system based on the natural nutrient cycle typical of natural wetland ecosystems. It operates as an open ecological system, where natural and technological processes are built seamlessly on each other. Beyond the direct economic bene ts, the traditional pond aquaculture has diverse and complex socio-economic and environmental bene ts. Pond farming requires low levels of inputs giving high economic resilience; it is strongly integrated into natural environment and so has a low impact on the environment; moreover, it provides a number of di erent ecosystem services. Carp farming ts well into the FAO’s blue transformation concept. Traditional pond aquaculture also has lessons for the development of circular biobased freshwater farm systems. e rst International Carp Conference was organised by Polish Farmers Association in Kazimiers Dolny, Poland in 2011. e members of the organising committee come from the most signi cant carp producer countries—Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Germany, Romania and Croatia. e Austrian Lake Fisheries and Aquaculture Association joined the organisers this year. After the second conference, which also was held in Poland, the organising committee decided that the conference should be held every two years in di erent countries. So the next conferences were held in Vodnany, Czech Republic in 2015, in Zagreb, Croatia in 2017 and the last one in Ansbach, Germany in 2019.

An area with a long tradition of carp culture

Hungary was selected as the next venue for the conference, however Covid restrictions prevented it from taking place on time. e 6th International Carp Conference, traditionally a two-day event, will now be held in 2023 between 31 August and 1 September in Szarvas, Hungary. e Hungarian co-organisers—Hungarian Fisheries and Aquaculture Inter-branch Association (MAHAL) and the Research Centre for Fisheries and Aquaculture of the Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences (MATE-HAKI) are proud to host the 6th International Carp Conference. Szarvas is an excellent site for this event. Here, in the valley of the river Körös there has been a long tradition of sheries and pond aquaculture. Common carp has always been the most important sh species in this region and the “Szarvas” carp strains have played an important role in Hungarian sh culture. MATE-HAKI is internationally acknowledged for its work on the genetic improvement of common carp and the development of carp rearing systems and technologies. e institution partners with the Hungarian Fisheries and Aquaculture Inter-branch Association to promote freshwater aquaculture and its products in Hungary and internationally.

Strong international dimension to event

Although the main aim of the carp conferences has not changed signi cantly in the last 12 years—strengthen the “carp segment” within European aquaculture; improve the image

Aquaculture of carp—the current conference has some speci c features. One of them uses the holistic approach of carp aquaculture to discuss the challenges and opportunities along the whole value chain. Besides considering carp as an important aquatic food, the linkages of carp culture with recreational sheries and restocking of natural waters will also be discussed. e possibility for carp farming to be recognised by international organisations like FAO and UNESCO is also on the agenda. Another important goal is to strengthen the international character of the conference. Europe should increase its contribution to the development of global carp aquaculture by exploring the opportunities o ered by carp in the Blue Freshwater Bioeconomy. Leaders and key experts from FAO, EIFAAC, FEAP, EATiP and EUROFISH will actively be involved in the programme, and professionals from China and Central Asia will also attend the conference. Opportunities for discussions and dialogues will be provided through thematic panel sessions which will be moderated by acknowledged international aquaculture experts. And scientists will be encouraged to introduce their novel research results in the eld of carp aquaculture in a poster session.

Europe 2023, 18-21 September 2023, Vienna

One of the side events of the conference is the 47th MA-HAL Fish Festival that will be held on 2 September at the conference venue in Szarvas. is event o ers an excellent opportunity to taste Hungarian carp dishes paired with wines. After the conference participants can take a guided tour of the HAKI live gene bank and experimental facilities.

Detailed information and online registration form can be found on the conference website: www.carpconferencehungary.com

Bela Halasi-Kovacs, Director, MATE-HAKI

Halasi-Kovacs.Bela@uni-mate.hu