Business trip report, Poland, Regenda

Participation in the 30^th Carp Conference in Janów Podlaski, Poland, 26-28 February 2025

From 24^th February to 1^st March 2025 I attended the 30^th Polish Carp Conference, which took place in Janów Podlaski during the last three days of February (26-28 February 2025). The conference was attended by over 240 people. In total, more than 16 presentations were given on various topics that have been vexing Polish fish farmers. The programme also included three discussion panels combined with an interactive online poll for conference participants. The panel topics were: the fish market in Poland, the unification of professional organizations of Polish fishermen, and the cooperation between fishery science and fishery operations.

The conference also included a photo competition with a fishing theme and a gastronomic competition focusing on the preparation of various fish dishes. As a foreign guest, I had the honour to sit on the evaluation panel of the gastronomic competition. I presented three different papers at the conference and participated in the discussion. In the first shorter paper I presented the situation regarding fish production in the Czech Republic and fish export to Poland in the last few years. On the second day, I participated in a panel discussion on the unification of professional organisations with a paper describing the way fishermen are represented in the Czech Republic (Fishermen's Association of the Czech Republic). I ended my contribution with a demonstration of the story of King Svatopluk and his three rods, which captivated the audience. On Friday, I gave my keynote speech on "Cormorant in our neighbours' ponds" describing the great damage caused by cormorants to fish. The final paper evoked great emotion from the audience.