Spring 2010 - European Association of Zoos and Aquaria

philippe jouk
Aquarium Focus
There was much To digesT aT The laTesT euac annual
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Philippe Jouk, Chair, EAZA Aquarium Committee
If the latest annual conference of the
European Union of Aquarium Curators
(EUAC) is anything to go by, the future
of aquariums is vibrant. The EUAC’s
26th Annual Conference, held at the
Oceanogràfic in Valencia, Spain at the
end of October, attracted over 100
participants from no fewer than 60
European aquariums – and even beyond
the continent. As a result of new
relations established during the last
International Aquarium Congress (IAC)
in Shanghai, and the subsequent
post-conference tour where a number of
European aquarium curators visited
aquariums in China, a large delegation
from Dalian Laohutan Ocean Park
participated in the meeting, as well as a
Japanese colleague.
There was plenty for the delegates to
see and do too. About 50 presentations
across a wide variety of aquariological
topics were made, including several on
new technical equipment and other
aquariological features.
As usual, a large number of advances
in husbandry issues were put forward.
There were interesting contributions on
the long-term transport of sensitive
species and the use of specific equipment
and products to keep up optimal water
quality parameters during transport; the
transport and husbandry of Antarctic
fish and invertebrates; coral nutrition in
closed systems (a result of the work done
in the CoralZoo project); training of
different species, and much more.
For European aquariums conservation
is an ever increasing priority, and thus
became the natural focus of many
presentations. Participants heard, for
example, about the progress made on
population genetics and mating systems
of European seahorses, conservation
efforts on elkhorn coral (Acropora
palmata) by the SECORE consortium,
and the follow-up of the survey of the
critically endangered Greek killifish
(Valencia letourneuxi) in Western
Greece. The latter research was
completed with funding aid from the
EUAC. Other important conservation
topics that were discussed were the
actions that public aquariums can
undertake to address the coral reef crisis,
and the ways in which aquariums can
improve the sustainability of their
collections in the future. Some
spectacular breeding results were also
presented, like the breeding of whitespotted
eagle rays (Aetobatus narinari) at
Burgers’ Ocean at Burgers’ Zoo in
Arnhem, the breeding of the short-tail
aquariums
nurse shark (Pseudoginglymostoma
brevicaudatum) at the Artis Zoo in
Amsterdam or the large numbers of
porkfish (Anisotremus virginicus) bred at
La Rochelle Aquarium.
Another important focus for the
conference was the presentation of
advances in the veterinary field. Topics
included the anaesthesia and surgery of
broken jaws of large moray eels and work
on fish parasites. The importance of
proactivity and creativity in aquatic
medicine was also discussed and
illustrated.
Some new aquarium projects were also
presented: the new tanks and displays at
Cretaquarium in Crete (the venue for
the 2010 EUAC meeting), the newly
opened aquarium Mare Nostrum in
Montpellier, the new tropical aquarium
at Tierpark Hagenbeck in Hamburg, a
new Interpretation Center at Mallorca,
and the extension of the Biarritz
aquarium. One of the highlights of a
visit to the Bioparc Valencia was the
presentation of the new hippo exhibit.
A presentation on ZIMS, ahead of its
March 2010 launch, gave more
information on how it can be used for
the modern management of public
aquariums.
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