It all started in 1972. Then Aquarium Curators present at the postponed opening of the Kölner Aquarium am Zoo sat together and discussed the need for more professional contact between the Curators of Public Aquariums in Europe. The initiative came from Frank De Graef, at that the Curator of the Artis Aquarium Amsterdam. All curators present felt the same need and would welcome such a professional Union. At that time a great number of Public Aquariums in Europe were mainly integrated in major zoos and only a few independant aquariums existed. In order to exchange experiences, knowledge and technical developments in the aquarium field, a European Union of aquarium Curators (E.U.A.C.) was founded. Today the situation has quite changed and more independant Aquariums opened to the public in Europe.
During a symposium held in the Basel Zoo May 24 - 25, 1972, the participating aquarium curators decided to form a European Union of Aquarium Curators to ensure a closer contact between them in the future. The main objective of this Union will be to organize regular symposia during which topics and problems of general interest will be discussed. During these symposia ample time will be allotted for personal contact between the participants. As far as possible, working parties will be formed well ahead of each symposium to prepare reviews or other basic material for the topics under discussion. This, we hope, will ensure clear and sound discussions.
Another important objective of the Union could be to publish irregular circulars in which members may put short communications, offers of surplus animals, wanted species, pleas for help and advice from colleagues in special problems and other items. We are also interested in exchanging bulletins and newsletters with aquariums in the Americas.
It was decided in Basel not to form a board of governors but to appoint for the next three years a secretary only. In the years to come as the Union develops, we will have ample time to see whether we will need a board of governors or not.
It was moreover decided, for obvious reasons, that membership of the Union must be personal and restricted to curators of aquaria (public and scientific). However, membership is not restricted to the fish-people only but, as many of us also are curators of reptiles, membership is also open to them. Membership should also be open to those who are professionally involved in fishes or reptiles in other capacities than as curator of an Aquarium or Reptile House, for instance veterinarians specializing in fish or reptile diseases.
The founding members were :
The intention was to meet every year. From the first meeting on we had invitations from aquariums or zoos to host such meetings. The yearly meetings went on for some years (1972-1974). During the Charlotenlund meeting the assembly propsed to meet only every two years and since then this sequence was adopted.
At the beginning on we instaured two types of personel membership: full membership for those people directly involved as a curator in the aquarium associated member for those people from whom the knowledge and trainig could bring useful information from any field - scientific as well as technical - that could have some impact on or enrich the professional skills of the aquarium curator and that could help in the development of the aquariology.
Questions about membership, relations with other zoo or aquarium organisations, ethical and management will be dealt with by the members attending, in an administrative session to be included in the program of each biennial meeting. When it should come to a vote, only full members could vote. The number of participants as well as the number of presentations was constantly increasing and gradually parallel programs for the accompanying partner were organised. These gatherings did have also an important social character as informal talks and contacts occure easily between the participants. It appeared that sometimes we needed an extra meeting for special events such as the opening of a new facility, the enlargment of an existing aquarium or zoo , events that did not always coincide with the year of the biennial meeting. This resulted in several workshop meetings, generally shorter in time than the biennial meetings.
In order to enforce the international contacts the members of the E.U.A.C. participated in international meetings such as the AAZPA meeting in Pittsburgh. Our American colleagues appreciated the presence of quite an important European delegation and ever since the contacts with the US colleagues went on. Since that date some american colleagues attend our meetings as observers and bring us some information on the evolution in US aquariums.
In 1988 the Institute of Oceanography in Monaco organised the second International Aquariology Congres (IAC) as a continuation of an initiative that started in 1958 with the first IAC. The E.U.A.C meeting was integrated in this international meeting . At this meeting a majority of the members present felt the need for some kind of criteria for membership and a kind of code of ethics was adopted.
From the nineties on, we witnessed the creation of a great number of independant aquariums in Europe. This lead to an increasing number of new members. Since then we organize again yearly meetings.
In 1998, during our meeting in Barcelona, the general assembly decided to propose a constitution and to register E.U.A.C. officially as a professional organisation.
A new set of criteria was adopted, a bureau of executrive officers was elected and a committee was installed. Registration procedure was started and since
February 2000 we are officially registered under Spanish Law.
You can contact the Union through :
LLURIA ADVOCATS
Josep Soldevila
Roger de Lluria, 82. Pral. 2a.
08009 Barcelona
