EAS has four principal objectives
- To promote contacts between all involved or interested in marine and freshwater aquaculture;
- To facilitate the circulation of aquaculture related information;
- To promote the sponsorship of multi-disciplinary research concerning aquaculture;
- To enhance cooperation among governmental, scientific and commercial organizations and individuals on all matters dealing with aquaculture
The EAS General Assembly
The General Assembly has all powers related to the way in which EAS carries out its objectives.
The GA meets every year, normally during the Aquaculture Europe event.
All members (with the exception of promotional members) have equal voting rights, each carrying one vote.
Current Board of Directors (2024-2026)
President: Marc VANDEPUTTE (France)
President-Elect: Damien TONER (Ireland)
Past-president: Bente TORSTENSEN (Norway)
Treasurer: Daniel ZARSKI (Poland)
Members: Alessio BONALDO (Italy), Antonios CHALARIS (UK), Benjamin COSTAS (Portugal), Nikos PAPANDROULAKIS (Greece),
Student Representative: Silvia NATALE (Italy)
Founding members
The idea for establishing the European Mariculture Society was launched at the occasion of the Tenth European Symposium of Marine Biologists, which took place in Oostende, Belgium, in 1975. The founding meeting took place on April 29 and 30, 1976 in the office of the Institute for Marine Scientific Research (IZWO) that has supported the society and has provided office space for the EAS secretariat until the late 80's.
The original name "European Mariculture Society" was changed into "EUROPEAN AQUACULTURE SOCIETY" in 1984 to better reflect the activity field of the society.
EAS Founding members:
Dr. J. Arnal (Spain), Dr. J.V. Bannister (Malta), Dr. M. Bilio (Germany), Dr. S.J. De Groot (The Netherlands), Dr. J. Fluchter (Germany), Dr. ir. E. Jaspers (Belgium), Mr. B. Myrseth (Norway), Dr. F. O'Brien (Ireland), Prof. Dr. G. Persoone (Belgium), Dr. S. Von Boletzky (Switzerland), Dr. T. Vukovic (Yugoslavia)
Past Boards of Directors
Full details of Board members, Officers and National Representatives since the founding of EAS
Past Presidents and Honorary Life Members
EAS Past Presidents
| 1976-1980 Martin Bilio (Germany) | 1980-1982 Guido Persoone (Belgium) | 1982-1984 Harald Rosenthal (Germany) |
| 1984-1986 Alan Jones (UK) | 1986-1988 Hans Ackefors (Sweden) | 1988-1990 Jean-Jacques Sabaut (France) |
| 1990-1992 John Joyce (Ireland) | 1992-1994 Bjorn Myrseth (Norway) | 1994-1996 Michael Poxton (UK) |
| 1996-1998 Patrick Lavens (Belgium) | 1998-2000 Philippe Ferlin (France) | 2000-2002 Rosa Flos (Spain) |
| 2002-2004 Michael New (UK) | 2004-2006 Johan Verreth (The Netherlands) | 2006-2008 Laszlo Varadi (Hungary) |
| 2008-2010 Selina Stead (UK) | 2010-2012 Yves Harache (France) | 2012-2014 Kjell Maroni (Norway) |
| 2014-2016 Sachi Kaushik (France) | 2016-2018 Bjorn Myrseth (Norway) | 2018-2020 Gavin Burnell (Ireland) |
| 2020-2022 Herve Migaud (UK) | 2022-2024 Bente Torstensen (Norway) |
EAS Honorary Life Members
| G. Ravagnan (Italy, since 1981) | E. Monten (Sweden, since 1987 †) | Bernard Chevassus-au-Louis (France, since 1989) |
| Eric Edwards (UK, since 1991) | Peter Hjul (UK, since 1993 †) | Trygve Gjedrem (Norway, since 1995) |
| Jean Bally (Martinique, since 1997) | Colin Nash (USA, since 2000) | Courtney Hough (UK and Belgium, since 2010) |
| Pascal Divanach (Greece, since 2011 †) | Parick Sorgeloos (Belgium, since 2012) | Michael New (UK, since 2014) |
| Sachi Kaushik (France, since 2017) | Stefano Cataudella (Italy, since 2022) | László Varadi (Hungary, since 2023) |
| Bjørn Myrseth (Norway, since 2024) |
EAS Award for distinguished services
| Guido Persoone (Belgium) | Niels De Pauw (Belgium) | Yves Harache (France) |
| Selina Stead (UK) | Margriet Drouillon (Belgium) | Gavin Burnell (Ireland) |
| Mariana Ferreira (Portugal) |