Preface

This special issue “Carp pond aquaculture, product processing and quality” contains selected papers presented at the international workshop “Improving fish feed and feeding techniques, fish processing, labeling and marketing of fish products” held at International Environmental Educational, Advisory and Information Centre of Water Protection in Vodňany, Czech Republic, on 1st–2nd February 2016. The workshop was organized by the Faculty of Fisheries and Protection of Waters (FFPW), University of South Bohemia (SBU) in České Budějovice in the framework of the European project TRAFOON (Traditional Food Network to improve the transfer of knowledge for innovation, 7th FP). Its aim was to present and discuss the current research findings and results in the field of carp pond aquaculture, feeding, fish processing and marketing mainly in the Czech Republic and countries in Central Europe.

In general, Czech aquaculture is mainly focused on common carp production in ponds. The carp pond production has a 1000-year tradition, and it is an important part of cultural heritage. Beside fish production, carp ponds play many important secondary roles such as accumulation of water in the landscape, flooding protection, protection of native flora and fauna, recreation and other functions. Czech fish farmers are under big pressure to change their pond management in accordance with the interests of nature and landscape protection. Therefore, there is a need to improve feeding, feeding techniques and strategies to minimize negative impacts of fish production.

Fish flesh is an important part of healthy diet due to easily digestible protein, healthful fats, minerals and vitamins. However, consumption of fish and fish products is very low in the Czech Republic (app. 5.5 kg of fish and fish products per person per year) and is far below the recommended values. Another feature of the Czech market for fish is its seasonality. For example, 65 % of carp are sold during the Christmas season because carp is a traditional food eaten mainly at Christmas Eve. Most of the carp production is also sold in the form of live fish, and only a minor part (app. 8 %) is processed. Despite the tradition of Christmas carp, it is necessary to look for ways to increase the production and consumption of high-quality fish products and how to increase the interest of customers to buy fish throughout the whole year. Therefore, it is important to improve the transfer of knowledge about emerging issues from R&D to fish producers, processors and sellers.

All these aspects of fish feed, fish processing, marketing and fish consumption with connection to human health were discussed by 77 participants from 27 companies and 4 countries (Austria, Czech Republic, Germany and Slovenia). In total, 10 oral presentations were presented by researchers from the Faculty of Fisheries and Protection of Waters, University of South Bohemia (České Budějovice, Czech Republic); Prof. Věra Adámková, CSc. from the Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine (Prague, Czech Republic); marketeer with fresh fish Mr. Martin Rada (Makro, České Budějovice, Czech Republic) and specialists from foreign countries Dr. Martin Oberle (Institut für Fischerei, Hőchstadt/Aisch, Germany), Dr. Christian Bauer (Bundesamt Wasserwirtsch, Ökologische Station Waldviertel, Austria) and Prof. Sonja Smole Možina (University of Ljubljana, Biotechnical Faculty, Slovenia) during the two-day workshop. The TRAFOON workshop was introduced by the chairman of the seminar Assoc. Prof. Zdeněk Adámek, opened by welcome speech of the director of the Institute of Aquaculture and Protection of Waters (IAPW), FFPW, Dr. Jan Mráz and closed by Prof. Sonja Smole Možina, who gave an overview of safety concerns: from the fish feed to the fish on a plate. Besides the official seminar program, an excursion for TRAFOON workshop participants was organized. The participants visited laboratories, aquarium rooms and processing facilities of the IAPW, FFPW, USB in České Budějovice and the store Makro, where businessman Mr. Martin Rada made an excellent exhibition of the “Big fish filleting.”

In this special issue, a selection of 15 papers is presented after a peer-review process. We would like to thank all those who reviewed the submitted manuscripts. Their support and help are highly appreciated.