RAW 2023

Every meeting we attend has a certain flavor and atmosphere about it…

But there was something special about this year’s Regional Aquatics Workshop, hosted in Dubuque by our friend Andy Allison from the National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium.

Maybe it was the fact that we hadn’t seen each other since the 2019 meeting in Columbus?…

Or maybe the fact that 50% of the 340 attendees were new people to the meeting and the industry, which drove us all into “teaching” mode, so the younglings could learn from us old farts?

Or maybe running into friends who actually do the same thing that we do, such as Dynasty Marine and Cairns Marine, and yet, we take every opportunity to share our secrets, thus ensuring that the animals we work with are collected and transported in the friendliest possible way? After all, there’s a reason why we call ourselves the “Consortium of Sustainability and Goodness”!

Or maybe it was the two oral presentations that we gave, highlighting (1) our adventures at Oceanic Aquarium in Balneário Camboriú, and (2) our phenomenal Mobile Holding Station, sponsored by the EEA Grants?

Or maybe even the tons of Sex, Sharks, and Rock & Roll books that we sold, which seem to be greatly appreciated by the newcomers to this field, since they narrate – in great and embarrassing detail – the coming of age of a young marine biologist who slipped into the world of public aquaria almost by accident??

Whatever it was, we had a blast and we can’t wait for more!

And, in the meantime, we look forward to welcoming you all to the EUAC meeting in the Azores, next September! Register here quick!

EEAGrants #EEAGrantsPT #EEANorwayGrants #CrescimentoAzul #BlueGrowth #DGPM