53^rd WEFTA Conference

53rd WEFTA Conference, 13th-17th October 2025, Gdańsk, Poland

Dear WEFTA 2025 Participants

The WEFTA 2025 conference, organized by the National Marine Fisheries Research Institute in Gdańsk, Poland, took place from October 13 to 17, 2025, and has now come to an end. The conference's theme was: "Blue Bio Opportunities for Health and Value." We had three days full of interesting scientific presentations and posters that fully confirmed this theme. These presentations and poster were divided into six thematic sessions:

Session I. Future & Sustainable Seafood Processing Opportunities
Session II. Future Raw Material Supply: Fisheries and Aquaculture Innovation
Session III. Next-Gen Seafood as Food: Nutrition, Health, Functionality & Sensory Quality
Session IV. Seafood Safety and Authenticity
Session V. Blue Biotechnology and Marine Bioactive Compounds
Session VI. Seafood Market, Consumption and Consumer Behaviour

We have also completed two interesting study tours:

• Aquaculture and Processing Tour, during which participants visited one of the most modern rainbow trout farms, K2 Jacek Juchniewicz, and the world's largest salmon processing plant, MOWI Poland  S.A.

• Regional Tour — During this tour, participants could see the medieval Marienburg Castle, also known as Malbork Castle, the largest brick fortress in the world and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, as well as the picturesque Żuławy Delta.

During a gala dinner held on 15 October 2025 at Piwnica Rajców in Gdańsk, the winner of the annual WEFTA award was announced. This year's winner was Dr Johan Robbens from ILVO in Belgium, who also chairs the WEFTA working group on analytical methods.

At the end of the conference, the winner of the award for the best poster was announced. The winner was Adrián Honrado from the University of Zaragoza in Spain, whose poster was entitled: Sensitive ELISA and lateral flow immunoassay to detect fish traces in processed food.

On the evening of October 15, the winner of the annual WEFTA award was announced during a gala dinner held at Piwnica Rajców in Gdańsk. The winner this year is Dr. Johan Robbens from ILVO in Belgium, who also chairs the WEFTA working group on analytical methods.

At the end of the conference on Thursday, 16 October, the winner of the award for the best poster presentation was announced. Adrián Honrado from the University of Zaragoza in Spain won for his poster entitled "Sensitive ELISA and lateral flow immunoassay to detect fish traces in processed food."

I would like to thank the Scientific Committee for their efficient evaluation of the abstracts, the Committee that evaluated the WEFTA Award nominations for their time, and the moderators of the scientific sessions for their fantastic work.

I would also like to express my sincere gratitude to the organizing committee members and the other NMFRI staff who contributed to the smooth organization of the WEFTA conference.

I would also like to thank all of you, dear participants, for your presentations, posters, and other contributions to the conference. We hope you enjoyed your stay in Gdańsk and the golden Polish autumn.

Our WEFTA family is constantly growing. We hope to see an even larger group at the WEFTA 2026 Conference next year.

Olga Szulecka
Chair WEFTA 2025