The international technical meetings of the Erasmus + MARIPET project, of which we are the executive of Ege University, continue. The international meeting of project partners was chaired by project coordinator Assoc. Prof Dr. İlker AYDIN in 2023 January 10-11 at Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas LITHUANIA. Project implementation issues and the creation of training programme modules were covered during the meeting. In the meeting they attended together with Prof Dr Özgür ALTAN, one of the project partners, the foundation of new beginnings was laid for the internationalization goals of our faculty.

The meeting participants visited the Aquaculture Centre at the VMU Academy of Agriculture, where the centre’s director, A. Žibas, introduced the technologies used here, the scientific research being conducted, the fish species being cultivated, the daily challenges that arise, and expressed satisfaction with the centre’s accomplishments. The project’s achievements were reviewed with the chancellor of the Academy of Agriculture prof. Dr. Astrida Miceikienė and the dean of the Faculty of Forestry and Ecology prof. Dr. Vitas Marozas. The possibility of collaboration in arranging studies and performing scientific research was also addressed.

Tadas Laurinavičius, head of UAB Baltic Facility Management’s aquarium maintenance, introduced the project participants to the aquarium housed in PLC Mega. It is the largest and tallest aquarium in the Baltic countries, and it is ranked in the top ten in the world. The aquarium is 10 metres high and 4 metres wide, with a length of 11 metres and a water capacity of 170,000 gallons. With more than 10 tonnes of salt dissolved in it, the aquarium maintains an average water temperature of 25 degrees Celsius. Computer systems maintain water quality and temperature. The aquarium is home to around 170 tropical fish species from the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans, as well as the Red, Mediterranean, and Caribbean seas. T. Laurinavičius got many questions about assuring fish viability, nutrition, well-being, cohabitation, and ecological functioning. The quarantine system built in the aquarium’s technical premises, which is used for the acclimation of new fish and the treatment of ill ones, as well as technological gadgets that maintain the life of the aquarium’s residents, piqued the curiosity of project participants.

The project is coordinated by Ege University (Turkey), project partners: University of Balikesir (Turkey), University of Dubrovnik (Croatia), Agricultural University of Iceland, Izmir Metropolitan Municipality (Turkey), Norwegian University of Science and Technology, and Vytautas Magnus University.