Rosemarie Parz-Gollner
University of Natural Ressources and
Applied Life Sciences, BOKU,
Department of Integrated Biology;
Vienna, Austria.
Albert Jagsch
Federal Agency for Water Management,
Institute for Water Ecology, Fisheries and Lake Research, BAW
Mondsee, Austria
Brief summary
"Austrian National Platform – EU-Project INTERCAFE"
meeting to introduce and inform about the EU-project INTERCAFE, COST action 635
Organizers: Austrian national COST-delegates
Date: 6. Sept. 2005, one day meeting (10.00h – 16.00h) with presentations and round-table discussions.
Location: BAW, Inst.f.Gewässerökologie, Fischereibiologie und Seenkunde, Mondsee, Scharfling, Austria.
Invited participants:
Representatives of all nine Austrian provincial fishery-associations, fishery related umbrella organisations and clubs (commercial fisheries, aquaculture, anglers), experienced fish biologists (Universities, research institutions), representatives and official experts from the federal ministery and provinical governments (fishery, law, nature conservation).
The meeting was organized on a voluntarily basis by the national delegates. The main goal was to introduce and to improve the knowledge about the INTERCAFE project, to serve as a platform for a wider dissemination of relevant information as well as to encourage the participatory process. Furthermore the platform in general should offer an opportunity for all involved stakeholders from various interest-groups and political representatives to take advantage of already existing information, to collaborate with the national delegates and their institutions and to contribute to data collections or discussions on a national level.
The first platform meeting which took place on the 6th of Sept. 2005 was primarily focussed on building up a dialogue with fishery-related interest groups.
Starting with a short review of the EU-project REDCAFE, the follow-up project INTERCAFE was introduced to the audience. The main objectives of the COST action INTERCAFE as well as the structure of the project, the ongoing workflow within the interdisciplinary research network currently covering 28 countries in Europe was explained. To update the existing knowledge on a national level all available data and information concerning the actual situation about cormorants in Austria, as well as recent issues dealing with cormorant-fishery-conflicts were presented (various monitoring activties, wintering and breeding status, legal framework in Austria), copies of information material and actual literature were disseminated. To demonstrate some of the "home-work" done by INTERCAFE project-partners worksheets, dealing with various data collection and collation activities on a national level were distributed and the audience has been asked for collaboration and encouraged to contribute to these data collections.
The "National platform" should
- guarantee a common and equal shared level of information for all interest-groups
- improve the participatory process for all groups involved and concerned (sociopolitical issue)
- offer an opportunity to exchange and gain relevant information
- secure a wider dissemination and adequate presentation of information and results
Details will be posted when the next platform occurs. 
