Between 30 May and 1 June 2018, the members of the Sudoang project met at Lisbon University, hosted by the SCIENCE FACULTY-LISBON UNIVERSITY, and our special thanks must go to Isabel Domingos, Rui Monteiro and María Joao Correia.
There was a total of 51 people present representing 28 different entities.

The aims of the meeting were:

• For all the main beneficiaries and associate partners to meet each other in person.
• To present the goals, tasks and deliverables of the different task forces.
• To plan the work to achieve the project goals.

The task forces underpinning the project were presented on the first day (30 May). Two workshops were also held on issues that go beyond the scientific field and which are highly important in eel management:

• Governance, where the role of the associate partners is fundamental to improve the management
• And controlling the illegal sale and trafficking of eels, a workshop in which CITES, EUROPOL, INTEROL, SEPRONA, ASAE and GNR representatives took part.

We ended the day with the best way to get to know each other, by eating and drinking. Several participants brought typical products from their regions, including some eel-shaped biscuits.

On the second day (31 May), we continued with workshops on data availability, recruitment, sampling and escape protocols, where the contribution of different partners was needed to plan the activities over the company months.

The basins to be studied – their characteristics, obstacles, fisheries, etc. – were also presented.

On the third day (1 June), the Steering Committee met to discuss organisational and administrative matters. In short, the meeting was a success and we emerged highly motivated to face a year of challenges for SUDOANG.