The event took place at the boathouse on the Lahn River in Gießen this time. The participants were welcomed by Gießen’s Deputy Regional President, Martin Rößler. The first presentation of the event was delivered by Daniel Schmidt (team ferox GmbH, Dresden) on “The Significance of Neozoans and Non-native Species in Planning Practice.” This was followed by Martin Friedrichs (Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Berlin) presenting “Future Distribution Patterns of Fish Species in the Upper Danube – How Historical Data Influences the Future,” and Christian von Landwüst (Federal Waterways Engineering and Research Institute, Koblenz) with “Non-native Fish Species in the Federal Waterways Rhine, Moselle, and Lahn – Monitoring 2015-2018.”

After a short break, Dr. Sebastian Hanfland (Bavarian State Fisheries Association, Oberschleißheim) continued with his presentation, “The Rainbow Trout Over Time: Pros and Cons of Stocking Rainbow Trout in Open Waters,” which sparked lively discussion afterward. Dr. Martin Schletterer (TIWAG, Innsbruck) addressed the efforts to reintroduce autochthonous trout populations in Tyrol in his presentation, “Danubian Brook Trout: Population Genetic Characterization of the Tyrolean Native Trout and Current Breeding Programs.” Herbert Diehl (Gießen Regional Council) then presented “River Development and Implementation of the Water Framework Directive in Central Hesse.” Kristof Reuther (Weihenstephan-Triesdorf University of Applied Sciences) concluded the first day of the event with a screening of his film project, “River. People. Future. – Approaches to Sustainable River Management.”