The Black Sea is bounded by six countries – Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, Russia, Turkey and the Ukraine - each with a number of aquatic research institutes focussing on the environment of the Black Sea. The aquatic sciences libraries in each of these countries are rich in the literature of the Black Sea, which in many cases is not accessible abroad.
The Tenth Euraslic Conference was held in Kiel, Germany, from 7th - 9th May 2003. The venue was the Institut fuer Meereskunde, a multidisciplinary Institute of Marine Research at the University of Kiel.
Aquatic sciences libraries in Bulgaria and Georgia have recently been awarded small grants by EURASLIC - the European Association of Aquatic Sciences Libraries and Information Centres - to purchase essential computing equipment to support their information activities.
The organisation, exchange and exploitation of information and knowledge is vital for economic and social development, and a recent Conference of European information managers and librarians from the fisheries and aquatic scientific research sector focused heavily on the needs of aquatic science information provision in European Countries in Economic Transition (ECET)