In this first of a series of occasional posts, we turn the spotlight on one of our members to learn more about their journey in Sustainable Aquaculture and what they are focused on now.

To Stirling and Beyond - Dimitar Taskov

Dimitar Taskov embarked on his journey with the Institute of Aquaculture as an undergraduate student in 2010. As a keen angler with a passion for all things aquatic, his motivation to pursue a career in aquaculture was natural. However, higher education in aquaculture is not easy to find in many countries, so after considering several international options discovered through Aqua-TNET, he chose the prestigious Institute of Aquaculture’s four-year BSc programme. Little did he know when re-locating from his native Bulgaria, that Scotland would become his new home for the next ten years.

Throughout his undergraduate studies Dimitar developed a keen interest in the socio-economic aspects of aquaculture and sought to do his final year research project within the Institute’s Systems (now Environment) group. With the support of his supervisors Prof Dave Little and Dr Francis Murray he conducted three-month-long field research in rural Bangladesh on the socio-economic aspects of small-scale integrated aquaculture-agriculture farms. He received the Institute’s prize for the best undergraduate dissertation for 2014.

Eager to explore further the range of knowledge fields that aquaculture encompasses, Dimitar continued his studies at the Institute with an MSc in aquaculture and development. Under the supervision of Dave Little and Francis Murray he conducted two-month-long field work on Jatiluhur reservoir, Java, Indonesia, investigating the environmental impacts of cage aquaculture on multi-purpose water resources. He was awarded the Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland (RHASS) medal for best overall performance on the Sustainable Aquaculture Programmes.

His collaboration with Dave and Francis continued through a PhD, in which he conducted research on the competitiveness and economic sustainability of major European aquaculture fisheries value chains within the scope of the Horizon 2020 PrimeFish project. He successfully completed his PhD studies in 2020. Throughout his decade at the Institute and the Systems group, Dimitar was also involved in a range of field missions in South-East Asia, Africa and Europe.

Currently, Dimitar works for the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) in Rome, Italy. In his role as a Fish Value Chain Expert he provides technical support to aquatic value chain development projects implemented by the Fisheries and Aquaculture Division, covering the Mediterranean region (SVC4MED) and Small island Developing States (SVC4SIDS). He also supports the Division’s thematic area of work on traceability, certification, geographic indications and others.