During the first meeting of the EIFAC/OIE Co-operative Programme of Research on Aquaculture (COPRAQ) in Zagreb (Croatia) in 1975, the establishment of a professional association of fish pathologists was recommended. The workforce engaged in fish disease studies throughout Europe warmly supported the idea. A committee of five was elected by postal ballot and given the task of organizing the formation of the European Association of Fish Pathologists, drafting the statutes which were discussed and approved at the inaugural meeting held in Münich in October 1979. Shmuel Sarig was a member of that committee (the other ones were R. Bootsma, BJ. Hill, RJ. Roberts, and PE. Vestergård-Jørgensen).

Shmuel Sarig was also one of the founders in 1936 of Nir-David (David's Meadow, in Hebrew), a kibbutz (cooperative farm) located in the Bet She'an Valley in northern Israel. One of the kibbutz's main sources of income has always been from fish ponds. Shmuel Sarig established close relations with Israeli academia, getting scientists from various Universities interested and involved in trouble-shooting and problem-solving for the then infant aquaculture industry. Blessed with a keen natural spirit of observation and scientific curiosity, Shmuel quickly became a self-taught pioneer and much sought-after advisor in fish diseases. In 1944, at a time when ichthyopathology was not even a recognized science, Shmuel founded a laboratory on the kibbutz to investigate fish diseases. From its location at the heart of the pond-raised fish area, and under the auspices of the Department of Fisheries & Aquaculture of the Israeli Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development, the Central Fish Health Laboratory at Nir David has been offering veterinary services to fish growers ever since. In 1945 an outbreak of the toxic alga Prymnesium parvum in brackish water ponds spread rapidly and brought the carp industry to the verge of collapse. In a joint effort, researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, headed by the late Prof. Moshe Shilo, solved the problem using ammonium sulfate. In 1948, Shmuel Sarig founded "Bamidgeh", later to become "The Israeli Journal of Aquaculture", the official quarterly publication of the Society of Israeli Aquaculture and Marine Biotechnology. He was IJA's Editor until 1988. His book "Diseases of Fishes", edited by S.F. Snieszko & H.R. Axelrod and published in 1971, was one of the first comprehensive treatises on the subject. Shmuel Sarig authored or co-authored over 50 scientific and technical articles and wrote several chapters in aquaculture books.

Shmuel Sarig was fluent in several languages and cultivated many interests. He was an energetic person who espoused David Ben Gurion's vision of "making the desert bloom", inspired many young people to study the diseases of fish and played an influential role in the development of the aquaculture industry in Israel.

Dr. Angelo Colorni

EAFP Branch Officer in Israel