Round Goby Wins Over Visitors at the Ustka Annual Fish Festival 2026

20 August 2026

Round goby proved to be a real crowd pleaser at the Ustka Fish Festival (Dożynki Rybne), a popular annual event celebrating the city’s strong connection with the sea, fishing and coastal heritage.

Technical details

The festival attracted hundreds of local visitors and tourists enjoying Ustka as a popular summer resort, who had the opportunity to discover and taste a new food product made from this invasive Baltic Sea species.

The awareness raising event was organised by the Polish Round Goby Project Partners: Gdynia Maritime University (GMU) and Port Władysławowo “Szkuner”, with active support from the AquaGOOD project and the Port of Ustka. Throughout the day, the stand attracted a continuous flow of visitors including residents, tourists, local government representatives and media.

The highlight was a tasting of canned round goby spread, provided by the Lithuanian Round Goby partners: Kaunas University of Technology (KTU), together with the fish canning producer Baltijos Konservai.

With so many people visiting the stand, around 100 consumers were selected to take part in a dedicated survey evaluating their experience with the product. The response was highly positive: visitors particularly appreciated the taste and texture of the round goby spread, while many participants asked a very practical question: when will the product be available on the market?

The enthusiasm of visitors – from curious tourists to families with children trying Round Goby for the first time – showed that consumers are open to new ways of using Baltic Sea resources. This encouraging response provides a positive signal for further product development and commercialisation, showing that round goby could become an attractive and marketable Baltic seafood option.

The event was also supported by the AquaGOOD project, highlighting complementary approaches to the sustainable use of Baltic Sea resources and the development of new products for coastal communities.

The event was organised within the RoundGoby project – “Promotion of Commercial Round Goby Fishing in the Baltic Sea Region”, implemented under the Interreg Baltic Sea Region 2021–2027 Programme, with support from the AquaGOOD project – “Diversification of Aquatic Ecosystem Products in Small Ports and Communities of the South Baltic Region” – under the Interreg South Baltic 2021–2027 Programme. Both programmes are co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).