Hotel Spaander was teeming on this sunny afternoon in April. The car park was packed, with lots of coaches full of foreign tourists. Financial crisis or not. InnovationNetwork Chairman Sjeng Kremers found a space, but was resolutely moved on by a keen-eyed parking steward, clearly a local man, who saw it was outside the bay lines.

The InnovationNetwork board had travelled to Volendam to catch up on the developments surrounding the Innofisk project. After briefly exchanging thoughts on the potential consequences of the economic crisis for our organization, we were welcomed by Mayor Van Beek. Then councillor Wim Runderkamp, dressed in traditional fisherman’s costume, started to speak. He sketched Volendam’s eel fishing history and culture and how it had been threatened with extinction. “But then, as if sent by God, came Henk Huizing,” he said. For years management had tried to keep staff quiet, but all these efforts were now swept away in a single blow ….

The Innofisk concept originally focused on the sustainable cultivation of fish on board ships. This initially seemed a commercial non-starter, also because Brussels, in its wisdom, ruled that trawlers purchased by the government could not be used for this purpose. These had to be scrapped. I hope you can follow this line of reasoning. I’m afraid I cannot.

In 2005 the Telegraaf newspaper published an in-depth article on the idea behind Innofisk. Two Volendam entrepreneurs read it and contacted us. They were interested. This marked the start of a process aimed at restoring Volendam’s eel-fishing culture. One key to success is an improved larvae-growing process, which is currently being developed by the University of Leiden. The results look promising. Several zoos are also helping to develop feed for the larvae.An eel centre is to be realized in the building at Haven 154-156, formerly home to Het Hemeltje, the bar where the New Year’s fire disaster occurred in 2001.

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A research and cultivation centre is planned in the cellar, with an eel info centre above it. In the harbour there will be ships where elver are cultivated. The project provides a good illustration of the many things that running an innovation programme can entail: arranging national and European funding, designing a building and organizing its finance, mobilizing a wide diversity of knowledge partners, setting up partnerships (here with the Batavia Yard in Lelystad) and also getting entrepreneurs and local and provincial authorities to back, and ultimately drive, the project.

After Wim Runderkamp’s informative talk, we went up to the dyke for a group photo in traditional dress.

The Board of InnovationNetwork (excluding Wim Deetman) dressed up to the nines, with mayor Van Beek, alderman Runderkamp and singer Smit!

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I had never thought such a dignified gathering could switch into carnival mood so easily. Having a chairman from the Netherlands’ carnival epicentre, Limburg, probably helped. Jantje Smit, the popular singer, was plucked from the dyke by the councillor and joined us on the photo; a bit of celebrity credibility is always welcome. Then on to ‘Het Hemeltje’. An impressive and macabre sight; it’s almost inconceivable what happened there. Few traces of the fire are left; on the bar I see some warped glasses containing banknotes still intact. The hell lasted only a few minutes, leaving many dead and maimed.

Next we went downstairs, where Wim Runderkamp set forth the plans for the future. As part of the Innofisk project, a bronze sculpture of a fisherman was recently installed in front of the building, symbolizing that Volendam means business with this project. If it succeeds, they are on to a gold mine. Because wasn’t eel on the brink of extinction? It’s encouraging to see how a concept can have such a surprising spin-off, but I also saw how much (sometimes unexpected) effort it can cost to get things off the ground.

The day ended with a drink and a guided tour around Hotel Spaander’s famous art treasures. When we left, the car park was almost empty. The buses had vanished and the local parking steward had gone home to put his feet up after a busy day - Volendam can no doubt look forward to many more of these in the future.