On 2 April 1999, The Flanders Marine Institute was established (Vlaams Instituut voor de Zee, VLIZ) by the Flemish Government, the Province of West Flanders and Research Foundation Flanders (FWO) in order to create a central and flexible support structure for the marine sciences in Flanders. While the current management agreement (MA) between the Flemish government and VLIZ was ending by the end of 2016, an assessment was required, conform the evaluation article of the MA, of VLIZ’s performance regarding its strategic and operational objectives, KPIs and the additional tasks given to VLIZ. In addition, we looked forward to the coming period (2017-2021). The results of this evaluation will form the basis for drafting the new MA.