AVCC-News

Good Practice: Aquaculture Remote Classroom (ARC), Ireland

The Aquaculture Remote Classroom (ARC) project, funded by EU, promotes generational renewal in Ireland’s coastal aquaculture communities. The project provides aquaculture courses directly to primary school children around Ireland, in a truck-sized, mobile classroom containing all the high-tech tools needed.  It contains all the high-tech tools needed to give its young participants an engaging educational experience. The classroom has been in service since 2019.

Find out more at: https://oceans-and-fisheries.ec.europa.eu/news/farming-future-aquaculture-remote-classroom-brings-aquaculture-awareness-streets-2023-05-17_en

Aquaculture Awards 2024 – Entries Submission

The Aquaculture Awards celebrates projects, businesses or individuals making an exceptional contribution to the global aquaculture community.

This year’s event will take place on 15 May 2024 at the Macdonald Aviemore Resort in Scotland.

Deadline for entries submission: 12 February

The shortlisted entries will be revealed on 6 March.

The categories for the 2024 Aquaculture Awards are:

• Rising Star
• Collaboration
• Innovation
• Sustainability
• Community Initiative
• Farmer of The Year
• Animal Welfare
• Aquaculture Supplier of the Year
• Best New Start Up
• Best Producer of the Year
• Unsung Hero
• Outstanding Contribution – As voted for by The Industry
• Judge’s Special Recognition

Information regarding each category and entry form are available at https://aquacultureawards.com/.

Webinar on Energy Transition of the EU Fisheries & Aquaculture Sector

On 18 January 2024, during 14:00 – 16:00 (CET), a BlueInvest webinar on Energy Transition of the EU Fisheries & Aquaculture Sector will take place, online.

In order to register for the event, please access the following link:

https://blueinvest-community.converve.io/all_events.html?params%5Bid%5D=32&params%5Btype%5D=event&params%5Bevent_id%5D=1&action=details&params[id]=32&params[type]=event

EUMOFA Talk -25 January 2024 – Digitalisation of the fisheries sector and full traceability of fishery and aquaculture products: achievements and remaining challenges

On 25 January 2024, from 11.00 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. (CET), The European Market Observatory for Fisheries and Aquaculture Products (EUMOFA) is holding an online talk on Zoom, with the theme Digitalisation of the fisheries sector and full traceability of fishery and aquaculture products: achievements and remaining challenges.

The webinar aims to:

• provide an overview of the main changes introduced from a regulatory perspective;
• explore some traceability solutions by presenting a success story of how digitalisation has already brought positive changes for some economic operators;
• examine the challenges and obstacles encountered by economic operators to ensure full traceability of the value chain of fishery and aquaculture products mainly for small enterprises in the sector.

In order to register, please access the following link:

https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAuf-ugrTwtE9Odi_tewnsDMySdrJSAl2ZT#/registration

Technical Screening Criteria for sustainable finfish aquaculture: input to the EU marketing standards, towards a sustainable food system and the EU taxonomy

The Federation of European Aquaculture Producers (FEAP) and the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) developed a simplified set of environmental and social sustainability standards for finfish aquaculture, aiming to improve the reception of the aquaculture sector in Europe, ensure it is better recognised at a political level and encourage investment.

16 Technical Screening Criteria and 35 indicators were developed for marine and freshwater finfish aquaculture. 

You can check out the report at the link below:

221208-feap-fishfarming-technical-screening-criteria.pdf

Good Practice: SPAROS R&D – FEEDNETICS™

SPAROS is a science & technology company located in Portugal, specialized in the development of new products and tailored nutritional solutions for the aquaculture market. The company was created in 2008.

One of Sparos’ products is FEEDNETICS™, a prediction tool that evaluates the effects of aquafeeds on fish production. FEEDNETICS™ can be used by fish farmers to optimize feeding, by aquafeed companies to provide tailored client support and by academics to leverage their research, by:

• comparing estimated FCR of different feeds or feeding regimes;
• comparing different feeds or feeding regimes, in order to estimate the most cost-effective;
• predicting the expected growth and body composition of a new feed under a farm´s annual temperature profile;
• predicting the waste (Solids, N and P) at a given site and comparing for different feeds or feeding regimes;
• assessing how different feeds perform in farm sites with different temperature profiles.

The target fish species are: Gilthead seabream, European seabass, Rainbow trout, Atlantic salmon, Nile tilapia.

Sustainable Intensification of Aquaculture Using Efficient Nanobubble Technology

In order to improve the efficiency of oxygen transfer from air or oxygen bubbles, commercial companies have developed nanobubble technology production systems. Tekile, Kim and Lee (2016) reported that air and pure oxygen nanobubbles can remain suspended in water for 10 days to 15 days respectively until dissolving and are therefore a more efficient method of increasing theDO content in water.

In addition, the collapse of nanobubbles results in chemically reactive free radicals(unpaired electrons) being produced, which oxidize organic compounds, and which may improve water quality in closed aquaculture production systems. 

Find out more about nanobubble technology in the following publication by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO): 
https://www.fao.org/3/cc0143en/cc0143en.pdf

“The EU Fish Market” 2023 Edition

The European Market Observatory for Fisheries and Aquaculture Products (EUMOFA) published the 2023 edition of the report “The EU fish market”, which aims to provide an economic description of the whole European fisheries and aquaculture industry.

The report is based on data available as of September 2023 and it provides answers to questions such as what is produced/exported/imported, when and where, what is consumed, by whom and what are the main trends. A comparative analysis allows to assess the performance of fishery and aquaculture products in the EU market compared with other food products. 

The publication is available at the following address: https://www.eumofa.eu/documents/20178/566349/EFM2023_EN.pdf/95612366-79d2-a4d1-218b-8089c8e7508c?t=1699541180521

AlgaEurope 2023

AlgaEurope 2023, organized by EABA – European Algae Biomass Association and DLG Benelux, will take place between 12-15 December in Prague, Czechia.

AlgaEurope is a global conference about science, technology and business in the Algae Biomass sector, allowing the participants to learn about algae production and commercialization and interact with key players from more than 45 countries.

Who should attend:

• Algae Technology Developers / Suppliers
• Algae producers & cultivation plant owners and operators
• Venture capitalists and financial investors for biotechnology
• Food industries
• Biofuels Network, Animal Feed Companies,
• Nutraceuticals/Pharmaceutical Companies, Fertilizer suppliers
• Water Treatment & Waste Water Professionals
• Technology providers for cultivation, harvesting, dewatering, drying, oil extraction, and processing

Deadline for registration: 8 December 2023

More information regarding the event and the registration link are available at the following address:

https://algaeurope.org/

Good Practice: Maricap (Tuscany, Italy) – Sustainable Mariculture

Cooperativa Maricoltura e Ricerca (Mariculture and Research Cooperative – Maricap) was founded in 1998 and is located in Capraia, a tiny island in Tuscany, Italy. Thanks to EMFF support and an unbeatable fighting spirit, new high-skilled and well-paid jobs were created in sustainable and organic marine aquaculture.

More information: https://oceans-and-fisheries.ec.europa.eu/news/sustainable-mariculture-how-eu-helped-build-successful-enterprise-smart-island-capraia-2021-02-26_en