News

Financing Opportunity: Selective Breeding Programme for Organic Aquaculture

Programme: Horizon Europe Framework Programme (HORIZON)

Call: Biodiversity and ecosystem services (HORIZON-CL6-2024-BIODIV-01)

Type of action: HORIZON-RIA HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions

Deadline date: 22 February 2024 17:00:00 Brussels time

Legal entities from Greece, Romania, Türkiye and Ukraine, among other countries, are eligible applicants.

The maximum Horizon Europe funding rate for Research and innovation actions is 100%.

The selected project is expected to contribute to all of the following outcomes:

• Contribution to a non-toxic environment, to a high level of biodiversity (including genetic diversity) and to high animal welfare standards meeting the species-specific behavioural needs;
• Significantly boost in the quality of aquaculture products, improving traits of economic and welfare importance;
• Increased feed efficiency that will also result in a reduced environmental impact through the minimization of feed residues in the natural environment;
• Less disease outbreaks through genetic progression, i.e. greater disease resistance, increased feed efficiency, faster growth and improved traits of economic and welfare importance;
• Increased knowledge and acceptance of organic aquaculture and its products in the general public through true stakeholder and consumer involvement.

Proposals should plan breeding programs under organic aquaculture for the main European aquaculture finfish species, i.e. seabass, seabream, trout and salmon. They should breed organic juveniles under organic production conditions respecting high animal welfare standards (as set in regulation 2018/848 and Implementing Regulation 2020/464) and should aim to improve species resilience, diseases resistances and feed efficiency satisfying nutritional needs using as much as possible alternative feed materials to increase production sustainability.

Proposals should work on different species and/or different climatic areas tailored to the specificity of the organic aquaculture production and carefully analyse each solution not only in terms of performance but also in terms of the welfare of the farmed animals. They should work on preserving genetic diversity and adaptive potential by developing selective breeding programmes considering interactions between genotypes and rearing systems.

More information available at:

https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/opportunities/topic-details/horizon-cl6-2024-biodiv-01-9?keywords=aquaculture&tenders=false&forthcoming=false

Türkiye – Oyster Farming

İbrahim Yumaklı, Minister of Agriculture and Forestry announced that Türkiye has taken action to start oyster farming, a species that has a large share of the global aquaculture market.

In line with the studies initiated, it is envisaged that more than 5 production farms will be established in Türkiye within 10 years, with a production of 5-10 thousand tons.

The plan is to start the cultivation especially in the Marmara and the Black Sea, where oysters naturally live, but are endangered.

Good Practice: iMare Natural S.L.

iMare Natural S.L., Spain – Restoring populations of Mediterranean snakelocks sea anemone (Anemonia sulcate) in southern Spain, for nature, medicine and gastronomy

Greek Aquaculture: Annual Report

The Hellenic Aquaculture Producers Organization (HAPO) has published the 9th Annual Aquaculture Report, presenting the evolution of the aquaculture sector in the past year.

In 2022, sales of Greek aquaculture fish showed an increase of 1% in volume and 14% in sales value compared to 2021, reaching 137,000 tons of fish, worth 744 million euros. The main species sold were sea bream and sea bass, which accounted for 92% of sales (126,700 tons), while all other species only accounted for 8% (10,300 tons).

In 2022 Greek aquaculture further strengthened the external orientation of the industry. 82% of the production was distributed to the EU and third countries, while the remaining 18% went to the domestic market. Exports showed an increase of nearly 4% in volume and 20% in sales value compared to the previous year, reaching 104,192 tons, valued at 600.6 million euros.

The implementation of co-financed production investments from the Fisheries Operational Program continued intensively, along with actions to enhance the sustainability of the industry.

The main challenges faced by the sector in 2022 include:

– intense inflationary pressures and an additional 10% increase in production costs caused by the revaluation of the raw materials used in fish feed;

-competition from Turkey, due to a significant increase of their production, and the devaluation of the Turkish lira.

The report is available in Greek and English, at the link below:

HAPO_AR23_WEB-NEW.pdf (fishfromgreece.com)

Eurofish Magazine

The Eurofish Magazine issue for September/October 2023, featuring the aquaculture sector in Türkiye and an Ukrainian aquaponics farm, has been published.

The magazine is available online at: https://eurofish.dk/magazine-issues/em-5-2023/

Revised State Aid Rules

The European Commission has adopted an amendment of the so-called ‘de minimis’ regulation for the fishery and aquaculture sector (‘Fishery de minimis Regulation‘), which includes the following changes:

• The increase in the maximum limit of state aid that a company can receive over three years, from €30,000 to €40,000;
• Only the primary production of fishery and aquaculture products will remain covered by the Fishery de minimis Regulation, whereas the processing and marketing of such products will be covered by the General de minimis Regulation;
• The recalculation of the maximum cumulative amounts of de minimis aid that can be allocated per Member State;
• Certain operations excluded from the scope of the Fishery de minimis Regulation will exceptionally be allowed for the EU’s outermost regions, in order to facilitate the modernisation of small vessels and address, among other things, safety concerns in these regions;
• The extension of the validity of the revised Fishery de minimis Regulation until 31 December 2029.

More information at: State aid (europa.eu)

EUMOFA – Online Shop Retail Prices

The European Market Observatory for Fisheries and Aquaculture Products (EUMOFA) EUMOFA team has added Romania to the online shops retail prices tool, available at the following address: https://www.eumofa.eu/ro/online-shop-retail-prices

EUMOFA collects retail prices of fish products from online shops that are representative of the national markets being monitored. In order to ensure comparability, special attention was given to selecting products that are as much as possible common across Member States. Prices are collected daily and aggregated on a weekly basis.

Hybrid Workshop on Algae Harvesting and Cultivation in Europe

The Horizon Europe CIRCALGAE project partners are organizing a hybrid workshop, focused on macroalgae production (harvesting and cultivation) in Europe.

The event will take place on 26 Oct 2023, during 14:00 – 17:00 CEST, face-to-face in Lille, France as well as online.

Registration for the workshop is available at: https://www.eventbrite.fr/e/hybrid-workshop-on-algae-harvesting-and-cultivation-in-europe-tickets-668728513987?aff=oddtdtcreator

2nd International Symposium on Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences “SOFAS 2023”

During 24 – 26 Oct 2023, in Trabzon, Türkiye, the 2nd International Symposium on Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, “SOFAS 2023” will take place.

The event is organized by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, General Directorate of Agricultural Research and Policies (TAGEM), Central Fisheries Research Institute (SUMAE) in collaboration with GFCM-General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean and FAO – Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and it will focus on aquaculture, fisheries biology and management, fish physiology, biotechnology, genetics, fish nutrition, fish health and welfare, fish pathology, seafood processing technology and other aquatic science related areas.

The previous edition of the event, which aimed to promote aquaculture techniques and practices on a larger scale in order to further the development of the sector in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea was organized in October 2022 and it gathered nearly 200 experts, scientists and academics from 23 countries.

For registration and more information regarding the event, please access the link below:

https://www.sofas.gov.tr/

Good Practice: Azerbaijan Fish Farm LLC

Azerbaijan Fish Farm LLC is the pioneer of sustainable and progressive fish breeding and caviar production in Azerbaijan.