New species, processes and products contributing to increased production and improved sustainability in emerging low trophic, and existing low and high trophic aquaculture value chains in the Atlantic

Informazioni relative al progetto

AquaVitae

ID dell’accordo di sovvenzione: 818173

DOI

10.3030/818173

Progetto chiuso

Data della firma CE 10 Maggio 2019

Data di avvio 1 Giugno 2019

Data di completamento 30 Novembre 2023

Finanziato da

• SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Food security, sustainable agriculture and forestry, marine, maritime and inland water research, and the bioeconomy

Costo totale

€ 8 748 035,00

Contributo UE

€ 8 000 000,00

Coordinato da

NOFIMA AS
Norway

Periodic Reporting for period 3 - AquaVitae (New species, processes and products contributing to increased production and improved sustainability in emerging low trophic, and existing low and high trophic aquaculture value chains in the Atlantic)

Periodo di rendicontazione: 2022-06-01 al 2023-11-30

Sintesi del contesto e degli obiettivi generali del progetto

The SAPEA Report “Food from the Oceans” pointed out that marine aquaculture is seen as one of the key solutions for obtaining more food and biomass from the oceans in a sustainable way. In addition, the report suggested that low trophic species such as molluscs, invertebrates, macroalgae and herbivorous fish offer the greatest potential for expansion of aquaculture production.
The AquaVitae project aimed to increase aquaculture production in low trophic aquaculture value chains. The project has delivered new aquaculture products for human food and aquaculture feed ingredients and optimised production processes (e.g. Integrated Multi-trophic Aquaculture).
AquaVitae conducted research and facilitated innovation in five specific value chains (VCs) selected for their potential for sustainable production and their significant impacts:

1. Macroalgae production; New species, offshore production, and post-harvest processes
2. Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture (IMTA); land-based and sea-based, biofloc systems
3. Echinoderm species: Sea urchins and sea cucumbers
4. Existing shellfish species: Oysters and mussels
5. Optimised production of selected existing finfish species; freshwater and marine

These value chains were implemented through 13 case studies (CS) that had activities across 16 countries in Europe, Africa, South and North America. Practical, hands-on innovation and exploitation work was undertaken by industry and research participants. In addition, a significant part of the research activities in AquaVitae focused on cross-cutting issues applicable to many of the CSs. This included research on biosensors, Internet of Things and data management. Also, market aspects such as product characteristics, consumer attitudes and market potential. In terms of production sustainability, circular economy, environmental monitoring and risk assessment, and value chain analysis, profitability, and socio-economic aspects were investigated. Issues related to policy and governance were also included.
Knowledge, network-building, training, and communication is crucial when ensuring project impact both inside and outside the consortium.
AquaVitae contributed to the Belém Statement and collaborated with a range of international initiatives implementing both the Galway and Belém Statements, the AORA (2015–20) and ANCHOOR (2018–22) projects, respectively. AquaVitae worked closely with the other Horizon 2020 projects, most importantly with ASTRAL the sister project to AquaVitae.

Lavoro eseguito dall’inizio del progetto fino alla fine del periodo coperto dalla relazione e principali risultati finora ottenuti

All the AquaVitae Case Studies (CSs) produced new and innovative research that contributed towards an increase in overall aquaculture production, delivery of new products and the development of new processes to make production more sustainable. The scale and breadth of the innovation in the Case Studies was enormous and ranged from production of novel macroalgae species in ponds in Europe to multi species production systems in Brazil and South Africa. An example of a key exploitable results from the CSs are the standards (CEN Workshop Agreement) for hatchery production of low trophic species.
In addition to these hands-on areas of innovation there were several areas of cross cutting research that was applied to several different selected case studies throughout the project.
These included the production of two new sensors (a sulfite sensor and a biomass sensor) as well as an integrated platform for processing sensor data. The prototype of the new online sensor for sulphite monitoring in aquaculture production was a key exploitable result.
Consumer attitudes towards low trophic species are crucial and a trans-Atlantic survey was conducted to describe consumers knowledge and acceptance of a range of low trophic products. This led to recommendations on how these products could be successfully marketed and a description of potential markets. The health risks and benefits of selected low trophic aquaculture were also described and documented.
The sustainability of aquaculture production research included building a framework for sustainability analysis, quantifying ecosystem services delivered from low trophic aquaculture, identifying risks associated with this form of production and suitable monitoring systems to monitor these risks. The quantification of ecosystem services provided by LTS aquaculture, the development and validation of a framework for sustainability analysis of LTS aquaculture and the recommendations for monitoring programs for LTS aquaculture activities around the Atlantic are key exploitable result from AquaVitae. A series of recommendations were made for the sustainable expansion of low trophic aquaculture across the Atlantic.
In addition to being sustainable, low trophic aquaculture must also be profitable and the various value chains were analysed for their profitability and business cases were made in specific cases.
Policy and governance were identified very early in AquaVitae as a main bottleneck to development and a series of steps were taken to develop relevant policy. This included reporting on the state of current policy at the beginning of AquaVitae, including the industry’s perceptions. Recommendations were then made for low trophic aquaculture policy frameworks and a concise, actionable Policy Brief (a key exploitable result) was published following a series of workshops and round tables that include the European Commission.
Throughout the project (and even during Covid these were held online) a series of annual and scientific committee meetings were held across the Atlantic to create synergies and long-lasting connections between partners and stakeholders. This collaboration has been a major outcome of the AquaVitae project and has contributed significantly to the All-Atlantic Ocean Community developed through the European Union activities.

Progressi oltre lo stato dell’arte e potenziale impatto previsto (incluso l’impatto socioeconomico e le implicazioni sociali più ampie del progetto fino ad ora)

The research and innovation that has taken place within AquaVitae has progressed the state of the art of low trophic aquaculture for specific species, in the processes that are implemented to produce these species as well as our general ability to grow these aquaculture value chains. The cross-cutting research has provided insights into how the low trophic aquaculture industry can grow and overcome previous bottlenecks.
A range of new low trophic aquaculture products have been produced and tested in new markets in Europe. The testing included innovative ‘tasting events’ where chefs from around Europe were introduced to low trophic products.

In terms of educating the next generation, AquaVitae has provided far-reaching initiatives that go well beyond the previous state of the art. A key exploitable result from the project is the massive open online course (MOOC) that has been available online since April 2023. In addition, six student exchanges and six industrial apprentice exchanges were completed giving young professionals the opportunity to expand their networks and knowledge.