Skip to main content
European Commission logo print header

Towards enhanced and sustainable use of genetics and breeding in the European aquaculture industry

Final Report Summary - AQUABREEDING (Towards enhanced and sustainable use of genetics and breeding in the European aquaculture industry)

The AQUABREEDING project aimed to promote the decisive involvement of the European aquaculture industry in species' breeding. A thorough review of the state of the art and an international industrial survey were performed in order to achieve this objective. Their outcomes were utilised for the publication of a document on the future of aquaculture breeding, for the proposal for the establishment of a scientific network to link existing platforms and for the identification of research priorities. The project was elaborated in close collaboration with participants in similar research efforts, so as to take their findings into consideration.

Reviews of up to date research outcomes and technological applications in breeding and reproduction were prepared for 10 targeted species. All reviews contained scientific references, included economic weights, presented the future development potential and had the same general layout. The documents were both disseminated via the project website and the distribution of hardcopies during the AQUABREEDING final workshop. Furthermore, they were uploaded in the network website to be directly accessible.

The industrial survey was performed through a questionnaire, which was distributed in 28 countries and provided extensive information on commercial breeding activities. The various examined practices were split by strategy, country and species. The questionnaire was distributed in private companies, research organisations and professional associations managing closed aquaculture stocks of both freshwater and marine species. The survey results were included in a report which pinpointed the fragmentation within the breeding sector and defined trends of development across species and countries. The survey would be repeated periodically after the network official establishment.

In addition, a vision document was published to highlight the key objectives of present and future breeding programmes that could support a vibrant aquaculture industry in the future. The report analysed the world and European aquaculture production context, provided an overview of the sectoral challenges and listed fundamental options to address the emerging needs.

The industrial research priorities were subsequently selected among fifty proposed topics and the principal ones were presented to the European Community services. The priorities included the genetic improvement of biological efficiency by selection, the development of efficient tools to introduce disease resistance in breeding programmes, the identification of sex determinism and markers for sex for all species at an early stage and, finally, the identification of correlation between production, disease resistance and welfare traits.

The proposed network was critical for AQUABREEDING findings' continuous exploitation, since it would enhance communication between research and industry through the adoption of a multi-stakeholder approach. In addition, it was anticipated to promote innovation transfer and highlight research opportunities, as well as to disseminate the produced knowledge. The network would operate on a voluntary basis and would be managed by a core group linking different research teams. The network objectives would therefore be to:
1. define industrial research priorities;
2. organise applied training courses;
3. perform periodic industrial surveys on aquaculture breeding practices;
4. disseminate information and enhance interactions through a dedicated website.