• The economic analysis reveals that automatic feeding systems can improve the profitability of seabass on-growing farms.

• The results of the research, conducted in the framework of the European project MedAID, have been published by the Journal of the World Aquaculture Society.

CIHEAM Zaragoza has participated in a study that has analysed the economic impact of automatic feeding systems in different-sized European seabass farms in the Mediterranean. The research results have been published by the Journal of the World Aquaculture Society.

This study has been led by José Luis Fernández Sánchez, professor of the University of Cantabria, and concludes that investing in this type of technology can make European seabass production more profitable, independently of farm size.

The study has been conducted in the framework of the European project MedAID that was coordinated by CIHEAM Zaragoza with the collaboration of IRTA’s Aquaculture Centre in La Ràpita (Spain). The project concluded in 2021.

Bernardo Basurco, coordinator of the area of Fisheries and Aquaculture of CIHEAM Zaragoza and co-author, speaks about the results: “What we have seen in this study is that the investment in automatic feeding systems could be a good economic decision for aquaculture farms. The results can be useful for seabass producers, especially small and medium-sized farms, and help them to make better management and investment decisions".

MedAID was an integrated multidisciplinary research project made up of 34 partners (R&D groups, firms and institutions) from 13 countries working together to provide the European aquaculture sector with state-of-the art and applied knowledge, and draw up guidelines to improve zootechnical performance, business plans and integrated solutions for governance.

The complete results of the study are available at: Journal of the World Aquaculture Society.