• CIHEAM Zaragoza, involved in communication, dissemination and training activities within the NewTechAqua consortium, joined the event held in Brussels.

• Legislative barriers, circularity, fish feed, organic aquaculture, new health tools, diversification and new fish products are some of the topics discussed in high level policy roundtables.

NewTechAqua partners.

The NewTechAqua project has organised its final conference on tools and strategies for a sustainable, resilient and innovative European aquaculture on 15th November in Brussels, and online. CIHEAM Zaragoza, one of the partners within the NewTechAqua consortium, joined the event that gathered over 90 stakeholders -65 attendees onsite and 25 online- to discuss the challenges and opportunities for the future of the European aquaculture.

Bernardo Basurco, the administrator of the area of Fisheries and Aquaculture of CIHEAM Zaragoza who attended NewTechAqua final conference, explains that “to ensure a sustainable aquaculture in Europe the sector needs to incorporate new production and management technologies and innovations. In this sense, higher education and continuous professional training become a necessity".

Project coordinator Alessio Bonaldo at NewTechAqua final conference.

Bernardo Basurco with project coordinator & partners in Brussels.

At the event, NewTechAqua presented 14 innovations to improve the resilience of the sector and provided policy recommendations that contribute to enhancing EU regulations. Legislative barriers, circularity, fish feed, organic aquaculture, new health tools, diversification and new fish products were some of the topics discussed in high level policy roundtables, including the participation of the Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (DG MARE), and the European Aquaculture Technology and Innovation Platform (EATiP).

Striving for a sustainable EU aquaculture

In the last 4 years, the NewTechAqua partners have identified, tested, and evaluated the effectiveness of new tools that improve the production and, at the same time, the sustainability of the sector. 14 innovations were presented covering several species, such as seabream, seabass, greater amberjack, grey mullet, meagre, salmon, mussel, oyster and microalgae.

The use of novel ingredients for aquafeeds; the valorisation of fish co-products into innovative ingredients; and new approaches for enhancing reproduction and maturation; are some examples of the innovations presented. Some of the achievements are already on the market and are being used on a commercial scale. Others are in an early development stage and will serve to further advance in future projects.

NewTechAqua awards Roll'Oyster, by Seaducer

Bringing new technologies into the aquaculture sector offers a range of benefits that are transforming the industry and driving its growth. NewTechAqua launched an Award Challenge to look for disruptive solutions that bring economic, environmental, and social advantages. 47 proposals were submitted from all around the world and evaluated by NewTechAqua Committee of Experts, coordinated by the Spanish Institute of Agrifood Research and Technology (IRTA).

NewTechAqua Award finalists and evaluators.

During its final conference, NewTechAqua announced the highest-scoring project, Roll'Oyster by Seaducer (France), as the winner. The Roll'Oyster is a cutting-edge technology to produce outstanding oysters all year around by reducing tiresome tasks and optimising production costs.

Check here the other finalists:

• Predictive analytics for water quality by BiOceanOr
• Cloud-based platform for precision fish farming by FindIT
• Tools to prevent loss of genetic diversity and optimise animal AI, by Noah Genetics
• MortCam: An AI-powered tool for fish mortality monitoring and alerting, by The Conservation Fund

NewTechAqua final conference was organised by Greenovate! Europe, in collaboration with the University of Bologna and the Federation of European Aquaculture Producers (FEAP).

About the role of CIHEAM Zaragoza in the project

NewTechAqua is a 4-year-research project funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme. NewTechAqua’s main goal is to expand and diversify European aquaculture production of finfish, molluscs and microalgae by developing and validating technologically advanced, resilient and sustainable applications.

The NewTechAqua consortium is made up of 26 partners from 9 countries. 11 partners are universities and R&D institutions, 12 are private companies and three are international organisations specialised in industrial governance, innovation and knowledge transfer.

Policy roundtable at NewTechAqua final conference.

Bernardo Basurco at NewTechAqua WP8 presentation.

CIHEAM, through its Institutes in Bari (Italy) and Zaragoza (Spain), has the lead on the communication, dissemination and training activities (work package 8), in interaction with most relevant stakeholders of the European and non-European Aquaculture actors. The project’s coordinator is the University of Bologna.