A joint effort between AquaVitae and ASTRAL for more sustainable aquaculture practices in the Atlantic

Both projects are funded through the All Atlantic Ocean Research Alliance Flagship program BG-08 focussing on new value chains for aquaculture production. AquaVitae (2019-2023) is focused on new low trophic species, methods and processes along the aquaculture value chain (e.g., macroalgae, shellfish, echinoderms, finfish, IMTA), while ASTRAL (2020-2024) has Integrated Multi-trophic Aquaculture (IMTA) at the core of all activities. Since their beginning, both projects started a continuous line of collaboration to coordinate their efforts, maximise synergies and obtain the maximum impact from their combined work.

From the development of new technologies, new markets for aquaculture products, work on the same species (e.g., sea urchins) or production methods (e.g., IMTA), both projects share many common goals. To pave the way for the collaboration, common groups have been formed to look at topics such as the analysis of environmental impact, sea urchin production and economic studies on novel and new products. Furthermore, parallel initiatives, as the low-trophic platform Altanet, have merged to support and disseminate the research results. 

As a result of this collaboration, AquaVitae and ASTRAL organised the “Developing Sustainable Aquaculture in the Atlantic” event in the framework of the All-Atlantic Ocean Research Alliance Forum (June 2021). More than 100 participants from Europe, Africa, South and North America participated to describe and discuss the challenges and opportunities for sustainable aquaculture from a trans-Atlantic perspective. Both projects offered hands-on examples and opportunities in innovation, stakeholder participation, social awareness and capacity building. Additionally, it served as the launching pad for the BrATIP, an industry-driven Atlantic multi-stakeholder aquaculture platform led by the EAtiP – the European Aquaculture Technology & Innovation Platform. 

With two more years to tackle the sustainability challenge, the road ahead offers multiple opportunities to strengthen innovation in aquaculture and we look forward to continuing the collaborative efforts.