New Aquaculture

Aquaculture is one of the fastest growing food sectors. Innovative systems have been developed to increase its productivity of fish and crustaceans, while reducing the environmental impacts by combining different methodologies. It is a booming sector where technological (breeding systems, vaccines, feeds) and non-technological (market standards, regulatory frameworks, organisational structures) innovation has risen, although challenges still remain for the full exploitation of its capacity.

SPECIFIC R&I BREAKTHROUGH TOPICS

Recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS): This type of advanced fish farm allows an enclosed inland system that recirculates water, reducing the quantity of clean water needed. The main challenge is the elimination of ammonia, often performed through biofiltration, although other solutions exist using aquaponics – the use of natural resources in the trophic chain, like algae.
New feeds: Aquaculture feed production requires fish meal and oil, and products from agriculture as ingredients, these each use large amounts of land, water, and energy. New alternative feeds are being explored to substitute traditional ones, including meals and oils from plants (eg soybean, canola, barley, rice, peas, lupins), fish processing waste, yeast, animal by-products, insect proteins, and seaweed.

Enclosed culture production: This type of system – called cage or pen cultures – enclose the fish, crustacean or molluscs in a wild environment under an enclosed perimeter. This innovation has long been implemented, but with the resolution of its challenges, it can provide higher productivity and better environmental impact.

Integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA): Includes organisms from different trophic levels of an ecosystem (eg fish, shellfish, algae), so that the byproducts of one become the inputs of another. It tries to bring the principles of a circular economy into the blue footprint.

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