Report from the CMEMSQ4AQUA event

Recently, EATiP and Mercator Ocean International as implementer of the Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service (CMEMS or Copernicus Marine) organized a joint event in Athens on September 24-25 2019.

The objective of  this event was to explore the application possibilities of the available open-access satellite, model-based and in situ marine data for the aquaculture sector. This was done through the sharing of experiences and challenges representatives from the aquaculture sector are facing when managing aquaculture farms, followed by a demonstration of how the Copernicus Marine service might contribute to tackle these and possible future challenges.

The final report from the event is now available. You can read or download it here:

Also – don’t forget to save the date for the next workshops (deadline to register is 3/12):

December 9-10 2019 – for the Meditteranean sea

December 12-13 2019 – for the North-West Shelf seas 

Preventing marine litter: Questionnaire from EMFF-funded BLUENET project

With the EMFF-funded BLUENET project, measures are being made to prevent marine litter generation, by creating new life for abandoned, lost or discarded fishing and aquaculture gears.

The European funded project BLUENET aims at testing actions that can prevent and reduce marine litter from fisheries and Aquaculture. BLUENET is seeking information regarding the perception of aquaculture and the lifecycle of the components used in aquaculture production. Therefore, the aim of this questionnaire is to obtain information from different aquaculture value chain stakeholders, including consumers, researchers, gear manufacturers, policy makers, producers, etc., to help us to set up actions that could help to reduce the rate of gear loss at sea, improve their performance and increase the capacity for recovery and recycling. We would really appreciate if you could contribute to this research with your knowledge by completing this questionnaire and forwarding it to your relevant contacts:

Questionnaire in English: 

https://www.surveymonkey.de/r/BLUENET_ENGLISH;

Questionnaire in Spanish: 

https://es.surveymonkey.com/r/BLUENET_ESPANOL

Thank you in advance for your support!

EATiP in Government Europa: How to approach aquaculture innovation

European aquaculture encompasses the cultivation of a wide range of fish and shellfish species and is a truly pan-European production activity, which has grown rapidly from a cottage industry in the 1960s into an industrial sector that is composed of multinational companies, SMEs and family firms.

A common thread to each of aquaculture’s components is the knowledge base that has been developed through innovative research and development activities, led by universities and institutes throughout Europe, which have contributed to globally recognised levels of excellence in innovation.

Aquaculture in Europe has created a dynamic and effective knowledge-based sector. While most of the products of European aquaculture are destined for the European consumer, the sector’s service and knowledge activities have set international standards for global aquaculture innovation and development.

The European Aquaculture Technology and Innovation Platform (EATiP) has been designed to include all members of the European aquaculture value chain, from suppliers through producers to processors within the profession, as well as leading research groups and key representative organisations.

Goverment Europa this week had a chat with EATiP general secretary Alexandra Neyts about the importance of a holistic and multidisciplinary approach to aquaculture innovation. Among the things that were discussed, was the strategic research and innovation agenda (SRIA) and EATiPs involvement in different aquaculture projects.

(Retrieved from governmenteuropea.eu)

Read the article here! 

SRIA and projects

You can read the Review of the Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda document here. Also, make sure to read about the projects EATiP is involved with.

Involved in aquaculture research? Aquaexcel2020 16th call for access is now open

Researchers involved in aquaculture can now apply for full EC-funded access to top-class research facilities, with AQUAEXCEL2020,now that the 16th call for access is open.

The following is retrieved from the AQUAEXCEL2020 website, where you can read the original post. 

On a regular basis, the AQUAEXCEL2020 project will invite proposals from European research groups for scientific research that utilises the facilities of any of the participating aquaculture research infrastructures. The AQUAEXCEL2020 project unites major aquaculture experimental facilities with capacity to undertake experimental trials on a selection of commercially important fish aquaculture species and system types. These installations are made available to the research community for Transnational Access (TNA) with the support of the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme. Transnational Access involves a research group in one country collaborating with one or more AQUAEXCEL2020 Infrastructures that are located in a different country to the applicant, and which offer facilities and expertise not available in their own country.

The facilities available cover the entire range of production systems (cage, pond, recirculation, flowthrough, hatchery and disease challenge); environments (freshwater, marine, cold, temperate and warm water); scales (small, medium and industrial scale); fish species (salmonids, cold and warm water marine fish, freshwater fish and artemia); and fields of expertise (nutrition, physiology, health & welfare, genetics, engineering, monitoring & management technologies).

Interested researchers can propose projects that involve visits of one or in some cases two people to the chosen research infrastructure for periods of up to three months. Access to the research infrastructures and associated travel and subsistence expenses will be paid for under the project. The establishment of new transnational collaborations is strongly encouraged, as well as the participation by SMEs.

A wide range of different facilities is available for researchers who apply for TNA (transnational access).

Application demands

In considering the exploitation potential, attention will be given to how the work contributes to meeting the objectives of EATiP, as defined in the thematic Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (“The Vision”) (www.eatip.eu). The EATiP strongly encourages TNA applications related to Social Licence, Precision Farming and Resource Efficiency. However, applicants are also welcome to submit applications outside of these thematic areas.

Application procedure

Information on the facilities offering Transnational access is available at this project website and in the documents below. Applicants are required to contact their preferred partner facility to discuss the project design and costs for the proposed project, before the submission of an application. Applications must be prepared and submitted via the TNA online application system. Each person involved in the application must first create an individual username to access the system. Further guidance on using the system is provided at that website.

This Call for Access is NOW OPEN.

The normal processing time for applications is 3 months, so applications for TNA projects should be made well in advance!

Note: Before using the TNA application system, please add the following e-mail address to the  “safe sender list” in your anti-spam or e-mail software to ensure you receive all communications from the system: info@biowes.org

The documents below contain the necessary information related to the 16th Call for Access: 

Further details about the scheme and full instructions for preparing and submitting proposals are given in these documents. For further queries regarding the Call for Access please contact John Bostock: j.c.bostock@stir.ac.uk

Do you have a project idea but need help to find the right facility? Please contact the orientation committee of AQUAEXCEL2020 at aquaexcel-OC@inra.fr

Would you like to suggest expert reviewers (including yourself) for the AQUAEXCEL2020 TNA programme? Please complete this form and return it with nominee CV to John Bostock: j.c.bostock@stir.ac.uk