The report provides a short summary key events, priorities and activities with which EATiP has been working on and will continue to engage with during 2023.

We welcome any comments and feedback on this report, from members or non-members alike to be directed to secretariat@eatip.eu

Finally, we extend our sincere thanks to all our members, colleagues, supporters and collaborators during this past year, looking forward to continuing our relationship into the New Year to support and promote a sustainable European Aquaculture through research and innovation.

We begin this New Year in a very positive way by welcoming two new members to our network!  Indicative of our multi-stakeholder nature, one member comes from the aquaculture industry, the other from aquaculture academia.

Ace Aquatec is an award-winning aquaculture technology company specialising in in-water electric stunners; automated waterjet bleeding; gentle contactless pumping; predator deterrents, biomass cameras and Sea Lice removal systems.

Ace Aquatec – one of two new members joining EATiP in January 2022

Ace Aquatec help their customers businesses to thrive by making their operations efficient, ethical and sustainable.  With the high importance attached to aquatic animal health and welfare within European aquaculture, EATiP will certainly benefit from the knowledge and experience this company can bring.  With a head office in Dundee (Scotland, UK) Ace Aquatec were co-founded in 1999 by inventor John Ace Hopkins and investor Annette Pyne-Carter after they saw the potential technological innovation could have in accelerating the adoption of responsible fish farming practices. The company project manages global R&D projects, manufacturing at two UK factories, and co-ordinate installers and engineers worldwide. The company also has a Canadian office and distribution partners in key markets.

Ace Aquatec has grown from a family run business into a global supplier of aquaculture solutions retaining a key focus on local partnerships and personal customised solutions and we are delighted to welcome them to our network – sure in the knowledge we will value their experience and knowledge.

From the academic side, The University of Stavanger (Norway) represents another type of Technology Platform membership category, bringing an additional wealth of expertise to our scientific and academic membership.  The Department of Aquaculture offers a number of areas of specific knowledge and expertise, where the University is keen to collaborate with EATiP members and engage in both project and other activities. Specifically, the University seeks to engage in the areas of:

• Offshore Fish Cage Design, Environmental Load Modelling, Recirculating Aquaculture System (RAS), Artificial Reef, Contaminant Transport, Digital Twin Modelling, Fluid Mechanics and Dynamics, Turbulence Modelling
• Aquatic diseases, Emerging infectious diseases, Pathogen molecular biology and sequencing
• Innovation, Seafood markets, Competitiveness and resilience in Aquaculture
• Fish health, fish welfare, Environmental impact, Risk assessment

The University of Stavanger – brining a wealth of expertise to the EATiP Platform.

Welcoming the new members to the EATiP platform, President Gustavo Larrazábal commented “at a challenging time for both the European aquaculture sector and European citizens in general, we are delighted to welcome these two new members to our platform, demonstrating that collaboration and engagement in the fields of research and innovation remain strong within our sector.  With the increasing emphasis on fish welfare in addition to fish health, and the ambitions set out in the Strategic Guidelines for European Aquaculture and Blue Economy, along Horizon Europe and the European Missions, the wealth of knowledge and expertise brought to EATiP through the University of Stavanger and Ace Aquatec will further extend and improve our contribution to the development of a sustainable and innovative European aquaculture sector.”

• Are you interested in joining EATiP?  Please see here for further information or contact us via secretariat@eatip.eu

The Shanghai Declaration, a key output from the GCA +20, represents a road map to optimize the role that aquaculture can play in achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.  As part of that road map, the multi stakeholder platform approach is strongly endorsed as a method for ensuring sustainable development of the sector, including in the development of strategic research and innovation agendas and collaborative joint working.

What is the Shanghai Declaration?   The Shanghai Declaration was drafted by a small group of globally recognized aquaculture experts, followed by consultations with a wider group with appropriate technical, regional and gender balance, including members of the International Organizing Committee and International Programme Committee of the GCA +20 Conference. The subsequent draft was opened for comment by all registered participants at the event, with comments incorporated to the extent possible.

The full text of the Declaration is available here.

Commenting on behalf of the Board of Directors in a public expression of support for the Shanghai Declaration, EATiP General Secretary David Bassett stated:

“EATiP welcomes the publication of the Shanghai Declaration: Aquaculture for food and sustainable development.  The Declaration clearly conveys the vital role aquaculture has to play in contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals and towards the sustainable development of aquatic foods within an environmentally responsible, sustainable and climate smart food system.  EATiP particularly welcome the commitments within the vision towards:

• Strengthening partnerships to generate and share knowledge, information and technology
• Investing in aquaculture innovation, research and development
• Creating open and transparent communication about sustainable aquaculture

We believe it is key that we improve the image and social license of the sector to improve knowledge, perceptions and acceptability of aquaculture and its products.  We endorse the commitment given to fostering an enabling environment and strengthening partnerships through multi stakeholder innovation platforms, including the reinvigoration of global development, cooperation and networking. The modernising and development of traditional aquaculture through technology, innovative approaches and encompassing digital technologies, capacity development programmes, education and extension activities will be central to the aims of objectives of delivering and fulfilling the stated intentions within the Declaration.  We support the promotion of programmes for knowledge transfer, the development or local, regional or national strategic research and innovation agendas and the scope for multi stakeholder platforms to assist in the development and delivery of democratic and objective aquaculture governance models.

EATiP welcomes the Call for Action contained within Annex 1 of the Declaration and points A – J contained therein.  Within expanding the contribution of aquaculture to sustainable food systems and the integration of aquaculture with the natural environment, other sectors, and within food systems for increased resilience, we particularly welcome the stated commitment to, “encouraging and promoting the development of regional and national multi stakeholder platforms to instigate collaborative joint working amongst industry, research, academic and other stakeholders to develop strategic research and innovation agendas for local, regional and national aquaculture development.”

We believe EATiP is a working example of the successful application of this methodology and we pledge to work alongside other partners in the Declaration and FAO in the promotion and development of this approach.

Furthermore, we encourage commitments towards stimulating demand-led and relevant research and innovations through strengthening partnerships, centres of excellence, academia, state and non state actors and encouraging public-private partnerships and investment.  We further encourage embracing broad stakeholder involvement through consultation and active participation to build consensus around sustainable development goals and objectives.”

The EESC has indicated support for the efforts and initiatives launched by the European Commission to help our sector grow and become more sustainable, expressing concern that the EU aquaculture sector is not fulfilling its true growth potential. The EESC has expressed further concerns about the fact that 65% of the aquatic products consumed in Europe come from imports.

Key points from the EESC opinion include:

• Consumer choices have evolved towards a more nutritional lifestyle, with fish and aquaculture products topping the list. This represents an opportunity for significant growth in the sector, but also a responsibility to ensure future EU food security. Securing safe, healthy and sustainable food in the EU should be one of the top priorities.
• A coordinated effort from the European Commission and the Member States is needed to enhance the production capacity and profitability of the sector. Immediate simplification of administrative procedures must be complemented by high environmental standards, in order to preserve ecosystems and biodiversity, and improve quality of water. The EESC welcomes the Commission’s proposal to set up aquaculture licensing one-stop-shops in all Member States.
• The EESC considers that the right balance needs to be found between preserving the Earth’s biodiversity and meeting the necessary food requirements, taking into consideration social impact, healthy living and environmental protection. Marine and inland waters should be preserved and protected, while promoting sustainable aquaculture activities that would ensure the necessary food for the EU population.
• Space availability represents an important hurdle for the sector’s development. The EESC considers that aquaculture facilities need to be further developed, especially within coastal and rural areas across the Union, in places where other economic activities are not suitable.  The EESC calls on the Member States to put in place coordinated spatial planning projects, including sea basin level planning, restoring of abandoned aquaculture facilities and big data analytics systems.
• The EESC believes that the involvement of the social partners and relevant civil society organisations in the future development strategy of the sector will create value added for the Union. They can provide both high-level expertise and excellent communication opportunities.
• The EESC considers that the relationship between the stakeholders along the value chains must be an ethical one. SMEs and start-ups should be fully supported to grow, provide high-quality jobs and create new sustainable economic models, while the public-private partnerships should benefit from financing instruments that cover long-term commitments.
• Educational and vocational training programmes can help meet the sector’s needs for a high-skilled labour force. In this regard, calls for proposals for the aquaculture sector can be financed using the European Social Fund.
• Labelling requirements have a very important role in informing consumers about the quality of aquaculture products. European citizens should be provided with trustworthy information, especially on products that come from countries with little or no legislative framework. Traceability requirements should be processed backwards, down to the hatcheries, for all products in the internal market. The final goal should be a 100% level playing field in the Single Market.
• Communication on the efforts and progress that the sector is making to ensure environmental and climate performance is paramount to ensure social acceptance and familiarise consumers with the efforts being made. Waste management systems are immediately needed for a sector that has a high potential to reduce its environmental footprint. The sector also has considerable potential to embrace circularity and renewable aquatic resources, while striving to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions.
• Rapid and large-scale public and private investment is needed, especially in research and development activities. The Commission should promote all the relevant available EU funds and partnership opportunities through the social partners and civil society organisations networks, with the final aim of reaching all the producers, especially SMEs.
• The EESC appreciates and supports the proposal to create an EU Aquaculture Assistance Mechanism with a dedicated online platform, and considers that an Aquaculture Growth Strategy that would boost the sector’s potential is urgently needed at European level.

For the full text of the EESC opinion, please look here.

API is a non-profit corporation which aims to protect, develop and consolidate all activities related to aquaculture in Italy.

API – brining Italy aquaculture industry representation to the heart of EATiP

Established in June 1964, the professional association represents over 300 fish farms operating with fresh, marine and brackish water and of many species, representing around 90% of the Italian finfish production.  Principle species farmed in Italy include Trout, Bass and Bream but there is also production of Mullet, Sturgeon (for Caviar) and Eel along with carps, catfish and other species of freshwater fish. For further details you can look at production figures here.

API’s work focuses on providing up-to-date knowledge and training opportunities to ensure the continuous professional development of fish farm workers. API has national and international recognition and exposure and collaborates with a wide range of stakeholders and a large network of fish farmers from all production methods across all of Italy.

Having collaborated informally with EATiP over a number of years through various collaborations and projects, we are delighted to welcome API to our formal list of core members.  It is vital for technology platforms to be industry led and to maintain close relations with farmers and producers.  The merits of the multi stakeholder approach is that it allows for a two way communication process between active stakeholders – industry informing and advising of their priorities and emerging issues and researchers disseminating and sharing project outputs, information on new technologies and farming practices and advice.

We look forward to continuing our close working relationship – which in Italy now includes not only API but also the research network ISPRA and the Italian Mirror Platform ITAQUA.  A strong representation to assist in driving forward the ambitions for an expanding and sustainable aquaculture sector in Europe from one of the key aquaculture producing European Union member states.

For that reason, EATiP are inviting any interested parties to take part in our annual communication survey.  Although primarily aimed at EATiP members and stakeholders, there is much merit in broadening our survey to those interested in the field of promoting technology, innovation and research in the aquaculture community.  Results of the survey will be considered by the EATiP secretariat and any conclusions and necessary actions agreed by our Board and General Assembly later in the spring.

Thank you for taking the time to complete this survey and providing your feedback to us.  Your views are important to us and will help ensure that we continue to be effective in our role as an interface in aquaculture research and innovation.

Familiar to many EATiP members through our General Assembly meetings, since 2017 David has been working with EATiP as the project manager for the EU Horizon 2020 funded EURASTiP international support action (www.eurastip.eu) working on the development of multi stakeholder platforms for the aquaculture sector in south east Asia and their scope for increased interaction with European stakeholders.  With this project now entering the final stages of reporting, it is an excellent opportunity for David to take on leading other initiatives on behalf of EATiP, including strategy and policy work.

David has worked in the aquaculture sector since 2005, spending a decade as the Chief Executive of a UK aquaculture producers association.  It is through this role that he first became active in European aquaculture, working closely with FEAP (www.feap.info)  where he followed a number of EU FP6 & FP7 projects as an industry representative in addition to participating in meetings of the European Commission ACFA Working Group 2.

David Bassett: looking forward to driving the aquaculture innovation agenda forward with EATiP.

Through this collaboration with FEAP, David was also engaged in the early stages of the planning and development of both EATiP and the Aquainnova project.

For 9 years David acted as a director of the Scottish Aquaculture Research Forum (which has now been replaced by Scottish Aquaculture & Innovation Centre (www.scottishaquaculture.com) , an EATiP Mirror Platform) and also acted as the Company Secretary of an industry owned and managed quality certification scheme.  He worked on the steering committee of the WWF Aquaculture Dialogues (Rainbow Trout), sat on the Technical Advisory Group of the ASC during the transition stage of the dialogues to Standards and has served as an industry representative on the management committee of the Institute of Aquaculture, University of Stirling (UK).

David is currently based in Edinburgh (UK) but has travelled extensively on project work addressing  both European and south east Asian aquaculture production.  He has a personal interest in history and international relations having studied in those fields and looks forward to a time when, in addition to working online, we are able to travel, network and learn in person again!

Due to the Corona virus disease (COVID-19), Tech Tour together with their partner KunnskapsParken Bodø have taken the decision to postpone the Tech Tour Ocean event to this autumn.

NEW DATE: 03-04 November 2020

PLACE: Bodø, Norway (see here how to get there)

Venue information:

About the event:

Tech Tour together with KunnskapsParken Bodø is organizing the Tech Tour Ocean (TT Ocean) on the 03-04 November 2020 in the mesmerizing Bodø, Norway.

The Tech Tour Ocean (TT Ocean) is a Venture Forum which gives a unique opportunity for the most innovative entrepreneurs to meet and present themselves in front of active international investors and corporations seeking investment and partnerships.
The event is organized by Tech Tour and hosted by Kunnskapsparken Bodø (Bodø Science Park).
Participation is free of charge for presenting companies but based on selection. Register before 20 March 2020.

For more information see here.