The vision of the EU aquaculture industry is to grow substantially in the next decade and to provide annually 4.5 million tons of sustainable food products. To this aim, NewTechAqua intends to expand and diversify EU production of finfish, molluscs and microalgae by developing and validating technologically-advanced, resilient and sustainable new solutions. The organizational approach of NewTechAqua is to group the solutions in 6 different categories: feed, Industry 4.0, sustainable farming, genetics, new species and new products. They will be validated on conventional (Atlantic salmon, rainbow trout, seabass and seabream) and emerging (greater amberjack, meagre, Senegalese sole and grey mullet) finfish species, molluscs (Pacific oyster, mussel) and microalgae. NewTechAqua is structured in 9 WPs. WP1 will conceive, formulate, produce and demonstrate three innovative sets of aquafeeds (pro-health, organic, zero waste). WP2 will establish new AI epidemiological models for enhancing the control of parasite outbreaks in Norwegian and Mediterranean farms. Sustainable aquaculture will be also promoted by advanced model systems and technologies for mollusc and in-land fish farms ecointensification. WP3 will develop innovative breeding programmes to improve performance, robustness and quality of farmed fish, molluscs and microalgae, while WP4 will achieve significant advances in reproduction technology of three emerging fish species. High-quality seafood products and sustainable food processing techniques for valorisation of by-products will be validated. WP6 will develop a set of indicators to monitor and measure progress towards the expected impacts, while market uptake of NewTechAqua results and outputs will be ensured by a detailed exploitation strategy (WP7). Finally, NewTechAqua will achieve well-targeted communication, dissemination and maximum transfer of generated know-how and project new technologies (WP8).

The overall objective for SelectOrganic is to develop selective breeding programs for the organic farming of European sea bass, gilthead seabream, rainbow trout and Atlantic salmon, respecting high animal welfare requirements and aiming at improving species resilience, disease resistance, product quality and resource efficiency. Furthermore, we aim at fish utilizing as much alternative feed materials as possible. This will contribute to “develop and improve good practices in organic aquaculture, make sustainable use of biodiversity". Four Case Studies are outlined with different tasks in 5 WPs. Each case study addresses each of the four key species above and specific traits of economic and welfare importance in addition to key challenges in organic aquaculture. We will define breeding objectives, develop phenotyping of “new organic” traits, estimate genetic parameters and develop the required organic reproduction technology and selection methods to address critical knowledge gaps or challenges. A specific welfare auditing WP will exploit experiments from two other WPs on resource efficiency, bacterial disease resistance and heat wave resilience to test and apply species-specific fish welfare indicators. The project outcome will be technologies, methods, and strategies for selective breeding for organic fish farming, while maintaining genetic diversity and contributing to non-toxic environments and to maintain biodiversity. Finally, successful innovations, including many aiming at precision farming, will be integrated in cost-effective breeding plans for organic aquaculture. Socioeconomic studies on non-market valuation of public goods as fish welfare and ecosystem services in addition to policy incentives will involve a broad range of actors. Together with communication, dissemination, and training activities, this ensures successful exploitation and significant impact of the project output and expanded organic aquaculture in Europe.

Farmed seafood is an important source of protein for food and feeds with a low-carbon footprint which has an important role to play in helping to build a sustainable food system. A strategic and long-term approach for the sustainable growth of a resilient EU aquaculture is, therefore, more relevant today than ever. However, the efficient and cost-effective control of pathogens remains among the main challenges for the sector, particularly relevant for Europe, where there is a great variety of species and production systems, which hinders the implementation of good husbandry practices tailored to each aquatic species. Through active engagement with key stakeholders, Cure4Aqua aims to jointly improve the resilience of EU aquaculture under environmental, biological, and socio-economic stress, by improving aquatic animal health and welfare and supporting the environmentally friendly, inclusive, safe, and healthy production of seafood. Cure4Aqua will do so by 1) developing cost-effective vaccines to prevent disease caused by 5 pathogens of economic significance to EU aquaculture; 2) Identifying markers with diagnostic capacity to be integrated to selective breeding programs to improve stress and disease management; 3) Developing innovative, bio-based and sustainable solutions as an alternative to antibiotics for controlling fish pathogens at various life stages and alleviate the pressure of global antimicrobial resistance; 4) Developing new tools and technology to improve health and welfare monitoring at the fish farm level and diagnostics of fish pathogens both at the laboratory and the fish farm levels; 5) Placing fish welfare at the foreground of aquaculture production, through the development of high welfare standards that consider different life-stages, production systems, and knowledge of welfare needs, and 6) Ensuring effective external communication, dissemination and exploitation of project activities and results to all relevant target groups.

The overall objective of FutureEUAqua is to effectively promote sustainable growth of resilient to climate changes, environmental friendly organic and conventional aquaculture of major fish species and low trophic level organisms in Europe, to meet future challenges with respect to the growing consumer demand for high quality, nutritious and responsibly produced food. To this end, FutureEUAqua will promote innovations in the whole value chain, including genetic selection, ingredients and feeds, non-invasive monitoring technologies, innovative fish products and packaging methods, optimal production systems such as IMTA and RAS, taking into account socioeconomic considerations by the participation of a wide spectrum of stakeholders, training and dissemination activities. To achieve the objective and to relate to the work program, nine work-packages will contribute to improvements of future aquaculture. To ensure sustainable and resilient production of fish in the future we will work with tailor made fish and feed (WP1 and WP2), and validate fish performance and water quality in cost-effective production systems (WP4). Consumer demand and awareness of how to choose sustainable and climate friendly seafood is part of WP3. With the increasing production of seafood, we face space-conflicts, which, in combination with the current regulatory frameworks will be considered (WP3). Wireless sensor technology (WP5) for health and welfare monitoring and novel technology for product quality and packaging (WP6) to meet future demands, will be implemented. Stakeholders' knowledge and views will be important, and communication, dissemination (WP8) as well as training sessions (WP7) will be emphasized

Production and productivity of Mediterranean marine fish aquaculture, mainly seabass and seabream, are stagnating or growing slowly as a result of multiple and interrelated causes. To accomplish the objective of improving its competitiveness and sustainability, MedAID is structured in a first interdisciplinary WP to assess technical, environmental, market, socioeconomic and governance weaknesses, and in several specialized WPs exploring innovative solutions, followed by an integrating WP, which will provide codes of practice and innovative tool-boxes throughout the value chain to enhance the sector performance holistically. Various stakeholders will interact in the consultation, communication, dissemination and training WPs ensuring practical orientation of the project and results implementation. Biological performance (nutrition, health and genetics) will be scrutinized to identify and quantify the relevant components to improve Key Performance Indicators (KPIs: growth rates, mortality and feed efficiency), thus contributing to increase production efficiency. Economic, business, marketing, environmental, social, administrative and legal factors will be addressed to obtain integrated solutions to shift towards a market-oriented and consumer-responsible business and to face the multiple administrative, environmental and social issues constraining competitiveness and public acceptance. An interdisciplinary consortium of research and industrial partners will carry out R&D and case study activities to close the existing gaps. Mediterranean countries (EU and non-EU) with significant aquaculture production are represented. Northern European R&D institutions will participate by bringing successful technological tools and integrated approaches that Mediterranean aquaculture is missing today. MedAID will impact the sector positively by providing innovative tools, integrated marketing and business plans and by improving the sector image, sustainability and governance.