Show me the money
The Blue Invest workshop highlighted what can happen when ideas and investors get together
AQUACULTURE Europe 2021(AE2021) included no fewer than 560 in-person presentations of papers, as well as 383 Eposters presenting online.Topics covered the whole range of aquaculture, from selective breeding through nutrition to disease control and the engineering aspects of open ocean sites. Climate change was also on the agenda, with research that showed the impact of global warming on a variety of species and environments, including European sea bass in the Mediterranean, clams in the coastal waters of Italy and salmon suffering from low oxygen levels in Eastern Canada.
Recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) play an ever-increasing role in aquaculture, and the session on RAS issues included an update on the Robust Smolt project in Scotland from European Aquaculture Society (EAS) President Hervé Migaud, and studies on disinfection techniques and the microbiome used in biofilters.
The final plenary session ended with the presentation of the AE2021 Poster Awards.The chairs of each of the conference sessions made an evaluation of the Best Student Poster and Best Poster of their sessions.These were then reviewed by the AE2021 programme co-chairs Maria Teresa Dinis and Sachi Kaushik, who made their overall selection for each.
The AE2021 Best Student Poster Award went to Laura Ballesteros Redondo (University of Rostock), with co-authors Harry W. Palm, Lukas Reiche and Adrian A. Bischoff for their post entitled “Apocyclops panamensis as live feed for Sander lucioperca larviculture.”
The AE2021 Best Poster Award was presented to Paulo Gavaia (University of Algarve), Marisa Barata, Catarina Oliveira,Ana C. Mendes, Florbela
Soares, Pedro Pousão-Ferreira and Elsa Cabrita for their post entitled “Skeletal Deformities in Aquaculture-produced Greater Amberjack Seriola dumerili.”
The awardees were presented with a prize of €300 and a voucher kindly given by Springer (publishers of the EAS journal, Aquaculture
International) to select a publication from their collection.
Investing in innovation
The EU BlueInvest innovation forum was a new feature for Aquaculture Europe, bringing together entrepreneurs, corporates investors and stakeholders from the blue economy to explore new possibilities for the aquaculture sector in Europe.
The session was moderated by Catherine Frideres, Senior Manager at PwC Luxembourg. Opening the workshop, Lorella de la Cruz, DG MARE with the European Commission, explained the context and stressed that supporting innovation in aquaculture is part of the EU Green Deal and the Farm to Fork strategy, recognising that – among other considerations – the aquaculture sector has a smaller carbon footprint that other forms of farmed animal protein.
Among other targets, the EU is looking to achieve a 50% reduction in antibiotics use, a significant increase in organic aquaculture and growth in algae (seaweed) cultivation. Environmental performance and animal welfare are also important factors. BlueInvest supports these aims, Frideres said, by helping to bring investors and innovators together.
Migaud also gave an introductory presentation, stressing the role of the EAS and its members in helping to drive innovation in aquaculture in all aspect,s from aquafeed and engineering to animal welfare and genetics.
The workshop also heard from David Bassett, Secretary General of the European Aquaculture Technology and Innovation Platform (EATiP), an international non-profit association dedicated to developing, supporting and promoting aquaculture and, especially and specifically, technology and innovation in aquaculture in Europe. EATiP is encouraged by, but independent of, the EU.
Bassett said that one of the biggest challenges for funding was bridging the gap between the initial startup stage and commercial operations – since aquaculture businesses, unlike terrestrial farmers, don’t own land, there is limited security for lenders or investors, and it is difficult for all but the largest businesses to find funding for growth.
As he said, though, a solution must be found because “there is no green without blue!”
The workshop also heard – online – fromVincent Favrel, representing the European Commission’s European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA), who explained how the BlueInvest initiative fitted into the EU’s Green Deal.
The scale of the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture fund is huge – with €797m under direct management and €5,311bn under shared management.Aquaculture projects funded by the EMFF include, Bassett said, a smart system for feeding control (Blue Smart), shellfish farming modules for open waters (Open Mode), underwater sensor networks for monitoring and surveillance (Seastar) and an autonomous underwater vehicle with artificial intelligence for subsea inspections (SEASAM-AI, from Notilo Plus).
Under the umbrella of the EU there are a wide variety of funding sources and an important role for BlueInvest is simply to help make innovative businesses aware of what is available.
Bassett stressed:“We try to simplify the application process as much as possible.”
De la Cruz added that the EU was also looking at ways to support more sustainable food producers through procurement policy – for example, in catering for schools and colleges.
Co-investment programmes are also making investment funding available to businesses in some countries outside the EU – for example, in Norway, Switzerland and the UK.
The workshop also saw “reverse pitches” from three spotlighted investor organisations focusing on environmental impact: NVI Investors, Blue Pioneers Fund and SHIFT Invest.
Finally, to give a flavour of the kind of investment opportunities that exist in aquaculture, there were pitches from a range of innovative businesses: Algonomi, which is looking to create new feed ingredients from microalgae that feed on CO2;Aquaponics Iberia, which is looking to produce local, tasty fish and vegetables from hydroponics, applying “circular economy” principles; sustainable energy startup Innovakeme, which is looking to combine offshore wind energy with fish farming; NovaQ, which uses microbial management to improve filtration in RAS systems; and Next Tuna, which aims to be the first RAS company to successfully grow tuna juveniles for aquaculture producers.
“There is no green without blue ”