GAIN Summer School Finale

The GAIN Summer School “Ecological Transition of Aquaculture” was successfully held online from August 30th to September 3rd, 2021!

With more than 40 participants and experts from all over the world, we have spent an amazing week discussing Precision Aquaculture, Circular Economy, Sustainability Assessment, Policies and Markets.

Speakers presented a state of-the-art knowledge of the main challenges facing the aquaculture sectors as well as the the solutions developed by the GAIN consortium to successfully engage the ecological intensification of fish and shellfish farming.

They had, in particular, an overview of innovative methods and relative tools (Life Cycle Analysis, Precision Fish Farming) which are going to play a major role in the ecological transition of this sector.

The school aimed at giving all the students an adequate knowledge to help them building the sustainable future aquaculture needs.

The GAIN Summer School team would like to thank to all the participants!

Register for the GAIN workshop on novel Aquafeeds

Check out the full programme of the upcoming workshop on novel concepts and solutions for more Eco-efficient aquafeeds, going on September 21st and 22nd.

Organized by the GAIN team with the support from H2020 projects PerformFISH, AquaIMPACT, MEDAID, AQUAVITAE and NewTechAqua and the Italian based SUSHIN project.

At this workshop, we aim to discuss the latest developments of knowledge on novel fish feeds that support eco-intensification of the European aquaculture industry, providing training to professionals on the topic, including aspects of value creation and the sustainable use of by-products and side streams from the aquaculture, fisheries and agro-industries.

Don’t forget to register here.

Click to find out more about the workshop here.

GAIN Summer School: online from August 30th to September 3rd

The GAIN journey is nearly over and we would like to share results and lessons learnt with motivated young researchers and operators, eager to contribute to the ecological transition of the aquaculture sector.

The GAIN Summer School “Ecological Transition in Aquaculture” will provide key concepts and tools concerning: precision aquaculture, circular economy, sustainability assessment, policies and markets. Students will get an up-to-date knowledge of key ideas in these areas and then will be led through the GAIN innovations, thus discovering how the main challenges in aquaculture field can be dealt with by adopting the GAIN approach to the ecological intensification of this sector.

Talks delivered by GAIN experts will be complemented by contributions from other EU projects, focused on aquaculture ecological transition, and worldwide recognized authorities. Students will be engaged in demonstration sessions, using virtual tools, e.g., mentimeter, and encouraged to interact within focus group.

The Summer School will be held Online from August 30th to September 3rd, 2021.

Five morning sessions, from 9:30 to 13:30 CEST, will be complemented by two afternoon sessions, from 14:30 to 16:30 CEST, for a total of 24 hours of training. The participation is completely free of charge.

Official language of the school is English. The School will admit up to 40 students. The admission is based on a CV and a motivation letter. Deadline for application is August 6th.

More info and application here.

Novel Aquafeeds workshop

A new workshop on the novel concepts and solutions for more eco-efficient aquafeeds with GAIN partners is coming up in September 21 and 22.

Hosted by GAIN with the support from H2020 projects PerformFISH, AquaIMPACT, MEDAID, AQUAVITAE, NewTechAqua; and project SUSHIN (Italy)

The purpose of this Workshop is to present and discuss new developments of knowledge on novel fish feeds that support eco-intensification of the aquaculture industry, providing training to professionals on this topic, including aspects of value creation and sustainable use of by-products and side streams from aquaculture, fisheries and agro-industries.

If you are a professional in the aquafeed value chain (e.g., Junior and Senior staff involved in R&D, formulation and technical support), or part of the research institutions (e.g., Lecturers, Researchers, PhD students, post-docs) across the enlarged European Union and other countries, this is for you.

Check out the program:

Day 1 (21 September 2021, Online, 9.30 – 12.30 CEST)

Part 1: Introduction – what are sustainable aquafeeds?

Part 2: Novel ingredients – Strengths and Weaknesses
Yeast and bacterial proteins, PAPs from agroindustry by-products, By-products from aquaculture, Micro and macro-algae, Mineral and Vitamin sources, Challenges for a sustainable supply

Day 2 (22 September 2021, Online, 9.30 – 12.30 CEST)

Part 3: Alternative fish feed formulations – Results for the industry
Results from GAIN, PerformFISH, AquaIMPACT, MEDAID and SUSHIN

Part 4: Novel tools to assess feed performance – Where are we and how to progress
Molecular Biomarkers, Microbiome analysis, Simulation models

𝗥𝗲𝗴𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 here 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗽.

Still curious about Blue Fashion?

By: Wesley Malcorps

Check out the latest video on the GAIN2020 YouTube channel, ‘Fashion from the Sea II’.

The University of Stirling once again produced another interesting piece for the video series ‘Voices from the Water’.

Meet Daniel Hatton (founder and CEO at Commonwealth Fashion Council (CFC)) and Neishaa Gharat (founder and designer at House of Gharats).

They talk about circular economy, blue fashion and designs using fish leather, seaweeds and much more. The video includes an amazing showcase of fashion products and materials from James Ambani, CEO at Victorian-foods, Sheena Frida C and Barbara della Rovere.

Check out the GAIN2020 youtube channel and subscribe for more videos.

Blue Fashion

By: Wesley Malcorps

GAIN partner University of Stirling continues to share the produced videos for the series ‘Voices from the Water’.

These videos highlight interesting topics in the seafood industry.

Let me introduce you to Elisabeth Benonisen, a fashion designer and founder of STUDIO EBN – using salmon leather in responsible, handcrafted bags and accessories inspired by the Arctic nature.

You can check out her shop located in Bodø, Norway or online at https://www.studioebn.com/.

Check out and subscribe to our YouTube channel here to watch more videos.

We are One – Aren’t we?

By: Candice Jade Pa rkes

Sustainable farming sometimes seems like an unreachable glamorous idea. How do you feed almost 8 billion people in a sustainable way when we already know that habitats are being lost, species are going extinct, water resources are running out, etc. It seems like a fantasy.

But on a smaller scale, this may be possible. Using the ocean as a farming seascape is a great opportunity, but how do we make sure that we do not farm the sea in the same destructive way we have farmed the dry lands?

I recently worked on a project with the aim of intensifying fish and shellfish farms while improving animal welfare, all in an environmentally friendly way. This too seems like a glamorous idea. But with the help of local fishermen, scientists, software developers and, of course, you the consumer, this can be made possible.

Fundamentally, we need to realize that we do not function alone in this world, we are all part of a ‘bigger something’ that pulses and beats together, connected in one way or another. Two birds that communicate through songs, Blue Whales and Penguins that both eat krill, migrations, the metamorphosis and shedding of exoskeletons, the oxygen we breathe, the light we see, and the arms and legs that move us – we are all connected, and sustainability IS reachable is when we understand this connection.

The GAIN objective

By: Andre Sobral Lopes

Yesterday we launched the official GAIN project Youtube channel:

The GAIN project

The GAIN project aims are to promote the eco-intensification of aquaculture. But what does this mean?

To sustainably farm more fish in the same area, i.e. to make more with less! With the combination of precision aquaculture, improved feeds and re-using secondary products while reducing waste, we aim to grow a healthier and environmentally friendlier fish.

A goodfish: tasty, nutritious, sustainable and happy.

To define this ’goodfish‘ we need to understand its economic and environmental sustainability, welfare as well as its nutritional and taste qualities. This way we can support consumers and businesses with metrics based on good data that compare seafood options and guide good choices.

This is the end game of GAIN: to help provide more and better seafood for the future.

Costs and benefits of innovative Eco-sustainable aquaculture practices

Authors: Cornelia Krei ß & Simone Brüning

The latest GAIN project developments on the impacts of eco-intensification innovations, found that novel feeds with commercially available emerging ingredients, could lead to farm profitability losses in most cases. This was especially true for diets combining different emerging ingredients, and in diets with smaller amounts of processed animal proteins (PAP) in addition to these new ingredients.

The most pronounced losses were found for seabream production. This was partly due to the decreased feed conversion rates when using novel feeds. The already high feed costs per kg of fish produced, when compared with trout and salmon, was also a factor in profitability losses. PAP feeds, however, were more promising from an economic point of view, especially for Atlantic salmon production.

What would you pay for high quality produced fish originating from European waters GAIN aims to work on eco-intensified production for seabream and salmon amongst others?

These results illustrate the demand for more affordable alternative ingredients, such as the upcoming GAIN-developed by-products. Consumer willingness-to-pay for more sustainable grown fish might also play a significant role in order for producers to stay profitable or to reach break-even.

Room for improvement was also identified for the valorisation of fish and shellfish by-products, especially for species with lower production volume and market-share of processed products, such as carp. The costs and benefits of the next generation of novel GAIN feeds, focused in adding value to by-products and side streams will be addressed in the upcoming work within the project.

Carp aquaculture in Poland: an ancient tradition established by monks (part 2)

By: Wesley Malcorps, Piotr Eljasik, Richard Newton, Jacek Sadowski and Remigiusz Panicz

After the conference it was time to go into the field and meet some of the farmers in the center and north of the country. This area of Poland is relatively flat with some hills, and large water bodies, making it an excellent habitat for carp. In late February farmers are preparing to move their fish into ‘production ponds’, which they will occupy until the next winter. At that time carps are transferred to deep (approximately 2.5m) ponds to hibernate. This cycle is repeated in the second year until the fish reach a harvesting size of 1.5 kg to 2 kg.

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The carp sector faces many challenges, such as strict regulations, predators and consumer preference for other fish. Despite that, there are also many opportunities, such as better carp processing into multiple products and eco-intensification using novel formulated feeds. GAIN is exploring the sector to assess the impact of different innovations to support the sustainable growth of the industry: we are also looking forward to contribute and collaborate with everyone involved in the sector.