£4.6 million fund will bring academia and industry together to tackle key challenges facing sustainable UK aquaculture.
Researchers and their industrial partners working in sustainable aquaculture are set to benefit from a share of a new £4.6 million Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) investment.
The Sustainable Aquaculture Partnerships for Innovation fund will support 10 projects designed to address specific challenges facing British aquaculture, including disease prevention and animal welfare.
All funded projects include at least one partner from industry who will contribute at least 10% cash or in-kind to the full economic cost of the project.
Impact of plankton on aquaculture
Among the funded projects is a 24-month consortium, which will help to address the health and welfare impact of plankton on aquaculture by using:
- novel imaging approaches
- artificial intelligence
- mathematical models
- real-time web-based reporting
The project has applicability to a diverse range of areas and international applications and could benefit the shellfish aquaculture industry.
Elsewhere, researchers will explore how regulating exposure to light can help tackle some of the challenges posed by infectious diseases on salmon farms. Previous research underpinning the project has shown that juvenile trout exposed to continuous light were less resistant to skin parasites.
Boosting red seaweed cultivation
Another project will bring together a large consortium of seaweed producers from around the UK, Sweden, and Norway to research ways to boost red seaweed cultivation.
This will include the use of:
- novel culturing strategies
- hatchery technology
- contamination control, microbiome engineering
- predatory microorganisms for disease control
Supporting food security
Dr Lee Beniston, Associate Director of Industry Partnerships and Collaborative R&D at BBSRC, said:
Advances in aquaculture technology and innovative approaches have enormous potential to provide the UK, and the world, with a more sustainable, diverse, and healthy source of nutrition. This will support ambitions in areas such as food security through to the health of the nation.
We are pleased to be investing, alongside businesses, in these exciting research and innovation projects which will catalyse and drive innovation across the aquaculture industry.