EATFISH

Title: EATFISH: European Aquaculture Training for improving Seafood Husbandry
Start Date: 1^st January 2021
End Date: 31^st December 2024
Funding Body: Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Networks
Coordinator: Wageningen University, The Netherlands
Project Partners: Wageningen University (NL), Ifremer (FR), CSIC (ES); Nofima As (Norway), Centro de Ciencias do Mar do Algarve (PT), Marine & Freshwater Research Institute (Iceland), Bantry Marine Research Station Ltd. (IE), Aarhus University (DK), Universite de Bretagne Occidentale (FR); ABS International (BE), National Agricultural Research and Innovation Centre (HU), the University of Stirling (UK).
Principal Investigators: Dr Anne Marie O’Hagan and Dr. Tom Doyle (BEES)
Research Area: Coastal & Marine Systems
Website: EATFISH

Introduction

EATFISH is a Marie Curie Innovative Training Network funded by the EU (project number 956697). It is a multidisciplinary research project aimed at integrating the biological, technical, socio-economic, and governance aspects needed for sustainable and profitable aquaculture. Aquaculture is currently the fastest-growing food sector and it is essential for the future provision of healthy and safe food products that are adapted to consumer preferences. At the same time, there are fundamental concerns about the ways we farm and transport food across the world, which are related to negative environmental impacts. Hence, sustainable aquaculture has been identified as the “greatest and most feasible” way to obtain adequate seafood for human consumption and achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals 2, 4, 13, and 14 on food security, quality education, climate action, and use of the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.

Aim

The project will facilitate cutting-edge research on the biology and technical aspects of aquaculture and also has a significant effort focused on the socio-economic and governance aspects of aquaculture. The main undertaking of EATFish is to educate and train young scientists who will be capable of envisioning and creating transformational change to support sustainable and profitable European aquaculture through an interdisciplinary action. This will:

Optimise resource economy in European aquaculture, so that it contributes to a circular bio-economy,
Ensure animal health and welfare,
Develop novel aquaculture products targeted to specific market segments,
Refine aquaculture governance to facilitate sustainable development of the sector, and
Enhance the skills and competences of future aquaculture professionals.

UCC-MaREI is involved in the Governance work package. That work package will investigate how decision support frameworks can be employed to improve the governance of aquaculture; identify and integrate ecosystem services of aquaculture and determine the role of maritime spatial planning in aquaculture development in the EU. The latter will be the topic for a PhD studentship to be supervised by staff in MaREI and BEES in UCC.