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RAS, circular economy, AI make waves in EIT Food contest

June 8, 2021  By  Nestor Arellano


(Image from: EIT Food)

Organizations offering aquaculture solutions through circular feed production, recirculating aquaculture system (RAS), and artificial intelligence (AI) were among the winners in the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) Food competition.

The EIT is a European Union body created in 2008 to strengthen the continent’s ability to innovate. The EIT Food’s sustainable aquaculture competition was launched in December 2020. It’s objective is to build the innovation portfolio of its 2021-2023 Business Plan and to expand its partner community.

A total of 85 organizations from within and outside the EIT Food community participated in the competition. The seven winning organizations will see their proposed projects launched.

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The selected projects from EIT Food’s sustainable aquaculture competition will make progress in the following areas:

  • Reducing food loss and waste by extending the shelf life of seafood products whilst increasing product safety and quality
  • Enhancing product quality, fish welfare and reducing likelihood of disease
  • Producing high-quality and accessible sustainable feeds
  • Preserving marine biodiversity and ecosystems
  • Transforming aquaculture into a circular form of food production
  • Increasing the resilience and competitiveness of the EU aquaculture sector
  • Strengthening collaboration among stakeholders and addressing skills gaps.

Among the winners was Just Add Water, presented by a consortium composed of FishFrom Ltd. (United Kingdom), University of Trento (Italy), University of Bologna (Italy), and Hub Innovazione Trentino (Italy).

Just Add Water uses technology to cut environmental impact and maximize fish welfare of farmed salmon. The project will grow Atlantic salmon throughout the EU using RAS technology.

Next Tuna is another project which aims to create the first European-sourced sustainable tuna industry using RAS to raise Atlantic bluefin tuna.

Cewatech will use a circular economy model to develop a fish feed for salmon that contains protein from recycled wastewater in the starch industry. The project will use feed made from a sustainable fungi-based protein to replace the use of fishmeal and soybean meal.

AGAPE (Aquaculture Gobal AI Platform for Europe) is developing Skills Passport, an AI-based collaborative platform. The platform aims to boost interaction between the industry’s stakeholders to address the skills gap and increase capabilities and competencies in the EU aquaculture industry.

For a full list of winners and to find out more about EIT Food, click here.


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