Towards sustainable passive fishing and marine aquaculture
The closing event of the SYMAPA project took place on Thursday 24 November 2020. During the SYMAPA Day, several innovations in shellfish cultivation, a toolkit with successful luring techniques for passive fishing and tools for smart aquafarming were presented and explained.
Here are a few of the main findings and results:
- it is perfectly possible to combine the cultivation of mussels, oysters and seaweed with passive fishing;
- the catch of cuttlefish can be considerably increased by making use of pots with fluorescent yarn;
- passive catch result in a high quality and flavour score;
- useful tools for planning sea trips were developed;
- the cultivation of mussels and oysters was perfected further;
- further research is necessary for oyster and seaweed cultivation.
In addition, it should be noted that, contrary to traditional bottom trawling, aquaculture and passive fishing are permitted in offshore wind farms.
Background information
The SYMAPA project was a cooperation initiative between companies such as Colruyt Group, Brevisco, AtSeaNova and the Flemish fish auction on the one hand, and knowledge institutions such as the Flanders Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (ILVO) and the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS) on the other hand.
The project was facilitated by Blue Cluster and financially supported by Flanders Innovation & Entrepreneurship (VLAIO).
