BlueMarine³.Com

A consortium of knowledge partner Ghent University and 6 companies will deploy its expertise and research facilities in this area to study a number of research questions related to sustainability (closed cultivation systems for molluscs, integrated disease management, tools to assess the impact on the environment), gene-mapping and strain-development of seaweed, the use of brine, the development of new species, etc.

The project results address various valorisation routes of the private partners in the sense that they solve specific bottlenecks and uncertainties related to the biological, technical and economic feasibility of local hatchery activities for seaweed (SIOEN), molluscs (DEME Group and Aquacultuur Oostende) and shimps (IMAQUA and Colruyt Group). Moreover, the project results meet other specific demands of the industry, such as product innovation (SIOEN and Proviron) and the development of new tools (IMAQUA).

The project results will consolidate and expand Ghent University’s unique expertise on hatchery techniques and lead to a hatchery pilot installation that will further serve this emerging sector in Flanders. As part of the knowledge partner valorisation, BlueMarine³ should lead to the establishment of a (multispecies) hatchery pilot installation that will serve as an incubator for innovation and an accelerator for large-scale hatchery initiatives.