The massive human population growth is increasing the demand for food, putting even greater pressure on both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. The aquaculture industry already provides over half of the world’s fish protein and is expected to increase by 15%, mainly through the expansion and intensification of sustainable aquaculture. Hence, promoting sustainability in aquaculture is of paramount importance worldwide
However, to achieve sustainable production, it is necessary to solve current issues of the aquaculture sector: the use of water or land, the spread of diseases and genetic interference in natural populations, water eutrophication and its release into the environment, and the need to include fish ingredients (fish meal and fish oil) into aquaculture diets. These challenges call for the development of novel aquaculture technologies with low environmental impact.
Objectives
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Improve feeding efficiency and sustainability of BFT by at least 15% through the inclusion of alternatives raw ingredients and/or bioproducts into diet formulation.
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Enhance animal welfare by achieving at least a 10% improvement in health status indexes: e.g. survival rates, immune response, resilience to environmental changes, and cortisol levels in blood.
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Achieve a reduction at least of 15% of carbon footprint in target species production, respectively, through a 10% optimization of biofloc management, energy, and water consumption, enlarging 20 % BFT lifespan and the recycling of at least the 10% of biofloc wastes.
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Economic assessment of the financial viability of BFT within European framework, coupled with a food quality characterization of BFT products and consumer willingness to pay.
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Boost BFT implementation in Europe through an intensive program of communication, exploitation, and dissemination activities considering a wide range of academic and industry audiences as well as the general public and public administrations.
