The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council has pledged £4.6 million to help make the UK’s aquaculture industry more sustainable.
The Sustainable Aquaculture Partnerships for Innovation fund will support ten projects addressing challenges such as disease prevention and animal welfare.
“Advances in aquaculture technology and innovative approaches have enormous potential to provide the UK, and the world, with a more sustainable, diverse, and healthy source of nutrition,” explained Dr Lee Beniston, associate director of industry partnerships and collaborative R&D at BBSRC.
“This will support ambitions in areas such as food security through to the health of the nation.”
Each project will have at least one industry partner contributing at least 10% of the full cost of the project.
Among the projects to be funded is a two-year exploration of the role plankton plays in aquaculture which could benefit the shellfish industry and others.
Elsewhere, researchers will explore how regulating exposure to light can help reduce the incidence of infectious disease on salmon farms.
Another project will bring together seaweed producers from around the UK, Sweden and Norway to research ways to boost red seaweed cultivation.
Aquaculture companies involved include Scottish Sea Farms, Bakkafrost, Mowi, Salmon Scotland, Hendrix Genetics and BioMar alongside academic institutions including the University of Stirling, University of Aberdeen, University of Glasgow, University of Edinburgh and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology Trondhjem Biological Station.
