Two leading-edge Spanish offshore aquaculture companies and the Instituto Canario de Ciencias Marinas (ICCM), Spain offshore aquaculture research centre, will present papers at Offshore Mariculture 2008 conference, to be held in Alicante, Spain on 22-24 October. The conference is supported by the European Aquaculture Society and APROMAR, the Spanish marine fish farmers association.
A company set-up by the regional government of Andalucia to develop offshore aquaculture on the Atlantic coast, Confradia des Pescadores de Conil de la Frontera, will talk of its research and testing of cages and the technology and management to develop a viable aquaculture business. The company is now installing Oceanspar Sea Station submersible cages for full-scale commercial operations. See www.acuiculturaenmarabierto.com for more details.
Culmarex SA is one of Spain's largest integrated fish farming businesses with hatcheries, offshore farms and harvesting and processing facilities. Operations Director, Fabrice Denis, will talk on the safety and efficiency of the company's operations and the role of its new 250-tonne feeder barge recently delivered to them by Gael Force Aquaculture.
Dr Octavio Llinas, Director of ICCM, will discuss the technology advances the company is achieving through collaboration with industry at its deep-water sites off the Canary Islands
Spanish aquaculture and insurance will be analysed by Spain's leading agricultural insurance company, Agroseguro. Its insurance products are also being marketed to both Spanish-speaking and English-speaking global markets.
Two European aquaculture technology platforms
Two European aquaculture technology platforms will report to the conference on their findings and their plans.
Dave Jackson, Marine Institute of Ireland will report on the findings of the Offshore Aquaculture Technology Platform (OATP). This will be the first public discussion of the report, which was delivered to the European Commission earlier in 2008.
Successor to OATP – the European Aquaculture Technology & Innovation Platform (EATIP) - will be introduced to the conference by one of its members. The themes and structure of EATIP and how it will include the outcomes of OATP will be discussed at the conference.
International experiences
Other speakers representing global mariculture include:
Arne Fredheim, SINTEF, Norway: Design and operational guidelines for offshore fish farming
Alesandro Lovatelli, Aquaculture, Food and Agriculture Organisation: Status of global cage aquaculture
Javier Ojeda, APROMAR, Spain: Sustainable development of Mediterranean aquaculture
David Tze, Aquacopia, USA: Deep capital: early stage funding for open ocean farms and supporting organisations
Trond Severinsen, Akva Group, Norway: Latest feeding and management technology for offshore fish farms.
Conference Activities
The two-day conference (22-23 October) will include receptions and a dinner to improve networking opportunities). The 23rd October, Friday, will be allocated to a fish farm visit off the coast near Alicante.
For further information and registration, www.offshoremariculture.com
