On December 13, 2024, the INNOAQUA project was featured at the ALGAEUROPE conference, a key international event focused on algae research and its applications. Held in Athens, the conference convened experts from academia, industry, and policy sectors to discuss advancements in algae technologies and their role in sustainability.
The INNOAQUA project presented its ongoing work on integrating algae into aquaculture practices and developing high-value food applications. The project’s objective is to contribute to a sustainable and diversified European inland aquaculture industry by emphasizing algae-based foods, circular resource use, and innovative digital tools.
During the conference, INNOAQUA representatives from NORCE and A4F provided an overview of the project’s research, including advancements in algae cultivation systems. These innovations aim to reduce the environmental footprint of aquaculture while ensuring high-quality outputs. In the oral presentation by Pia Steinrücken from NORCE, she focused on the use of effluent water from salmon production in Recirculating Aquaculture Systems (RAS) for the production of microalgae, where high nutrient removal rates as well as high biomass productivities were achieved. Though the results varied throughout the production cycle of salmon from freshwater to brackish water to seawater, leading to increasing nutrient loads in the water with increasing fish size, and while using different microalgal species for each phase to cope with the differences in salinity. Results that haven’t been analyzed yet will give us insight in the possible contaminants, both chemical and biological, and next steps will look at how to deal with these. So keep following our social media or website to stay up to date!
The ALGAEUROPE conference provided a platform for disseminating these insights, facilitating knowledge exchange, and fostering connections among stakeholders. INNOAQUA’s contribution underscored the role of interdisciplinary approaches in driving innovation and achieving sustainability in aquaculture.
The outcomes shared at the conference reaffirm the significance of algae in transforming aquaculture practices, offering viable solutions for sustainable growth in the sector. For further information on INNOAQUA and its initiatives, visit the project’s page on the ALGAEUROPE website.
