A new four year EU Horizon 2020 project, iFishIENCi, is bringing together multiple partners in a trans-disciplinary effort towards making improvements to fish farming worldwide. The project’s full title is “Intelligent fish feeding through integration of enabling technologies and circular principles.” Aller Aqua Research, AquaBioTech Group, Norwegian Research Centre and Helenic Centre for Marine Research are some of the iFishIENCi’s partners.
Using advanced digital information technology, iFishiENCi will develop a Biology Online Steering System (iBOSS) which will monitor fish and their environment for healthy sustainable farmed fish. The iFishIENCi project will also develop novel feeds based on more sustainable ingredients. New feed formulations will help maintain quality fish growth using ingredients made from recycled and organic resources, reducing dependency on protein from wild-caught fish.
Tamas Bardocz, iFishIENCi project coordinator (AquaBioTech Group) said, “we believe that our project will deliver breakthrough innovations, supporting sustainable aquaculture based on enabling technologies and circular principles. It will provide a competitive advantage and growth stimulation for the European aquaculture industry needed to improve global efficiency of fish production and meet the demands of society for food from marine and freshwater environments.”
Catherine Boccadoro, iFishIENCi Valorization and Circularity Champion (Norwegian Research Centre AS) said, “the project will target circular principles and zero waste by qualifying new and sustainable value chains for feeds, valorization of by-products and development of smart feeding technology. It will provide important new assets for the consortium’s SMEs, fish farmers, feed producers and technology providers in the aquaculture sector. It will lead to market growth, job creation and to a more sustainable aquaculture industry.”
Lars Ebbesson, iFishIENCi Scientific and Technical Manager (Norwegian Research Centre AS) said “iFishIENCi will provide several enabling technology products to the market that will improve production control and management for all fish aquaculture systems. It will maximize feed utilization through smart feeding and provide continuous monitoring of fish behavior health and welfare.“
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 818036.
