FishEUTrust at Aqua Nor 2023
The Aqua Nor 2023 bi-annual conference was between 21st – 23rd August in Trondheim, Norway. Along with the tradeshow and fair, a student camp was developed to reach as many students as possible who were curious about the aquaculture industry and wanted to contribute with ideas for sustainable development. During the Aqua Nor Student Camp, students learned how to work with complex, industry-related issues, had the opportunity to work closely with actors from the industry, and get to know other students. The overall theme was: Green future for blue food.
Mentors from different organizations pitched their challenges to the students on the first day of the conference and the students had the next two days to develop their solution in groups with dedicated time with their mentors. On the final day of the conference, students presented their solutions to a panel of judges.
AquaBioTech Group (ABT) and NORCE teamed up to present a challenge to the students under the scope of FishEUTrust. The background for the challenge highlighted how aquaculture is transforming rapidly through the integration of new farming tools, techniques, and methods. Farming in closed and semi-closed systems, including Recirculation Aquaculture Systems, are some of the breakthrough innovations transforming the Norwegian and global aquaculture industries, improving sustainability indicators. Despite this, the perception by consumers of these new farming techniques has not yet been qualified and quantified extensively.
The challenge: “You are a business or a governmental organisation (Norwegian Seafood Council, the Norwegian Food Agency, etc.) that has adopted these new farming methods (e.g., RAS). You wish to communicate to consumers and retailers/wholesalers how these methods of production positively impact the end product through an improved production environment. How would you achieve this? Highlight the benefits of these production methods, identify any business, marketing and communication gaps, or shortcomings in the current market, and address them in your proposal.”
The solution focused on a Norwegian wide educational program for all high schools. The curriculum would cover sustainable production methods, the value of research and development, significance of health enhancing diets and the role of food culture in identity and heritage.
This challenge given by the mentors and the solutions created by the students emphasized important concepts of the FishEUTrust project. Focusing on consumer trust in seafood products, highlighting traceability as an important aspect of this trust and focusing on education of consumers about the concepts of sustainable aquaculture and what this entails.
NORCE – is responsible for providing a Northern Europe perspective into the project tasks. This includes identifying drivers that would bring increased trust from different stakeholders in Nordic countries and through the the co-creation Living Lab in Denmark led by OxyGuard, identify and test these drivers to determine their efficacy in changing behaviour and develop business models to support our innovations. Their role is also as the projects Outreach Officer to increase relevant stakeholder engagement.
AquaBioTech Group is responsible for the Malta Living Lab in the FishEUTrust project, where they will demonstrate the tools and sensors for traceability, quality, food safety etc., provide samples for testing of freshness, antibiotic residues, pathogens etc. and facilitate knowledge transfer activities such as workshops, trainings, and demonstrations with local and international stakeholders. They are also responsible for leading the integration mapping of stakeholders, target groups and sectors.
