„ Integrative breeding strategies for the transition of EUropean AQUAculture towards sustainable ORGanic production “
Organic aquaculture (OA) offers significant benefits, including environmental sustainability, reduced chemical use, biodiversity conservation, and improved animal welfare. However, its growth in Europe has stagnated due to higher production costs, limited technological innovation, and low consumer awareness.
EUAqua.Org aims to use key technological advancements to overcome the negative aspects of organic aquaculture. Through the integration of different disciplines and approaches, EUAqua.Org will provide essential tools for cost-effective, welfare-conscious and environmentally friendly organic aquaculture. The implementation of these tools at the industry level will be ensured by a comprehensive scientific, public, and industrial communication and dissemination programme, focused on the exploitation of the project objectives and key results to create impact, including a multi-module open-access online training course that will be co-developed with key stakeholders (breeding companies, fish farmers, feed producers). In parallel, a tailored set of intervention strategies will be designed to promote awareness and acceptance of organic aquaculture products among European consumers. The overarching mission of EUAqua.Org is to invigorate organic aquaculture in Europe by adopting a problem-solving ethos and pioneering highly innovative solutions to fill key knowledge gaps and overcome the primary factors limiting the competitiveness of Atlantic salmon, European sea bass, gilthead sea bream, and rainbow trout organic production.
During the project implementation, Cromaris is involved in a task focused on examining how existing labels, awareness interventions, and campaigns influence consumer responses to aquaculture products, particularly organic ones, as well as how consumers manage trade-offs in food choices. It is also involved in developing guidelines for label design, as well as specific information and awareness-raising campaigns, providing insights for the effective promotion of aquaculture products, especially organic ones, to targeted consumer groups identified based on the results of previous projects and research.
Partner consortium:
Project duration: 48 months
Project budget: 2.999.312,25 EUR