The cluster is a part of a consortium that was recently award funding for a major project within the Horizon 2020 program.

horizon-2020-ny Horizon 2020 is the biggest EU Research and Innovation programme ever with nearly €80 billion of funding available over 7 years (2014 to 2020) – in addition to the private investment that this money will attract. It promises more breakthroughs, discoveries and world-firsts by taking great ideas from the lab to the market.

The project NewTechAqua was awarded in total 6,7 million Euros and together with The Seafood Innovation Cluster, the cluster partners NOFIMA, MOWI and the Norwegian Veterinary Institute (NVI) are part of the consortium. The Cluster and Norwegian Veterinary Institute cooperate on one workpackage and have been rewarded 590 000 EUR to meet the requirements.  

Fish and health welfare
During the four years the project is funded, a group of cutting edge R&D institutes, Universities and innovative companies focus on improvements for salmon and other finfish aquaculture and address feed, genetic selection, bigdata and AI technologies and the use of microorganism to the benefit of fish health and welfare. 

The project, NewTechAqua, will focus on promoting a modern, resilient and sustainable production of fish, mollusks and algae. Advanced technologies, new tools and precision fish farming concepts will innovate, support and improve the whole value chain of European aquaculture.

Standard and organic feed formulations will be developed according to the circular economy principles, whereas new feeding strategies, farming systems and genetic selection will improve health and welfare of farmed aquatic animals.

Big Data Analyses
Building on the cluster experience from AquaCloud the project will look into precision fish farming technologies and how big data analyses will enhance farmer’s ability to monitor, control and document the production condition, increase feed efficiency and mitigate disease outbreaks.

Innovative microbiome applications will be implemented and utilized to improve farmed fish microbiomes for better health and productivity.

The improvement in reproduction cycle of three economically important species will increase the European aquaculture production and diversification. NewTechAqua project will also contribute to increase available, accessible, affordable and nutritious food, developing new products, increasing shelf life through innovative technologies and new packaging systems.

Cluster Strategy
This project delivers on the cluster strategy through entrepreneurship, innovation, focus on industry bottlenecks and sustainability in all aspects of seafood production.