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► Summary

Aquaexcel is a FP7 « Infrastructures » EU project, which coordinates the best European aquaculture research infrastructures (17 partners, 11 countries). It will cover all production systems, environments, fish species and disciplines in European aquaculture research. This project will permit efficient networking, coordination of procedures, transnational access (for European teams) to participating infrastructures, development of new experimental methods and of new animal models.

► Context

Facing the production gap in fisheries production, sustainable aquaculture production is a priority at the French, European and international levels. This development will be based on knowledge-based economy, which will improve competitiveness through innovation and technological progress. Aquaculture is still an emerging sector, and a deep understanding of fish biology and production systems is likely to generate important gains in productivity and environmental efficiency.

► Concept

The main goals of the Aquaexcel project (2011-2015, 12 M€ budget) are:

• To coordinate the main aquaculture research infrastructures in Europe, favouring the sharing of resources and know-how, to create conditions for joint research projects

• To offer European research teams an access to research infrastructures covering all species, systems, rearing environments and scientific expertise

• To develop joint research activities aimed at improving the services of aquaculture research infrastructures (remote access and monitoring, phenotyping, limited use of live animals, upscaling of results for industry, development of biological models)

• To bridge the gap between end-users and the scientific community through the development of finalized research and better technology transfer

The global aim is to contribute to innovation for the development of sustainable aquaculture production of high quality fish with low environmental impact.

► Perspectives

Aquaexcel will establish a network of world-class aquaculture research infrastructures, allowing the development of the highest quality research, especially through multi-disciplinary approaches. With the establishment of partnerships with other initiatives (especially the European Aquaculture Technology and Innovation Platform – EATIP), the project is expected to improve the fit between the available research infrastructures and the needs of the European fish farming industry.

► PartnersCoordination :

• INRA, UMR GABI (Animal Genetics and Integrative Biology), M. Vandeputte
  • Institute of Marine Research (IMR, Bergen, Norway)
  • Stirling university (Stirling, Scotland)
  • Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas - Instituto de Acuicultura de Torre de la sal (CSIC-IATS, Torre de la Sal, Spain)
  • Hellenic Center for Marine Research (HCMR, Héraklion, Crete)
  • Research Institute for Fisheries, Aquaculture and Irrigation (HAKI, Szarvas, Hungary)
  • Ifremer (France)
  • Norwegian Institute of Food, Fisheries and Aquaculture Research (Nofima, Sundalsora, Norway)
  • University of South Bohemia (JCU-VURH, Vodnany, Czech Republic)
  • Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU, Trondheim, Norway)
  • SINTEF (Trondheim, Norway)
  • Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC, Las Palmas, Spain)
  • Université de Wageningen (WU, Wageningen, The Netherlands)
  • Université de Gand (Gand, Belgium)
  • Institute for Marine Research and Ecosystem Studies (IMARES, The Netherlands)
  • Aqua-TT (Ireland)
  • INRA Transfert (France)

► Agenda

Annual meeting 2012 : 7-9th February 2012, Las Palmas (Canary Islands, Spain)
Kick-off meeting: 5 to 7 April 2011 in Castelnau le Lez (Hérault, France)

► Contact

Marc Vandeputte (coordinator)
UMR1313 GABI, INRA Domaine de Vilvert, 78352 Jouy-en-Josas cedex

► Web: www.aquaexcel.eu