AQUACOMBINE Project Wraps Up

In November, the AQUACOMBINE consortium celebrated the conclusion of its ground-breaking project during a final conference in Esbjerg. The event was as a platform to share the project’s achievements with a diverse audience, offering attendees a unique chance to explore the biomass processing demonstration at Aalborg University and the combined aquaculture and Salicornia cultivation demonstration at Alpha Aqua. The conference also fostered engaging discussions with speakers, including A2S researcher Lourenço Ramos-Pinto, who participated in a roundtable on aquaculture trials, focusing on the vital role of immunostimulation in aquatic farmed animals.

Lourenço, alongside experts such as Rui Miranda Rocha from Riasearch, Jiwan Chettri from Alpha Aqua A/S, Mário Pacheco from the University of Aveiro, and Renata Serradeiro, the CEO of Flatlantic, delved into the rapid growth of the aquaculture sector. Emphasizing the importance of sustainability, the panel highlighted the necessity for exploring new ingredients and functional additives to enhance animal welfare, disease prevention, and production efficiency in the industry. Ana Garcia, a PhD student of the AQUACOMBINE project, contributed with the latest insights from her work.

The project, funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, addressed the 21st-century challenge of meeting the global demand for sustainably produced biomass. By focusing on a circular industry model, AQUACOMBINE explored the co-production of food, feed, and bioproducts from salt-tolerant plant species, benefiting farmers in salt-affected rural areas of Europe.