- 04.09.2013 AQUABEST - Åland Aquabest team visited the island Föglö: Without the aquaculture industry, Föglö's economy would not be stable
- 30.08.2013 AQUABEST - Aquabest at EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region seminar in Helsinki
- 30.08.2013 AQUABEST - Towards closing the loop
- 30.08.2013 AQUABEST - Joint Final Conference of AQUAFIMA and Aquabest
- 30.08.2013 AQUABEST - Watch a film about mussel harvest in Åland
- 30.08.2013 AQUABEST - Aquabest Recommendation drafted and circulated in Autumn 2013
- 30.08.2013 AQUABEST - Jämtland aquaculture debate continues very actively
- 30.08.2013 AQUABEST - Enhancing and streamlining administrative and regulatory procedures to support sustainable growth of Baltic Sea region aquaculture
- 30.08.2013 AQUABEST - Aquabest in the Baltic 2013 Conference
- 30.08.2013 AQUABEST - Aquabest presentation now in Youtube
Project title: Innovative practices and technologies for developing sustainable aquaculture in the Baltic Sea region
Application call: 4
Priority: 3. Baltic Sea as a common resource
Project website: www.aquabestproject.eu

Lead Partner:
LuonnonvarakeskusViikinkaari 4
OO790 Helsinki
FI
Mari Walls
E-mail: mari.walls@luke.fi
Phone: +358 29 532 6010
Fax:
Project Manager:
LuonnonvarakeskusViikinkaari 4
OO790 Helsinki
FI
Jouni Vielma
E-mail: jouni.vielma@luke.fi
Phone: +358 40 750 1146
Fax:
Information Manager:
LuonnonvarakeskusViikinkaari 4
00790 Helsinki
FI
Johanna Torkkel
E-mail: johanna.torkkel@luke.fi
Phone: +358405303039
Fax:
Summary description of the project:
Aquaculture has been the fastest growing food production sector during the last two decades. In the Baltic Sea region, though, the industry has stagnated or even decreased. The goal for the Aquabest project is to change this trend. However, the future growth in aquaculture production has to be built on sustainable practices and technologies.
Aquabest aims to:
1. Start a self-evaluation of the environmental legislation and licensing system of the Baltic Sea region aquaculture.
2. Demonstrate a spatial planning process for sustainable aquaculture.
3. Close the nutrient loop of Baltic Sea aquaculture through fish feeds based on regional ingredients.
4. Create innovative concepts for land-based farms and transfer the technology throughout the region.
Aquaculture regulations in the Baltic Sea region require new environmental policies and economic incentives. Current licensing systems do not encourage the adoption of eco-efficient technologies and practices.
The aim is to suggest hands-on improvements, alternative policy instruments and incentives. Locally focused control-and-command regulations should be expanded to a sea-wide ecosystem approach, supported by local regulations.
One of Aquabest's objectives is to improve spatial planning to create new sustainable aquaculture. Aquabest will produce a spatial planning manual for aquaculture. The manual, intended for local, regional and national authorities in the region, will show a path to new sustainable, conflict free locations for aquaculture farms. At these newly discovered sites new farming technologies, such as robust offshore cages and mussel farms will be adapted.
Aquabest attempts to close the nutrient loop of the Baltic Sea: turn aquaculture from net ocean nutrient importer to a nutrient-neutral system. This is accomplished by creating incentives and technologies for using regionally produced feed ingredients, such
as detoxified Baltic Sea fish meal, farmed mussel, microbial meal and by-products from crop. The costs and benefits of nutrient recycling will be demonstrated through pilot farming of trout, charr and turbot.
A technological shift in land-based aquaculture is underway in Denmark, and production is increasing with no additional nutrient pollution. This is enabled by the use of a unique recirculation farming concept, which brings major environmental benefits in addition to being economically viable. Aquabest will explore how these technologies could also be used in coastal areas with limited access to fresh water. A feasibility study manual for the Danish farm concept will be produced and field tested. Competitiveness will be tested through economic feasibility calculations. Also an intensive recirculation training course will be arranged.
Aquabest project has 14 partners, consisting of regional authorities, producer organizations, universities and stakeholders from 8 BSR countries.
Achievements of the project so far:
Aquabest-project performed hands-on examples on how to increase aquaculture production without negative environmental effects. New regulation systems were suggested and partially adopted, spatial planning process carried out, regional feed ingredients piloted and low-pollution farming technologies developed and implemented in new regions.
On the issue of regulation, data from present licensing systems and voluntary regulation schemes were collected from BSR countries. The work to improve regulation e.g., by including incentives, is being evaluated by HELCOM. HELCOM will together with BSR stakeholders, including several Aquabest partners, prepare new Recommendation for aquaculture during 2014. EU Commission will, through project SUSAQ, recommend how to develope aquaculture taken into account framework directives. In this process, Aquabest recommendations is being adopted. Also improvements in national regulation has been initiated through Aquabest activities.
Spatial planning processes in Jämtland, Kalmar and Åland were conducted. This has led and will lead to new farms being established. A large scale mussel farming project is being build within BSR, including several partners from Aquabest.
New fish and mussel farming sites are often located offshore or in otherwise harsh conditions. Summaries of state-of-art technologies for these conditions were published.
To facilitate the use of feed ingredients from the Baltic Sea region, instead of importing them from oceans and other continents, discussion series with feed industry, fish farmers and decision makers was carried out and conclusions published. Ten tons of mussel farmed in Åland Islands was transferred to Sweden, and first ever batch of Baltic mussel meal with low shell content was manufactured and included in fish diets. Several reports on the manufacturing and pilot farming were published. However, these new ingredients are not yet available in commercial quantities.
To implement Danish recirculation aquaculture systems (RAS) throughout the region, feasibility study guidelines was prepared and field-tested in Belarus. Findings of the field test are being used in Belarus for implementation during the next Belarusian five-year planning period. National and regional authorties were closely involved with the project. It is expected that present production will be multiplied through adopting new technologies. Training course on RAS was conducted, and the participating consultants, farmers and authorities will use the knowledge within BSR countries. Finally, new knowledge on nitrogen removal from the RAS effluents, and how to use chemicals within the systems was developed and knowledge disseminated within the aquaculture sector.
In addition to outputs for administration and business sector, Aquabest was very beneficial in bringing together first time knowledge institutions responsible for aquaculture development in the entire Baltic Sea region.
Project Duration: | Jun 2011 - Mar 2014 |
Approximate total project budget in EUR: | 3.744.990,00 |
ERDF co-financing: | 2.727.870,00 |
ENPI co-financing: | 108.000,00 |
Norwegian national contribution: | 0,00 |
List of partners
Natural Resources Institute Finland | ||||||||
OO791 Helsinki | FINLAND Viikinkaari 4 Region: Länsi-Suomi |
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Contact person: Mari Walls Phone: +358 29 532 6010 E-mail: mari.walls@luke.fi Web: www.luke.fi |
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University of Helsinki, Faculty of Law | ||||||||
FIN-00014 Helsinki | FINLAND P.O. Box 4, FIN-00014 University of Helsinki Region: Etelä-Suomi |
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Contact person: Ari Ekroos, Professor of Environmental and Energy Law Phone: +358 9 1911 E-mail: ari.ekroos@helsinki.fi Web: www.helsinki.fi/oik/tdk/english/ |
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The Government of Åland: Section Fisheries, Section Environment | ||||||||
22111 Mariehamn | FINLAND P.O. Box 1060 Region: Åland |
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Contact person: Jenny Eklund-Melander Phone: +358 18 25295 E-mail: jenny.eklund-melander@regeringen.ax Web: www.regeringen.ax |
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Regional Council of Jämtland | ||||||||
83043 Ås | SWEDEN Torsta Region: Mellersta Norrland |
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Contact person: Erik Olofsson Phone: 063 147 375 E-mail: erik.olofsson@jll.se Web: www.regionjamtland.se |
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Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences | ||||||||
75007 Uppsala | SWEDEN Box 7070 Region: Östra Mellansverige |
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Contact person: Anders Kiessling, professor Phone: 018 67 10 00 E-mail: anders.kiessling@slu.se Web: www.slu.se |
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Swedish Board of Agriculture | ||||||||
55182 Jönköping | SWEDEN Vallgatan 8 Region: Småland med öarna |
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Contact person: Ulrika Bergman Phone: 036-15 62 80 E-mail: ulrika.bergman@jordbruksverket.se Web: www.jordbruksverket.se |
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Polish Trout Breeders Association | ||||||||
84 - 300 Lębork | POLAND ul. Wolności 30/105 Region: Pomorskie |
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Contact person: Dariusz Gorbaczow Phone: +48 59 862 27 27 E-mail: degorbi@wp.pl Web: www.sprl.pl |
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Institute of Food Safety, Animal Health and Environment | ||||||||
LV-1076 Riga | LATVIA Lejupes Street 3 Region: Latvija |
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Contact person: Ruta Medne Phone: + 371 67620513 E-mail: ruta.medne@bior.gov.lv Web: www.bior.gov.lv |
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Belarusian State Agricultural Academy | ||||||||
213410 Gorki | BELARUS Michurina street 5 Region: Minskaya Oblastj, g. Minsk. |
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Contact person: Nikolai Barulin Phone: +375-2233-57266 E-mail: barulin@list.ru Web: www.baa.by |
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Technical University of Denmark, DTU Aqua | ||||||||
9850 Hirtshals | DENMARK Nordsoen forskerpark Region: Midtjylland |
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Contact person: Alfred Jokumsen Phone: E-mail: ajo@aqua.dtu.dk Web: www.aqua.dtu.dk |
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The Danish Aquaculture Organization | ||||||||
8600 Silkeborg | DENMARK Vejlsøvej 51, Byg. J Region: Midtjylland |
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Contact person: Brian Thomsen Phone: 8921 2264 - 4076 287 E-mail: brian@danskakvakultur.dk Web: www.danskakvakultur.dk |
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Society/ Association for marine aquaculture Ltd | ||||||||
25761 Büsum | GERMANY Hafentörn 3 Region: Schleswig-Holstein |
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Contact person: Carsten Schultz Phone: +49 48 34 965 3990 E-mail: cschulz@tierzucht.uni-kiel.de Web: www.gma-buesum.de |
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Johann Heinrich von Thünen Institute, Federal Research Institute for Rural Areas, Forestry and Fishery (vTI) | ||||||||
22767 Hamburg | GERMANY Palmaille 9 Region: Hamburg |
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Contact person: Michael Ebeling Phone: '+49 40 38905 186 E-mail: michael.ebeling@vti.bund.de Web: www.vti.bund.de |
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University of Tartu | ||||||||
50090 Tartu | ESTONIA Ülikooli 18 Region: Eesti |
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Contact person: Hannes Veinla Phone: E-mail: hannes.veinla@ut.ee Web: www.ut.ee |
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Torsta AB | ||||||||
83694 Ås | SWEDEN Ösavägen 20 Region: Mellersta Norrland |
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Contact person: Erik Olofsson Phone: +46 640 18800 E-mail: erik.olofsson@torsta.se Web: http://torsta.se |
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