COOPERATION BETWEEN NORWAY AND BRAZIL IN RESEARCH AND EDUCATION FOR IMPROVED BREEDING IN SUSTAINABLE AQUACULTURE

Aquaculture is the fastest growing food production sector in the world, accounting for more than 50% of the fish for human consumption worldwide. Aquaculture is also one of the most important and international industries in Norway. NORBRAQUA will establish a long-term cooperation between Norway and Brazil in research and research-based education in aquaculture through reciprocal mobility stays of graduate students, joint student supervision, development of a freshwater aquaculture module at the MSc level and organisation of a workshop in selective breeding and fish reproduction. The academic institutions involved are Nord University, Universidade Estadual de Londrina and the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation, which is the largest research institute in animal production and agriculture in Brazil. In addition, NORBRAQUA will have a strong collaboration with the aquaculture industry through two leading fish breeding companies, namely GenoMar and AquaBel. The project will be directly linked to the ERC Consolidator grant EPIFISH at Nord University. The expected outputs from NORBRAQUA will contribute to i) long-term high quality cooperation between Brazil and Norway in research and education, ii) increased bilateral mobility of students and academics, iii) recruitment of much needed competence in the aquaculture industry and iv) improvement of selective breeding programmes and sustainability of fish farming.

Aquaculture is the fastest growing food production sector in the world, accounting for more than 50% of the fish for human consumption worldwide. Aquaculture is also one of the most important and international industries in Norway. NORBRAQUA will establish a long-term cooperation between Norway and Brazil in research and research-based education in aquaculture through reciprocal mobility stays of graduate students, joint student supervision, development of a freshwater aquaculture module at the MSc level and organisation of a workshop in selective breeding and fish reproduction. The academic institutions involved are Nord University, Universidade Estadual de Londrina and the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation, which is the largest research institute in animal production and agriculture in Brazil. In addition, NORBRAQUA will have a strong collaboration with the aquaculture industry through three leading fish breeding companies, namely AquaGen, GenoMar and AquaBel. The project will be directly linked to the ERC Consolidator grant EPIFISH at Nord University. The expected outputs from NORBRAQUA will contribute to i) long-term high quality cooperation between Brazil and Norway in research and education, ii) increased bilateral mobility of students and academics, iii) recruitment of much needed competence in the aquaculture industry and iv) improvement of selective breeding programmes and sustainability of fish farming.