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HAVBRUK2-Stort program for havbruksforskning

Opportunities and challenges with innovations in aquaculture production systems

Alternative title: Muligheter og utfordringer rundt innovasjoner i havbruksproduksjonssystemer

Awarded: NOK 9.8 mill.

Compareit" is an ambitious project that had its official start in January 2021. The main goal of the project is to explore the challenges and opportunities with different aquaculture production methods. These production systems include land based, closed floatings ones, semi-eclosed, as well as exposed facilities. The goal of the project is to consider these production systems comparatively, and assessing them in a full value chain perspective. The aim of this approach is to conder where theses systems are best located geographically, and how regulations can be optimalized within the context of not only conventional aquaculture, but also other users of the same areas. By doing this, challenges and opportunities related to these systems will be evaluated and policy action plans can be developed to best avoid conflicts. The project will contribute to more legitimacy of the industry and a validation of partners and relevant interest groups opinions and perspectives. This will enable the industry to develop better practices around production methods are area use. In addition, the project will map out potential synergies both within the industry, and between the aquaculture industry and other actors. During this first year, we have worked closely with industry partners through digital channels, given that the majority of 2021, social interactions have been strictly regulated because of the covid-19 pandemic. We have however worked on the matrix building, to look at the challenges and opportunities between production systems together with the industry partners. We did this through in-depth interviews using TEAMS as a platform. At the same time, we made conceptual maps of the interviews, that were later condensend in collaboration with the industry partners during a workshop. This workshop, which was physical after restrictions eased up, also was the starting point of the development of the Serious Games, that are being launched during 2022. It also served as a valuable input channel for the work on value chains in WP3. This four-year project includes a competence hub where the core of CompareIt! consists of an expert task force from SINTEF Ocean and six Norwegian industry partners (Sjømat Norge, Norsk Industri, SalMar, Nordlaks, Aquaculture Innovations AS, Salmon Evolution), in addition to a Serious Games developer, House of Knowledge and the University of Tromsø. The work focuses on six competence areas: production systems; future scenario building; value chain analysis; social acceptance; and stakeholder integration.

New innovations in salmon aquaculture production systems, including land-based, floating closed and semi-closed, and exposed offshore systems are results of ambitions of sustainable industry growth aimed to solve problems with salmon lice, escapees, nutrient discharge and diseases, as well as competing claims to ocean space suitable for traditional aquaculture installations. Current regulation of the industry can be described as overlapping and complex, though, and ensuring co-existence and suitable sites for aquaculture is a challenge. Regulation for co-existence and synergies between new production systems will benefit from input and advice from actors who develop and operate these systems, and who can validate the efficacy of said regulations from an industry perspective. Research activities in COMPAREIT therefore applies a stakeholder integrated comparative approach, emphasizing expert knowledge, perceptions, and advice from an industry perspective. In collaboration with the aquaculture industry and other stakeholders, we collect data from in-depth interviews, participatory stakeholder workshops and consumer surveys. Results will include a stakeholder developed matrix presenting challenges, opportunities and synergies with different production systems, causality models for value chain efficiency, a decisions support dashboard based on future scenarios, and a Serious Game developed specifically for the COMPAREIT project. The results from COMPAREIT will be valuable for industry, regulatory bodies, scientific community, and the public moving forward. SINTEF Ocean is the project manager and is joined by an excellent team of partners who will form a stakeholder steering committee and participate actively in the implementation of the project: the University of Tromsø, Sjømat Norge, Norsk Industri, Salmar, Nordlaks, Aquaculture Innovation, Salmon Evolution and House of Knowledge.

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HAVBRUK2-Stort program for havbruksforskning