Support for International Cooperation on technology development for improvement of fish welfare and reduce stress during crowding

SINTEF Fisheries and Aquaculture (SFA) has in recent years, emphasized the development of good relationships with research partners in Chile, Canada, New Zealand and The Netherlands. The present proposal is a preparatory project for a larger grant proposa l to develop a common project between partners within these four countries and which will be led by SFA which is planned to be submitted in the Norwegian Research Council (Havbruksprogrammet) or related programs next year. The overall aim of the larger grant proposal is to develop new technology for minimizing stress and improve welfare during crowding of fish, and additionally, to identify the effects of crowding in fish under commercial conditions with regard to fish welfare and to mitigate its effect s in commercial settings. The size of the plants used in the Aquaculture production has evolved significantly with increasing production, where the fish are subjected to high density and a high degree of handling. It is desirable to look at new methods an d new technologies for better control and to improve fish welfare and reduce stress during crowding. One of the main challenges in the slaughter process of Atlantic salmon is the stressful crowding process that hinders possibilities for pre-rigor producti on. This collaboration project will bring together different expertises in these fields. The researchers from Chile AVS (Chile), Dr. Vicente Castro, Memorial University of Newfoundland (Canada), Prof. Ian Fleming, Plant & Food Research (New Zealand), Sci. Group Leader Alistair Jerrett, IMARES Wageningen UR (The Netherlands), Dr. Hans van de Vis will be respectively the main contact persons in these foreign partners. Additionally, NTNU, Prof. Gunilla Rosenquist will also participate in this project. SFA lo oks at Chile AVS (Chile), Memorial University of Newfoundland (Canada), Plant & Food Research (New Zealand), and IMARES Wageningen UR (The Netherlands) as strategic research partners in the respective countries.