The initiative, in which 7 regions and 53 entities participate, counts with the participation of the Canarian consortium, which has presented 12 first level scientific communications at the congress that allow the reduction of environmental impact and the improvement of farming techniques.
THINKINAZUL-Canarias brings together 35 expert researchers in Marine Sciences, with the aim of facilitating the implementation and expansion of aquaculture companies, as well as the integration of their products into the market.
The THINKINAZUL project was presented today at the XIX National Aquaculture Congress (NAC), which brings together more than 200 researchers and experts in the sector, under the organisation of the Spanish Aquaculture Society, in collaboration with the Aquaculture Research Group (GIA) of the ECOAQUA institute of the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC).
The conference round table, which brought together leading scientists and authorities from the aquaculture sector in two blocks, was moderated by Fernando de la Gándara, doctor in Biology from the University of Murcia, director of the Murcia Oceanographic Centre and coordinator of THINKINAZUL, which is based on three main areas: observation and monitoring of the marine and coastal environment, intelligent and precision sustainable aquaculture and, lastly, the blue economy.
"This project, which has a budget of around 54 million euros at national level, was founded with Next Generation EU funds, to be later included in complementary national plans: in Spain, the PRTR (National Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan), involving 53 organisations and seven autonomous communities: Murcia, which acts as coordinator, Andalusia, Cantabria, Galicia, the Valencian Community, the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands; they presented their projects at the CNA, contributing 20% of their contents to the communications and posters of the congress", assured Fernando de la Gándara, in the presentation of THINKINAZUL.
Marianna Venuleo, scientific coordinator of THINKINAZUL-Canarias and head of the biotechnology department of the Canary Islands Technological Institute (ITC), spoke about the development of the project in the islands.
THINKINAZUL-Canarias stands out for being the first coordinated effort that brings together all the Canary Islands institutions dedicated to marine sciences and the blue economy, achieving a consortium with legal capacity that involves the Government of the Canary Islands, the Canary Islands Technological Institute (ITC), the Canary Islands Aquaculture Research Group (GIA) of the ECOAQUA institute of the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC), the University of La Laguna (ULL), the Oceanic Platform of the Canary Islands (PLOCAN) and the Oceanographic Centre of the Canary Islands of the CSIC.
Economic impact
With regard to the economic and social impact that they hope to generate with THINKINAZUL, the researcher Marianna Venuleo asserted, during her speech, that marine aquaculture in the Canary Islands, although it is focused on sea bream and sea bass, "has an extraordinary potential for the diversification of animal and plant species of great acceptance by the consumer, with new business proposals for amberjack, white prawns, common octopus, microalgae and macroalgae".
In this sense, she indicated that both "because of their capacity and their ecosystem of excellence in marine sciences, the Canary Islands want to make marine aquaculture and blue biotechnology sustainable industrial activities (optimising the use of resources), profitable (taking advantage of market conditions) and with a low environmental impact, helping Spain to lead not only production in the European Union, but also innovation and diversification".
"At the regional level, we hope to foster the integration of aquaculture products (including new products) in local markets and improve their acceptance, as well as maximise the possibilities for public-private collaboration by helping to generate scientific knowledge of high technological maturity and the transfer of its results", she underlines.
Twelve top-level scientific communications
The THINKINAZUL-Canary Islands consortium, which brings to the national programme the experience and knowledge of 35 expert researchers in marine sciences, as well as "unique and cutting-edge infrastructures for the development of aquaculture trials on a pilot and demonstration scale", has presented 12 scientific communications at the 19th NAC, 8 of them the result of inter- and intra-regional collaboration between different marine science research bodies.
According to Venuleo, these communications reflect the "most significant" scientific advances that the consortium has achieved in its year and a half of operation, allowing the implementation of advanced technologies in the monitoring and control of marine cultures, improving the efficiency and sustainability of aquaculture production. These advances not only benefit the economic sector, but also contribute significantly to the preservation and protection of the marine environment.
Among other advances, she highlights the "development of new strategies for the sustainable production of native microalgae in the Canary Islands for greater efficiency in the use of energy, water and nutrients; biological control during larval culture of the amberjack (Seriola dumerili) through the use of probiotics in the culture medium; and the study of the effect of manipulating the photoperiod on the gonadal development of Seriola dumerili females, and on the reproductive parameters of males of the same species".
The THINKINAZUL-Canarias work has also been notable for "improving the nutritional enrichment of rotifers used in the feeding of bluefin tuna larvae and for the identification and validation of immune biomarkers in the early stages of Octopus vulgaris subjected to different light conditions".
Both research projects are examples of supra-regional and inter-regional collaboration "which is already materialising in works of excellence such as those carried out by the Aquaculture Research Group (GIA) of the ECOAQUA university institute with the Oceanographic Centre of Murcia", in the first case, as well as that carried out by "the Oceanographic Centre of the Canary Islands in Tenerife with that of Murcia", in the second case, she explains.
The researcher also assures that "in the next phases of the project, the aim is to promote the technological transfer of the most promising results, with the objective of achieving a significant impact on the incorporation of new protocols and sustainable and efficient processes in the aquaculture sector".
The Canary Islands, the largest marine area
In Venuleo's opinion, "the Canary Islands have the second largest coastline in Spain after Galicia, and the largest marine surface area, which together with the other Spanish regions participating in the project, make up 66% of the total and are ideal representatives of the Cantabrian Sea, Mediterranean Sea and East Atlantic".
In the Canary Islands, she says, "marine sciences represent a unique opportunity to promote the sustainable use of marine resources in a unique environment", given that, in addition, the islands have "one of the highest population densities in Spain and have an economy based essentially on tourism".
An example of this capacity "is the ACUICONECTA project, where the original core of THINKINAZUL-Canarias entities, together with other entities related to aquaculture from four countries (Spain, Portugal, Sao Tome and Principe and Ghana), has developed and submitted a proposal to the first call of the Interreg MAC 2021-2027 programme in November 2023, which was approved in June".
THINKINAZUL-Canarias was presented in June 2022 and approved in July of the same year by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation. The Canary Islands Agency for Research, Innovation and Information Society (ACIISI), of the Canary Islands Government, is the administrative coordinator of the project, which manages and grants the funds to the entities participating in the consortium, with a total of 2,047,134.00 euros for the islands.
The XIX National Aquaculture Congress has the main sponsorship of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food of the Government of Spain, the Government of the Canary Islands and the European project AQUAWIND, the Cabildo of Gran Canaria, through the Society for Economic Promotion of Gran Canaria (SPEGC), as well as the support of BiOasis Gran Canaria, the Department of the Primary Sector, Food Sovereignty and Water Security of the Cabildo of Gran Canaria, the Instituto Tecnológico de Canarias (ITC), the Center for Aquaculture Technologies (CAT, California, USA), the official Veterinary Associations of Las Palmas and Santa Cruz de Tenerife, ad DiagNost S. A, Trovan, Biosigma, Biotein, Roda International and Ecobiofarms Fuerteventura, SL.