SeAccess

Aquaculture could boost economic development and jobs creation in regard to seafood by enhancing the exploitation and preservation of the Atlantic area’s natural assets. Creating new sustainable farms is a key element for the blue economy in the region. However it is often constrained by complex regulations and low social acceptability. SeAccess’ improves the attractiveness of the Atlantic shore for aquaculture SMEs by enabling them to gain a more sustainable and easier access.
Sectors of Activity:
other
Other Sector of Activity:
Business and Innovation Networks
Funding other:
Interreg V Atlantic Area
Objective:
Marine aquaculture (fish, shellfish or algoculture) is a leading sector of the Atlantic area blue economy, accounts for 80,000 direct jobs and 3.1 billion € turnover in the EU, and is a distinctive traditional activity of its cultures. The EU is highly reliant on the sector as a vital provider of seafood for industries such as the biotechnology and as a food source to reduce its commercial balance deficit of 20 billion € in seafood products (FAO, 2014). Thus, there is great opportunity for raising our aquaculture production as only 10% of our seafood is aquaculture-sourced. However many new aquaculture projects are hampered by barriers impeding their licensing. Issues such as: to find suitable areas in coastal zones, the need to comply with complex or poorly suited (to modern practices and technologies) environmental regulations or opposition of local stakeholders to farms. SeAccess’s objectives are to enhance the exploitation and preservation of the Atlantic area’s natural assets: By unlocking these issues to provide the industry with technical solutions to give aquaculture businesses access to shore, or, by enabling onshore production. This will enable SMEs to settle new farms, exploiting the natural assets in a sustainable way and better accepted by local communities. By disseminating these solutions and supporting the aquaculture SMEs, fixing them or attracting them to the Atlantic Area rather than making them leave to regions where environmental regulations are softer.
Beneficiaries:
Aquaculture businesses, Marine research centres, Business and Innovation Networks
Main activities:
Aquaculture is one of the traditional routes to the complex coastal environment, to generate employment, value but also pollution key to environmental pressure. Until now, it struggled to find its share of space and to integrate into a sustainable coastal development strategy. New and important needs in sea products sourcing have put more pressure on the harvesting industry in recent years. The projects will experiment innovative technical solutions to minimize aquaculture impacts, thus providing solutions to regulations and low social acceptability barriers to new aquaculture farms. Innovative sectors and techniques in aquaculture, particularly where no consistent solutions or research on this issues exist, will be targeted, such as algoculture or onshore farms. The research will mix public-private research transfer and real-life pilot projects. SeAccess will disseminate its results to the aquaculture sector businesses but also to government agencies and local councils. SeAccess will target aquaculture SMEs to attract, fix and develop sustainable aquaculture farms in the Atlantic Area, generating new employment and more R&D investment.
Main deliverables:
To be published later
Partners needed:
No
Timetable:
Feb 2017 - 2020
Geographical target area:
Atlantic Area
Countries:
France
Ireland
Portugal
Spain
United Kingdom
Budget: € 2.2 M
Name of Organisation: Technopôle Brest Iroise
Country: France
Contact person: 
Mael Garrec
Email: