Farmed seafood is an important source of protein for food and feeds with a low-carbon footprint which has an important role to play in helping to build a sustainable food system. A strategic and long-term approach for the sustainable growth of a resilient EU aquaculture is, therefore, more relevant today than ever. However, the efficient and cost-effective control of pathogens remains among the main challenges for the sector, particularly relevant for Europe, where there is a great variety of species and production systems, which hinders the implementation of good husbandry practices tailored to each aquatic species. Through active engagement with key stakeholders, Cure4Aqua aims to jointly improve the resilience of EU aquaculture under environmental, biological, and socio-economic stress, by improving aquatic animal health and welfare and supporting the environmentally friendly, inclusive, safe, and healthy production of seafood. Cure4Aqua will do so by 1) developing cost-effective vaccines to prevent disease caused by 5 pathogens of economic significance to EU aquaculture; 2) Identifying markers with diagnostic capacity to be integrated to selective breeding programs to improve stress and disease management; 3) Developing innovative, bio-based and sustainable solutions as an alternative to antibiotics for controlling fish pathogens at various life stages and alleviate the pressure of global antimicrobial resistance; 4) Developing new tools and technology to improve health and welfare monitoring at the fish farm level and diagnostics of fish pathogens both at the laboratory and the fish farm levels; 5) Placing fish welfare at the foreground of aquaculture production, through the development of high welfare standards that consider different life-stages, production systems, and knowledge of welfare needs, and 6) Ensuring effective external communication, dissemination and exploitation of project activities and results to all relevant target groups.

ASTRAL will develop new, sustainable, profitable and resilient value chains for integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA) production within the framework of existing, emerging and potential Atlantic markets. The proposal gathers four IMTA labs including open offshore (Ireland, Scotland), flow-through inshore (South Africa) and recirculation inshore (Brazil) systems and one prospective IMTA lab (Argentina), focusing on a regional challenge-based perspective, including fish, mollusc, echinoderm, crustacean and algae species. ASTRAL will increase circularity by 50-60% compared to monoculture baseline aquaculture and will provide a circular business model, boosting revenue diversification for aquaculture producers increasing profitability by at least 30%. New and improved innovative technology will be developed, including biosensors, sensors, IoT and an AI data analytics platform to be validated at IMTA labs at TRL 5. Potential environmental and climatic risks for Northern and Southern Atlantic regions will be addressed, delivering a monitoring programme and recommendations for Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs), pathogens and microplastics. ASTRAL will deliver an ambitious and gender-sensitive human capital development plan (HUCAP) which will improve professional skills and create a highly trained workforce. ASTRAL will share, integrate and co-generate knowledge, technology, practices and efforts with and for society, oriented towards pro-poor and gender-sensitive development. A collaborative ecosystem will be provided within the project framework bringing together and connecting industrial partners, SMEs, scientists, policy makers, social representatives and other relevant stakeholders promoting data exchange, knowledge sharing and business opportunities.

iFishIENCi will deliver breakthrough innovations supporting sustainable aquaculture, based on enabling technologies and circular principles, thereby providing the European aquaculture industry with the competitive advantage and growth stimulation needed to be a mover in revolutionizing global efficiency in fish production and meet society's needs for food from the ocean. This ambitious task will be achieved by providing to the market the iFishIENCi Biology Online Steering System (iBOSS) that significantly improves production control and management for all fish aquaculture systems. iBOSS will maximise feed utilisation through smart feeding, provide continuous monitoring of fish behaviour, health and welfare and reduce response times to aberrations. iFishIENCi will target circular principles and zero waste by qualifying new and sustainable organic value chains for feeds, and valorisation of by-products. iFishIENCi´s innovations will provide important new assets to the consortiums SMEs, fish-farmers, feed producers and technology providers in the aquaculture sector, leading to market growth and job creation. Assets will be maximized through a comprehensive sustainability assessment and engagements with the sector, regulators and consumers. 11 European companies (SMEs and larger companies) and 7 research & Innovation expert groups are joining effort to achieve this innovation leap towards the implementation of smart feeding and smart breeding into the fish farming industry.