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Interdisciplinary Research for Bio-integrated Agro-Aquaculture Systems

Project Partners

Project Partners

Universidad Católica del Norte

Experimental process for aquaculture sludge management, including water recovery, solar dehydration, and production of agricultural nutrients

Use of settleable solids as a source of agricultural nutrients

  • Fish between 10 g and 500 g in four RAS
  • Distribution of sizes and velocities of solids produced by fish (monthly)
  • Characterization of solids and feces; dissolved excretions
  • Design of a solids mineralizer (nitrate, potassium, calcium, magnesium, sulfates, others)
  • Solar dehydration of sludge

Recirculated water from shrimp and trout cultures as a source of nutrients for hydroponic vegetables

  • Fish in four RAS
  • Shrimp in 6 hydroponic tanks
  • Plants in 6 hydroponic tanks connected to three RAS

Year 1

  • Bio-integrated cultivation trials with trout, shrimp, lettuce, and basil
  • Preparation of systems at UCN and technical high schools
  • Determination of nutrients produced by fish and shrimp
  • Determination of horticultural production
  • Trip to Türkiye and Norway to visit universities and local aquaculture/agriculture activities
  • Preparation of training and validation materials
  • Development of a website plus online training modules translated into Spanish
  • Outline the content of workshops for postgraduate, undergraduate, teachers, and high-school students

Year 2

  • Case studies of bio-integrated systems
  • Systems operating at UCN and high schools
  • Determination of production of fish, shrimp, lettuce, and basil
  • Improvement of training materials based on results

Norwegian University of Life Sciences

Development and implementation of short courses in sustainable aquaculture over four years

  • Target audiences: students, researchers, professionals, entrepreneurs, industry stakeholders, and sectoral government authorities
  • Courses, workshops, online modules, case studies, panel discussions, social media activities, and in-person events

Courses on sustainable feed formulation for aquaculture (on-site and online)

Modules with in-person activities:

  • Feed formulation
  • Small-scale experimental designs
  • Visits to fish farms
  • Case studies

Year 1

  • Course development for four years
  • Plan and promote the course

Year 2

First annual in-person workshop – Use of sustainable ingredients to formulate aquaculture feeds

  • Sustainable feed ingredients (insect meal, macroalgae, others)
  • Low-cost formulation
  • Visits to technology centers, etc.

Year 3

Second annual in-person workshop – Small-scale design to evaluate sustainable feed ingredients for fish

Year 4

Third annual in-person workshop – Production of sustainable ingredients for aquaculture and effects of formulation on the final product

  • Panel discussions with industry experts
  • Visits to macroalgae farms and commercial salmon farms

NMBU’s Role in the Project

  • Provides expertise on developing high-quality feed ingredients for sustainable aquaculture.
  • Conducts research on upcycling of natural resources and side streams from forestry and agriculture into feed components.
  • Integrates scientific outputs from Foods of Norway research and several spin-off projects into the project.
  • Organizes courses and workshops on:
    • Sustainable aquaculture,
    • Circular economy,
    • Feed and food security
      targeting academia, industry, policymakers, and society.
  • Implements knowledge dissemination activities, including social media outreach.
  • Collaborates with the global aquafeed company BioMar to strengthen the research–industry interface.
  • Contributes to the development of scalable feed solutions with low environmental impact.
  • Develops solutions to reduce dependence on imported plant proteins in the European aquaculture sector.
  • Supports the transition from a linear feed model to a circular production model.
  • Conducts studies on microbial-based feed ingredients (yeast, filamentous fungi, bacteria).
  • Develops and tests Pekilo® (Paecilomyces variotii), a fungal protein produced from forestry side streams.
  • Investigates Pekilo’s effects on:
    • Growth performance,
    • Feed conversion ratio,
    • Nitrogen and phosphorus emissions,
    • Gut health.
  • Evaluates Pekilo under commercial field conditions and pathogen challenge trials (notably Moritella viscosa and Tenacibaculum spp.).
  • Supports industrial scale-up of Pekilo production in collaboration with Bio3.
  • Studies fucoidan from brown algae (sugar kelp) for its:
    • Immunomodulatory,
    • Antibacterial and antiviral effects,
    • Modulation of gut microbiota.
  • Assesses fucoidan’s impact on mortality reduction in salmon infection trials.
  • Builds the scientific foundation for healthier fish, reduced environmental impact, and strengthened circular food systems.

Bursa Uludag University

Develop and implement with a circular economy approach and aquaculture sludge recovery

  • Training materials
  • Online modules
  • Sustainability workshops

Year 1

Development of a curriculum and bio-integrated training materials

  • Plan a needs assessment
  • Experimental development with UCN
  • Visits to aquaponic systems in Türkiye
  • Preparation of training materials
  • Preparation of a website including training materials
  • Outline workshop content

Year 2

Workshop development

  • Specific groups of people will be invited to the workshops
  • Experimental results from UCN will be used as part of the training material
  • Topics include circular economy, resource efficiency, organic waste management, energy management, and water recovery and treatment