In a recently published government review on Swedish aquaculture it was mentioned that the University of Gothenburg should take a leading role in the development of aquaculture of marine fish and mussels. It was said that the university is now supporting research and development of the marine aquaculture sector via a new project, which aims to boost oyster farming as a new industrial sector in our region, in cooperation with Norwegian and Danish parties.
The project is said to be called Nord-Ostron, and is being pursued with support from the EU’s structural programme INTERREG IVA. Göran Johansson, chair of INTERREG’s steering committee for the Kattegat/Skagerrak section, said that it has huge potential in oyster aquaculture. He told that marine issues have gained increasing significance in this region. This project can break new ground when it comes to marine business development, he says.
The main purpose of project NORD-OSTRON is to find new models and tools that can boost oyster farming. This includes improving techniques at land-based hatcheries and developing systems for on-growing of oysters at sea. The EU is investing SEK 10 million (1 million euro) in the project, which has a total budget of just over SEK 20 million SEK (2 million euro) for the next three years.
Mare novum, a centre for marine innovation and business development at the University of Gothenburg, is being coordinated the project. The responsible person of this project is Susanne Lindegarth at the Department of Marine Ecology, University of Gothenburg.
