AquaVitae Consortium, a working group dedicated to furthering the development, education, and communication around sustainable aquaculture, has acquired its first American representative, according to a recent report from the Portland Press Herald.
The University of New England (UNE), which has campuses in Biddeford and Portland, Maine, has become the working group’s sole American member. A trans-Atlantic council, the AquaVitae Consortium focuses on the promotion of sustainable aquaculture practices on the four continents bordering the Atlantic Ocean. Representatives from Scandinavia, Europe, South America, and southern Africa are also part of the consortium.
The consortium’s four-year program is funded by a USD 8.9 million (EUR 7.8 million) grant from the European Union, with the University of New England and the Norwegian Institute of Food, Fisheries and Aquaculture Research paying for travel to partner institutions for research and collaboration, according to the Press Herald.
“It is a tremendous honor to be the only U.S. institution in the consortium,” said Barry Cost-Pierce, executive director of UNE-North: The Institute for North Atlantic Studies.
UNE and the school of marine programs will develop training and education to support the region’s growing aquaculture industry, it said. AquaVitae’s current focus is on how to grow species low on the food chain, from microalgae to finfish, the newspaper added.
