Acronym Happy Salmon
Category
Aquaculture
Title Physiology shapes the happy salmon: a systems approach to sustainable feeds for stimulation of growth, welfare and survival in salmon farming Programme National Programme
Instrument (FP6)
Contact Type (FP7)
Strand (Interreg)
NA
Theme (FP7)
Activity Area (FP6)
Regional Area (Interreg)
Action (COST)
NA
Specific Programme (FP7)
NA
Funding source National Coordinator Tom Ole Nilsen Coordinator email tom.nilsen@uib.no
Coordinator institution
UiB - University of Bergen (Norway)
Institutions involved
NA - Holar University College (Iceland) ,
SLU - Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (Sweden) ,
UGOT - University of Gothenburg (Sweden) ,
Start year 2021 End year 2024 Funding (€) € 300,000 Website https://prosjektbanken.forskningsradet.no/project/FORISS/332568?Kilde=FORISS&distribution=Ar&chart=bar&calcType=funding&Sprak=no&sortBy=date&sortOrder=desc&resultCount=30&offset=30&TemaEmne.1=LTP2+Hav&source=FORISS&projectId=321549 Summary The "Happy Salmon" project aims is to contribute with knowledge and solutions for a successful Atlantic salmon smolt production using novel sustainable feeds and that are applicable in modern recirculating landbased farming systems. Smoltification is the life stage transition when the young salmon changes habitat from a life in freshwater to seawater, and includes a spectrum of physiological changes for the fish to be able to cope with increased salinity. Smoltification is regarded as a stressful process, and the current smolt production protocols used by industry often lead to depressed appetite, stunted growth and impaired health and welfare of the fish, as well as a major production cost for the industry. In order to overcome these problems, the project will troubleshoot smolt production bottlenecks by targeting the underlying physiological mechanisms to salmon performance during different production cycle stages. We will follow the fish through the freshwater stage, smoltification, when moved to seawater, and as post smolts in seawater, in both flow-through and recirculating systems. We will test if alternative feeds based on marine raw materials, directly using marine microalgae
and side streams or indirectly using insects, will lead to a robust smolt prepared for a life in seawater, with high appetite and growth, health and welfare. The project will deliver new scientific knowledge about the fundamental biology of the fascinating smoltification process, in addition to applicable results for the industry. One major potential impact is a more ethical salmon production as well as increased production efficiency of the sector, through innovative prototype feeds and smolt production protocols.
Keywords
Recirculating systems;
Algae;
Fish biology;
Feed composition;
Land-based aquaculture;
Salmon;
Fish;
Marine Region
76
Not associated to marine areas
0
Marine Region Map
