Homepage - iFishienci

WELCOME TO H2020 iFishIENCi

Intelligent Fish feeding through Integration of Enabling technologies and Circular principles

Digital monitoring of behaviour & health

Circular economy & valorization of waste

Advanced water monitoring & smart feeding

Digital learning & decision support

Cloud based integration & precision farming

Project

iFishIENCi is an EU Horizon 2020 project bringing together 16 partners in a trans-disciplinary effort aimed at making genuine improvements to aquaculture management and practices. The overall goal of the iFishIENCi project is to provide new intelligent feeding technologies to support ambitious, but sustainable growth for the European aquaculture industry.

Innovation

The project uses advanced digital information technology to monitor all aspects of fish and their environment. This cutting-edge research is being combined with a holistic understanding of how these new technologies will interact with society and stakeholders in terms of economy, politics, social welfare, animal welfare and ethics.

iBOSS

Information about fish behaviour, physiology and their environmental conditions can be collected in real-time from a variety of fish farms, and then securely transferred to digital representation of a real fish. The analytical picture this produces will take the form of the digital fish: a form of Artificial Intelligence, which can ‘learn.’ The digital fish will then send a message back to the monitoring system, which can then either inform the farmer, or make an automated change. The time taken from monitoring, decision making and response, will be of a pace much quicker than what is possible by a human observer.

Waste2Value

Increased efficiency and enhanced decision making should allow healthier fish, optimal feeding and optimal growth. More efficient use of feed results in a more efficient conversion of feed to fish growth, and a reduction in waste. This means more fish, less feed and less waste. Waste2Value is a value-chain, circular economy approach towards reducing waste and enhancing the sustainability of feeding fish. The wastes become valorized, through their use as a substrate for the growth of microalgae, which are being selected based upon their ability to replace the conventional ingredients of fish feed.

Newsletters

Publications

Events

Video

See more videos related to iFishIENCi

News

8th June 2023On World Ocean Day, we look to the future, and ensure that we are working towards sustainable use of our shared resources and supporting youth blue literacy so that the next generation will be well prepared to care for our seas. Last week, Partner AquaBioTech Group held a sustainable seafood hackathon for our youngest and most precious audience. A group of nine students from St Aloysius College, Malta, along with their two teachers, were invited to their research facilities in Mosta, Malta, to learn more about seafood, its production as wild-caught or farmed fish, health and environmental issues, transport and food safety and trust. The event was held in collaboration with the FishEUTrust Malta Living Lab, the Blue Schools Med programme and European Maritime Day In My Country. The fisheries and aquaculture expert team- including Dr Adrian Love, Sean Dimech, Justin Galea, and Alex Boyle- covered all bases, from why seafood is healthy to how can we farm and catch fish, all while taking into account the sustainability, circularity and environmental issues. The students were the audience and reviewers for the first premier of the iFishIENCi animation “Smart Solutions: Recirculating Aquaculture Systems” which has since been launched to the public on YouTube . The enthusiastic participants already had a very good knowledge of seafood through their ongoing Blue Schools Med engagement and were very active in giving their perspectives and opinions. They co-created interesting communication materials with the scientists to disseminate their knowledge on seafood issues, under the mentorship of marketing guru Jolanda Viviers (AquaBioTech Group) and mentors Dannie O’Brien (iFishIENCi) and Stela Karovic (FishEUTrust). The majority of the students said they consume seafood and that they like it, including in traditional and in more international and contemporary preparations. Their favourite topics were seafood appearance, and the difference of it between farmed and caught fish; why bycatch is harmful to the environment; and how to sustainably catch fish using new fishing gears. The students presented their own creative communications on these topics to the expert scientists, and then have taken these back to their school to present to their other student colleagues and spread the word! After the presentations ended, the students tried seaweed chips and snacks, which were surprisingly yummy, and were led on a tour of ABT Innovia research facilities, where they could see the Recirculating Aquaculture Systems (SmartRAS) and different fish species which can be grown in them, followed by a prize ceremony where they all received ocean related prizes. FishEUTrust Project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe programme under grant agreement no. 101060712. This activity was held as part of the Consumer Stakeholder Outreach and Cocreation activities of iFishIENCi H2020 (European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 818036) and organised as part of the European Maritime Day In My Country event program. We are grateful to the Blue Schools Med (ERASMUS+ project KA201-92BE234C) team, Prof. Mark Mifsud and Prof. Alan Deidun at the University of Malta, for their support in this event and would like to thank also the enthusiastic students and teachers at St Aloysius College. [...]

Eurofish conference “Aquaculture in Europe – Sustainable Seafood for the Future”

6th June 2023Last week our partner #Bajcshal presented at the International aquaculture conference: Salt- and Freshwater Aquaculture in Europe – Sustainable Seafood for the Future, in Bucharest, Romania, to over 170 participants from 32 countries representing European and international industry. The presentation on African catfish breeding featured their ongoing work in this area including work from the iFishIENCi project. The conference featured sessions on freshwater aquaculture, saltwater aquaculture, markets, and certification, with presentations from international and local experts. Find out more [...]

New Publication: Validation of a male-specific DNA marker confirms XX/XY-type sex determination in several Hungarian strains of African catfish (Clarias gariepinus)

29th May 2023Congratulations to our partner colleagues from Magyar Agrár- és Élettudományi Egyetem (MATE) on the publication of their paper “Validation of a male-specific DNA marker confirms XX/XY-type sex determination in several Hungarian strains of African catfish (Clarias gariepinus)”. In collaborative authorship with The Hungarian National Fishing Association and supported by iFishIENCi Partner Bajcshal and other Hungarian farms, this research investigates sex determination in Hungarian strains of African Catfish. Read it here [...]

26th May 2023On the 24th of May, nine local and international aquaculture stakeholders from industry and education with interests in recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) were present for the technical presentation, workshop and the tour to see SmartRAS technologies in action. Hosted at AquaBioTech group and featuring presentations from for of the project partners, including Sergei Budaev and Ivar RØnnestad (University of Bergen), Nicolas Prost (Bioceanor), Luc Gasser (EGM) and Giovanni Marco Cussimano (AquaBioTech Group) this demo event explained how the iFishIENCi technological tools were used to carry our feeding experiments on Atlantic salmon at the facility. This is the latest in a series of opportunities for industry, researchers and students to engage with the SmartRAS technologies and see for themselves how this iFishIENCi iBOSS, FishMet and Fish-Talk-To-Me technologies have been integrated in recirculating aquaculture including Biology Online innovations and the Smart Feeding AI. In June 2022, Hungarian master students engaged in a two day training and workshop on SmartRAS and in December of the same year an online event was hosted to demonstrate how the SmartRAS had been adapted to support trials with African catfish. Find out more about the event here. [...]

iFishIENCi final event open for registration!

19th May 2023If you haven’t yet seen the news on our socials or Newsletter, our final event has been announced. It will be held this June 21st and 22nd at NCE Seafood Innovation Cluster premises in Bergen and will feature technical and policy workshops, showcase of the iFishIENCi innovations, networking and future innovation ideation around the topics of digitalisation, optimised feeding and circularity for Aquaculture 4.0. Read the full details and program here and register to get your tickets. Meet you in Bergen! [...]