Issues of the importance of algae and shrimp farming in the food economy, blue bond financing and the sensitivity of Polish consumers to environmental issues are on the agenda of a webinar series entitled Challenges and Opportunities of Blue Bioeconomics in the Baltic Sea Region. It will take place in January and February 2022 at UG as part of the BluePlatform project.
It is organised by the Department of Experimental Ecology of Marine Organisms at the Institute of Oceanography, Faculty of Oceanography and Geography, UG. Students, blue economy professionals (aquaculture, biotechnology), business associations and associations, investors and representatives of administration are invited to participate. Registration will open in early January 2022.
Programme:
19 January 2022, 12.00-13.00,
dr Aleksandra Zgrundo, University of Gdańsk - The breeding and economic potential of algae in the Baltic Sea region.
This talk will cover basic introductory issues to the world of algae and their importance for the blue bioeconomy. Until now, algae have been largely ignored as an economic element in most European countries.
By 2022, the European Commission has planned an EU algae initiative to boost the blue bioeconomy sector by supporting research and innovation, collecting and mapping data, improving regulatory and governance frameworks and supporting market development.
The action taken was prompted by the recognition of the huge potential of algae, especially in aquaculture where their farming can be combined with animal husbandry and provide not only healthy food but also support important ecosystem services like carbon sequestration, nutrient removal, habitat restoration and enhancing the resilience of coastal ecosystems.
26 January 2022, 12.00-13.00,
dr hab. Magdalena Mosionek-Schweda, University of Gdańsk - Blue bonds as a source of financing for a sustainable blue economy.
The global ocean economy is valued at about USD 1.5 trillion per year, 80 percent of world trade is carried out by sea, and 350 million jobs worldwide are related to fisheries.
According to the speaker, a major challenge in this area is to ensure that activities are adequately funded - according to an OECD report, official financial assistance to the ocean economy was small between 2014 and 2018, averaging US$3 billion per year. Financial markets play an important role as a source of financing for activities and projects aimed at environmental protection and sustainable development. As a consequence, the ideas of green and blue finance have recently proliferated at the global level.
The lecture will focus on blue bonds issued to finance the sustainable use of marine resources.
2 February 2022, 12.00-13.00,
mgr inż. Tomasz Kulikowski, National Marine Fisheries Research Institute - PIB - Introduction of new aquaculture products to the market - consumers' knowledge and expectations regarding the environmental impact of the product.
The lecture will aim to present a review of quantitative studies on the sensitivity of Polish consumers to environmental issues, also in the context of the importance for consumers of the environmental impact (including climate) of individual products and production methods.
There will also be a discussion on the need for labelling new aquaculture products with labels indicating their environmental impact.
9 February 2022, 12.00-13.00,
prof. dr hab. Monika Normant-Saremba, University of Gdańsk - Feed and growth of shrimps in sustainable farming - challenges and perspectives.
The quality of feed is one of the factors determining proper growth and development in a farm. Shrimps and prawns are organisms with a complex developmental cycle, having only innate immunity and their need for protein in feed is higher than in fish.
Therefore, among the biggest challenges in feeding this group of organisms is the search for: feed for the youngest and transitional life stages, effective bio supplements to reduce mortality and accelerate growth, and fish meal substitutes with low nutritional value.
Promising perspectives are offered by nutrigenomic research, which on one hand can help to predict physiological or metabolic changes in cultured shrimps resulting from dietary modifications and on the other hand, to design specific diets e.g. for different species or life stages.