Marine aquaculture is increasingly playing a key role in food production to face world’s population continuous growth and to cope with the ever-decreasing availability of land area and freshwater scarcity as well as the unpredictable impacts of climate change.
The Portuguese Institute for the Ocean and Atmosphere (IPMA) possess a strong cluster of competences for the ocean, marine resources, and the atmosphere. Aquaculture Research Station (EPPO) is a facility of IPMA, specialized in marine aquaculture, dedicated to conduct research and development from benchtop to a pilot, semi-industrial scale and for specialized training, knowledge transfer and capacity building at different levels. It has an area of about 7ha with more than 250 tanks gathering unique experimental conditions on aquaculture at national and international levels
The EPPO is equipped with hatchery facilities for research and experimental production with different rearing circuits (broodstock, larvae, juvenile), a pre-fattening area (for earthen ponds and sea cage production) and RAS systems.
In this center we have broodstock for 8 different species of fish (Sparus aurata, Dicentrarchus labrax, Solea senegalensis, Argyrosomus regius, Diplodus sargus, Sardina Pilchardus, Epinephelus marginatus and Seriola rivoliana) as well as sea urchins (Paracentrotus lividus) with rearing protocols already developed or under development. Macroalgae, microalgae and live feeds are also produced.
EPPO is also equipped with analytical laboratories (biochemical, histological, molecular and cellular biology, microbiology and fish pathology).
Industry support, technical training as well as production of new marine species, nutrition, welfare, environmentally friendly production systems and assessment of onshore and offshore and production systems for fish grow-out are some of the research lines developed at EPPO.
Specialized training at various levels, internships and training in an industrial context are offered through specific programs.
Acknowledgements
PACTO DE INOVAÇÃO BIOECONOMIA AZUL (Project No. C644915664-00000026), AQUARAS (MAR- 02.01.02-FEAMP-0223) and SAUDE&AQUA (MAR 02.05.01-FEAMP-0009).