Crystal clear shrimp: next generation water filtration and waste up-cycling, for sustainable and profitable indoor shrimp farming
Duration: December 1, 2022 – November 30, 2025
Label: DBC project (ongoing)
The last decade has seen a strong growing interest in aquaculture and related activities in Flanders, both from the industrial side and from the government. A general problem that arises and complicates further scaling up to commercial sites is the high cost of production and the increasing pressure on local resources (water, space, raw materials). This project will make it possible to produce larger volumes of sea food on smaller areas, at a competitive market price and according to sustainable principles.
The overall objective of this project is to develop an indoor shrimp culture concept with zero water exchange and almost zero waste production. The new concept is based on improved clear-water technology, enabling intensive shrimp farming. At the same time, the footprint will also be reduced by recycling waste into a product that promotes shrimp health. To that end, C-shrimp will:
– Build a new experimental facility as the starting platform to develop all the tools.
– Add a module to grow microalgae that will remove nitrate from the system.
– Develop a new filtration system to remove significantly more solid sludge from the shrimp RAS system.
– Develop a new fermentation process to convert shrimp RAS waste into a feed material for shrimp farms.
– Develop a modified shrimp diet that has immunostimulatory effects and contains less fish and soybean meal.
In the first place, this project is needed to farm sufficient shrimp for the expanding CRO work of IMAQUA in Flanders. If this new farming concept can be successfully commercialized in the future, it will be a breakthrough for European fish, shellfish and crustacean production and improve competition with imported products. The techniques developed will also be relevant for scaling up hatchery and nursery installations.
Partners: IMAQUA, Avecom, Trome, Ghent University
With the support of: VLAIO and the European Union
Contact person: Lien Loosvelt
Background
The FResCO project of the spearhead clusters Catalisti and De Blauwe Cluster was recognized as an intercluster project within the Flemish policy plan bio-economy, financed from the relaunch plan ‘Flemish Resilience’. With these funds, the Flemish government gives an extra impulse by supporting (inter)cluster projects between the research world and various private sectors that fall within one or more of the themes defined in the bioeconomy policy plan.
