Vlaams Aquacultuursymposium 2024: Navigating Ecological Considerations and Sustainability in Mariculture Practices
Participation in the symposium is free but registration before November 29th, 2024 is mandatory.
On the 12th of December, 2024 EMBRC-BE and VAP organize a symposium that brings together various stakeholders including scientists, political, industrial and non-governmental parties to explore the horizon of ecological sustainable marine aquaculture, uncovering both its threats and opportunities.
Context
Marine aquaculture stands at the forefront of addressing the increasing global demand for seafood while presenting a range of ecological and social challenges. The symposium aims to illuminate the intricate balance between sustainable use of marine resources and the potential risks associated with this rapidly evolving aquaculture industry. The symposium will cover:
Ecological Considerations: What are the environmental impacts of marine aquaculture and what are strategies to enhance biodiversity, water quality, and ecosystem integrity?
Ecological Sustainability in Focus: What are best strategies and good practices that promote sustainable marine aquaculture, mitigate negative impacts, while ensuring the preservation of our oceans for generations to come?
The following thematic sessions will take place
- Aquaculture in Open Sea: Identify the challenges and possibilities of open-sea aquaculture and explore the practices shaping the sustainable cultivation of marine species.
- Land-Based Aquaculture: Discuss the intricacies of land-based aquaculture. Examine the threats and opportunities in this segment of the industry.
- Restorative Aquaculture: Present approaches that integrate aquaculture practices into environmental conservation and coastal resilience strategies.
- Belgian initiatives in a context of ecological sustainable aquaculture
Programme
- 9:00 Registration
- 9:30 Introduction
- Welcome to Marifish - Sylvie Becaus (Marifish)
- Introduction to aims of the day - Ann Vanreusel (Ugent, EMBRC-BE Director)
- Vlaams Aquacultuur Platform - Stefan Teerlinck (Inagro)
- 10:00 Opening keynote
- Prospects of seaweed cultivation and the opportunities of seaweed sustainable aquaculture - Philippe Potin (Sorbonne University)
- 10.30 - 11.00 Coffee break
- 11:00 Sustainable aquaculture in open sea
- Offshore aquaculture in Belgian windparks, lessons learned from the UNITED and ULTFARMS projects - Jessica Knoop, Annelies Declercq, Olivier De Clerck (UGent)
- The Belgian vision on sustainable aquaculture in the BPNS - Tine Miet Van Maele (Institute of Natural Sciences)
- Coexistence of Mariculture and Fisheries: A Win-Win for All? - Jasper Van Vlasselaer (ILVO)
- TBD - Eric Wakkee (OOS)
- 12:00 Land based aquaculture: a sustainable alternative for marine-based aquaculture?
- Inshore aquaculture of marine molluscs as an alternative and sustainable source of animal proteins on salinized land - Katja Philippart (Nioz, Universiteit Utrecht)
- Is land-based aquaculture pricing itself out of the marked despite its sustainable character? - Willy Verdonck (Belgian Caviar)
- The BlueMarine³.Com project – multispecies nursery cultivation in RAS - Vincent Vermeylen (UGent)
- 12:45 - 14:00 Lunch
- 14:00 Restorative aquaculture
- Feeding the future: Redefining Responsible Feed for Aquaculture - Maurane Martin Hernandez (Aquaculture Stewardship Council)
- Adapting native oyster restoration to the scale of offshore energy development in the North Sea - Molly Hughes (UGent)
- Artificial Hard Substrate Garden (AHSG) facilitates restorative aquaculture in Belgian marine environment - Wannes De Clercq (Institute of Natural Sciences)
- Towards restorative aquaculture of flat oysters (Ostrea edulis) in northern Europe: a modeling approach - Brecht Stechele
- 15:00 Belgian initiatives in a context of ecological sustainable aquaculture
- Ecological sustainability in financing aquaculture - Sofie Van Den Hende (Blauwe Cluster)
- Environmental challenges related to cultivation of mussels in the North Sea - Donaat Mortelmans (Colruyt - Zeeboerderij)
- Innovative monitoring of aquaculture - multibeam measurements to predict bivalve crops - Thomas Vandorpe (VLIZ)
- 15:45-16:15 Coffee break
- 16:15 Panel discussion
- How to safeguard ecological sustainable mariculture in Belgium? - Moderator: Marijn Rabaut
- 17:00 Closing of the event
- Belgian ambitions towards ecological considerations and sustainability in mariculture practices - Marijn Rabaut
- 17:15 Network reception
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