Astral Project

ASTRAL will develop new, sustainable, profitable and resilient value chains for integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA) production within the framework of existing, emerging and potential Atlantic markets. The proposal gathers four IMTA labs including open offshore (Ireland, Scotland), flow-through inshore (South Africa) and recirculation inshore (Brazil) systems and one prospective IMTA lab (Argentina), focusing on a regional challenge-based perspective, including fish, mollusc, echinoderm, crustacean and algae species. ASTRAL will increase circularity by 50-60% compared to monoculture baseline aquaculture and will provide a circular business model, boosting revenue diversification for aquaculture producers increasing profitability by at least 30%. New and improved innovative technology will be developed, including biosensors, sensors, IoT and an AI data analytics platform to be validated at IMTA labs at TRL 5. Potential environmental and climatic risks for Northern and Southern Atlantic regions will be addressed, delivering a monitoring programme and recommendations for Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs), pathogens and microplastics. ASTRAL will deliver an ambitious and gender-sensitive human capital development plan (HUCAP) which will improve professional skills and create a highly trained workforce. ASTRAL will share, integrate and co-generate knowledge, technology, practices and efforts with and for society, oriented towards pro-poor and gender-sensitive development. A collaborative ecosystem will be provided within the project framework bringing together and connecting industrial partners, SMEs, scientists, policy makers, social representatives and other relevant stakeholders promoting data exchange, knowledge sharing and business opportunities. ASTRAL has received funding from the EU's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 863034.