Shellfish
BY NICKI HOLMYARD
Innovation ahoy! The English Aquaculture Innovation Hub has taken a step forward
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USTAINABLE development of the aquaculture sector can help contribute to na�onal food security while helping to meet lower carbon emissions from our food, so it is not surprising that efforts are being made to help promote growth of the industry in England. The pathway to achieving sustainable growth was set out in the English Aquaculture Strategy, released in November 2020, which iden�fied the development of an English Aquaculture Innova�on Hub as a cri�cal means to help achieve a tenfold increase in aquaculture produc�on over the next 20 years. The need for a hub that could help the sector develop county-wide, was also iden�fied in the Dorset Mariculture Strategy, released in August 2020. Dorset Coast Forum (DCF) has now taken up the reins, with ambi�ons to site a na�onal English Aquaculture Innova�on Hub in Dorset. DCF recently secured funding from the Marine Management Organisa�on (MMO) to undertake a wide-ranging feasibility study that it hopes will enable the idea to be taken beyond the concept stage. The ini�al funding is for a five-month project, which kicked off in October with a na�onwide study on the poten�al posi�ve economic impacts of si�ng the English Aquaculture Innova�on Hub in Dorset and percep�ons of how it could help the sector to grow. At the same �me, the New Economics Founda�on is undertaking an in-depth economic review of the en�re English aquaculture sector, which will include obtaining up-to-date informa�on from the sector, rather than just relying on official figures, which can be up to two years out of date.
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Hatch Blue – an interna�onal business set up to invest in sustainable wild-caught and farmed seafood innova�on – is also involved and is developing a business model and plan that will enable a hub to operate long-term. “Hatch Innova�on Services has undertaken similar studies in Canada, Norway, Ireland, the US and Singapore, and is very good at coming up with a concept to facilitate longevity, whether that is through membership fees, pay-asyou-go schemes, a levy or some other form of funding,” explains Mar�n Sutcliffe, Aquaculture and Fisheries Development Officer at DCF, who is leading the project. Dr Claude Kaplan, Director at Hatch Innova�on Services, says: “Hatch is really excited and proud to be working with Mar�n and his team to further develop and refine the concept of an English Aquaculture Innova�on Hub.” The English aquaculture sector is likely to be very different from that in Scotland, and it is more likely that seaweed and shellfish will be
This page from top: Geffrey Back and Jack Comben, Dorset Cleaner Fish; lumpfish [photo: Dorset Coast Forum and Dorset Cleaner Fish Ltd] Opposite, clockwise from top left: Mar�n Sutcliffe, Crab House Café; Seaweed spooling crew, Jurassic Sea Farms; Mike Webb, Jurassic Seafarms
www.fishfarmermagazine.com
09/12/2021 15:12:08
