Eastern European aquaculture gets a boost Aquaculture can make a major contribution to food security and has major health benefits. This importance has been demonstrated by an EU-funded initiative, which has improved research capacity, infrastructure and intellectual property (IP) protection in fish farming at a regional centre of excellence. Climate Change and Environment © zmijak, Thinkstock The Research Institute for Fisheries, Aquaculture and Irrigation (HAKI) based in Szarvas, Hungary is a centre for aquaculture research and development in the Central and Eastern European (CEE) region. Currently, the low technological level of fish farming in CEE provides significant scope for innovation. The AQUAREDPOT (Improvement of research and innovation potential of Research Institute for Fisheries, Aquaculture and Irrigation (HAKI) to promote technological development in central and eastern European aquaculture) project was established to enable the region to achieve its full potential in fish farming. At least 11 research exchanges have taken place between HAKI and other European aquaculture research facilities. AQUAREDPOT has also overseen four training courses for more than 40 people as well as several international workshops. Twinning with partnering organisations has broadened the scope of the institute with regard to international cooperation, including joint participation in ongoing HORIZON 2020 projects. The initiative has also allowed HAKI to hire new scientific staff, including experts from India, Romania and Serbia, and build new aquaculture facilities for research. HAKI is also restoring a recirculating aquaculture system. This has strengthened research into areas such as fish nutrition, fish genetics and breeding, development of rearing technology and production system engineering. Infrastructure activities have contributed to the establishment of a ′pond-in-pond-system′ comprising 16 units, thereby enabling further research in combined intensive-extensive farming technologies. It has also resulted in the upgrading of the experimental recirculation system, including the installation of a semi-industrial scale unit suitable for conducting demonstration activities. Finally, AQUAREDPOT has run an IP course at HAKI, and evaluated current research for potential IP. In the long term, AQUAREDPOT will help HAKI become the leading aquaculture institute in the CEE region of Europe. Keywords Aquaculture, intellectual property, Central and Eastern European region, AQUAREDPOT, HORIZON 2020, recirculating aquaculture system, pond-in-pond-system
