An NCCOS scientist is co-author with 19 international project partners on a project, “AquaSpace: Ecosystem Approach to making Space for Aquaculture - Industry-wide Issues and Options,“ for which a  summary will be presented by Prof. Joao Ferreira in Brussels on February 6, 2018. The AquaSpace project was funded by the European Commission Horizon2020 Program under the topic “Optimizing space availability for European Aquaculture” and began in 2015. This is the final team meeting that will close the project, at which there will be a showcase and discussion of project results and policy implications. All project partners as well as Reference Group members, other stakeholders and European Union (EU) policymakers have been invited to attend. The AquaSpace project focused on issues that challenge aquaculture expansion. The project team included governmental, research and industry partners. A variety of tools and databases were used and developed to evaluate and address issues that have limited the siting and expansion of aquaculture in European waters. Partners from the US and Canada, included under the tripartite “Galway Agreement,” provided case studies that showed that these issues are not unique to the EU. The project results and tools will be disseminated and should prove useful for thoughtful sustainable expansion of aquaculture in the EU, US, Canada and globally.

Related Project pages:

• Shellfish Aquaculture and Payment for Ecosystem Services in Chesapeake Bay
• http://coastalscience.noaa.gov/projects/detail?key=250
• Aquaculture and Eutrophication in Long Island Sound and Great Bay - Piscataqua Estuary   http://coastalscience.noaa.gov/projects/detail?key=32
• Improved Aquaculture Decision-making Using the Aquaculture Mapping Atlas and FARM Model  http://coastalscience.noaa.gov/projects/detail?key=59