Moving towards sustainable crustacean farming: A summer school on white-leg shrimp in Poland
Food from farms is a big part of our everyday life. We have become frequent consumers of aquaculture products, but we know little about where they come from and under what conditions they are farmed, especially crustaceans like shrimp.
Most of the aquaculture products we eat come from Asia, nevertheless there are a growing number of aquaculture farms in the U.S and Europe although countries in the South Baltic region, including Poland, still have a very small role in the sector.
To change the current situation, the team from the Institute of Oceanography, University of Gdańsk, has taken on the challenge to develop the potential of crustacean aquaculture focusing on new species and technologies. As part of the EU South Baltic project InnoAquaTech, on September 17-19 the institute organized a summer school for Polish stakeholders called Innovative aquaculture – white shrimp - Litopenaeus vannamei.
The summer school reached out to aquaculture entrepreneurs, potential investors and specialists interested in recirculation technology and crustacean farming. In total, over thirty SME and research representatives from all over Poland participated in the event to listen to and take part in presentations, laboratory workshops and discussions held by private entrepreneurs and practitioners, as well as experts in the field.
The program was divided into thematic sessions, starting with lectures and a practical laboratory focused on crustaceans present on the Polish market. One session was dedicated to aquaculture in RAS systems. During this session participants learned how to establish a farm, including applicable legal issues, costs, the current state of technological advancement and development prospects, design and installation principles and practical hints on basic parameters of water quality in white shrimp farming on land. Another session discussed the future market potential for shrimps in Poland, followed by a culinary workshop making sushi with the shrimp at a local restaurant in Sopot.
The last day started with a discussion panel on the economics of shrimp production, followed by a session on the InnoAquaTech pilot studies by project partners active in the South Baltic Region.
The training was very well received by the participants and the organizing team hope that the knowledge and competences gained at the school will be utilized in the future, creating new opportunities for sustainable aquaculture in Poland.
In April 2019, a second summer school is planned at the University of Rostock, focusing on land-based freshwater aquaculture in recirculating systems and the potential of aquaponics within the South Baltic Region.
For more information about the summer school, please contact:
InnoAquaTech Project UG coordinator: Hanna Łądkowska, ocehl(at)ug.edu.pl
InnoAquaTech Project information: Basia Dmochowska, ocebd(at)ug.edu.pl
To read the full report on the summer school (in English), click here.