SelectOrganic
Development of selective breeding programs for boosting organic fish farming in Europe
SelectOrganic aims to contribute to the development of selection programs for organic aquaculture that respect high standards of fish welfare.
Start
01. Sep 2025
End
28. Feb 2029
Funded by
Horizon Europe (EU)
Cooperation
Fondazione COISPA ETS , LUKE - Natural Resources Institute Finland INRAE - Institut national de recherche pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement, International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements European Union Regional Group, EFFAB - European Forum of Farm Animal Breeders, Wageningen University, Aristotelio Panepistimio Thessalonikis, Mowi Genetics AS, Aarhus University, HCMR - Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, Ravning Skov, Galaxidi Marine Farm AE, Le Syndicat des Sélectionneurs Avicoles et Aquacoles Français, IRIDA AE-Products for Animal Production-Services, Stichting Wageningen Research, Fridtjof Nansens Institutt, NMBU - Norwegian University of Life Sciences . Affiliated partners: Naturland, Ecloserie Marine de Gravelines Ichtus
Project Manager(s):
Other Participants:
Anja Striberny
Chris Noble
Muhammad Luqman Aslam
Evan Durland
Samuel Ortega Sarmiento
Furthermore we will contribute to enhance the fish’s robustness against bacterial diseases and heatwaves, while improving product quality and resource efficiency.
Background
Realisation of the great potential for growth of the aquaculture sector in Europe calls for a green transition and stronger fish welfare actions. Here, organic aquaculture can play a major role as a spear arrow in line with the European Green Deal and Farm to Fork Strategy. As the organic aquaculture in Europe is low, a significant strengthening is needed to overcome biological, technical and economic barriers for organic farming of Atlantic salmon, rainbow trout, seabass and seabream.
Goal
SelectOrganic aims to contribute to the development of selection programs for organic aquaculture that respect high standards of fish welfare. Furthermore we will contribute to enhance the fish’s robustness against bacterial diseases and heatwaves, while improving product quality and resource efficiency. We will chieve this through:
- genetic improvement of resistance to bacterial diseases and reduced need for antibiotic treatment
- genetic improvement of fish tolerance to heat waves as a result of climate change
- genetic improvement of feed utilisation and the use of alternative, climate-friendly feed ingredients
- genetic improvement of fish welfare and conservation of biodiversity, and thus greater acceptance among consumers
- close collaboration with stakeholders, including breeders, farmers, consumers and authorities, to ensure relevance and impact in both industry and society
What we do
In SelectOrganic, different disciplines are brought together in the pursuit of the overall and specific objectives.
Knowledge gaps will be identified in the baseline assessment phase with stakeholder engagement and followed up on in further project activities on defining organic breeding objectives, considering potential interactions, breeding practices and the need for developing further specific (tailored) organic breeding programs or to modify parts of conventional programs.
The project will fill knowledge gaps, by research, testing and demonstrations on phenotyping of ‘new organic’ traits (heat resilience, fish health and welfare traits, utilization of alternative feeds) and estimate genetic parameters and develop required reproduction technology methods and strategies.
Finally, we will integrate results and cocreate and design cost-effective selective breeding programs and plans for organic aquaculture of Atlantic salmon, rainbow trout and seabass and seabream. Involvement of stakeholders and results from benefit/cost analyses will ensure realistic implementation and successful impact.
