According to Basque Research, among the most pressing problems the sector is facing are the lack of the necessary infrastructure in many cases, and the technical difficulties involved in managing this waste properly.
Faced with this situation the National Advisory Board for Mariculture (JACUMAR), with the technical guidance of AZTI-Tecnalia and in collaboration with the regional governments of Catalonia, Galicia, the Canary Islands and Andalusia, has carried out a project within the Framework for National Mariculture Plans for TECHNIQUES FOR MINIMIZING, TREATING AND MAKING USE OF AQUACULTURE WASTE.
One of the results of this project is this Guide for Minimizing Aquaculture Waste produced jointly by the Public Corporation for Agriculture and Fisheries Development, the Canary Islands Institute for Marine Sciences, IRTA, and AZTI-Tecnalia as a tool for aquaculture companies to assist them in the prevention of contamination. This Guide can be found on the AZTI-Tecnalia web site (www.azti.es).
Its principal aim is to provide techniques for minimizing at source the main waste products generated in aquaculture. Thus, the possibility is being sought not only to reduce the volume of waste generated and consequently the problems associated with managing it, but also to lower production costs, and thereby increase the competitiveness of the activity.
Minimising Aquaculture Waste in Spain
SPAIN - Major expansion is taking place in the Spanish aquaculture sector. Yet this practice entails an increase in the generation of waste and by-products, which more and more frequently constitutes an environmental and economic problem as well as one of complying with the legislation regulating aquacultural activities.