Context: A European problem and the search for a solution in the institutions
Role of aquaculture in Blue Growth is essential because it is positioned as one of the most relevant and interesting solution to supply food from aquatic origin, which is daily most demanded. This sustainable activity compensates the limitations that fishing activities have nowadays.
Furthermore, aquaculture offers solutions not only in environmental area but also in economic and social aspects. So, it is essential to reach the success of the Blue Growth and it has an incredible potential for innovation.
However, predation caused by great cormorants in aquaculture facilities located in ponds inshore or inland – as marine water as fresh water – is a huge problem across Europe. Authorities and specially aquaculture companies and entrepreneurs are trying to manage and solve this problem since a lot of years ago.
For example, in 2008, the European Parliament pronounced and published a resolution with regard to elaborate a PanEuropean Management and Control Plan – but in the end no practical measures were proposed – and recently, in 2022 apply in another resolution to the Commission to adopt measures and elaborate a Management Control Plan to approach the problem.
Even in May 2022 there was a public audience with regard to “The cormorant problematic affecting EU fisheries and aquaculture” and different experts from different countries and entities discussed about this topic. A workshop on management advice to reduce the impact of cormorant predation on fish and fisheries was also held in October 2024, with the aim of compiling management advice to reduce the impact of cormorant predation on fish, fisheries and aquaculture, and discussing possible regional management measures.
In addition, Aquaculture in ponds has a lot of benefits over the ecosystems due to the facilities offer different ecosystem services that are well known and without anthropic effects will no longer exists.
The disappearance of these human maintained earthen ponds would be a loss in terms of natural and cultural heritage. Furthermore, these areas play a fundamental role in mitigation of climate change and its abandonment would be an irreparable loss.
The Challenge: Using AI and technology to save our ecosystem
The main goal is to develop and test a non-lethal system to avoid predation in aquaculture systems based on earthen ponds. Unnamed Ground Vehicles (UGV’s) that incorporate diverse tools (green laser, ultrasound, etc) detect and act to chase away great cormorants though a specific software is required.
Currently we can find that UGV technologies have been developed to attend other sectors (eg. Agricultural) and this challenge could be an adaptation to the aquaculture sector. In addition, even being the first step to improve the measures that traditionally companies adopt to prevent damages caused by cormorants, but taking advantage of the state of the art technologies. In fact, there are vehicles that can take you on a tour of the facilities once you have learnt the road and track.
Besides this, we can also find different technology to scare cormorants – green laser and ultrasound – that has not tested previously neither vehicles nor automatic systems and we have now the opportunity to do it.
What is Blue Shuttle?
Blue Shuttle is a European project co-financed by the Interreg Atlantic Area Programme, implemented by a consortium of seven organizations from Spain, Portugal, France and Ireland. It aims to foster innovation in the blue economy by connecting real-world environmental and sustainability challenges with cutting-edge solutions from startups and SMEs. Through expert mentorship, real-life testing, and cross-border cooperation, Blue Shuttle accelerates the transition toward smarter, greener, and more resilient ocean-based economies.
Ready for the challenge?
If your startup or tech company is working on IoT, AI, digital farming or environmental monitoring, this is your opportunity.
Apply now to the Blue Shuttle Open Call and become the next innovation partner. The deadline to apply is April 30th.
Applications are open to startups and SMEs from the Atlantic Area (Portugal, Spain, France, and Ireland).
