PROMIWA project: Lessons learned and future collaboration Dr. Mette Sørensen PROMIWA conference Riga February 26th. 2010

Content of the presentation: Overview of Nofimas contribution Lessons learned in the project Future collaboration

Promotion of Sustainable Management of Fish and Crayfish Resources in Inland Waters and Environmentally Friendly Aquaculture (PROMIWA) The purpose of the project is improving local management of inland water fish resources and aquaculture to obtain sustainability of inland fish resources and aquaculture The project was organized in 5 activities, Nofima has contributed to 4 of these activities

Activity 1. Management of fish and crayfish in small lakes Contributed with advice, evaluation and feedback on three reports: 1.”Selection of PROMIWA Project Lakes” 2. “ Situation Analyses and Substantiation as to Small Lakes selection for breeding of Fresh water Creyfish” 3.“Recommendations on small –sized lake management” –Advice on important criteria on choise of demonstration lakes and species –Advice on culture models –Evaluation and feedback on performed work and results during project period

Activity 2. Improvement of knowledge base in the Aquaculture sector Training of aquaculture entrepeneurs, managers and lecturers. –Courses, each lasting for 3 days, was held in four different regions – NOFIMA prepared training material for the topics: Global farming Reproduction, developmental stages and growth of Rainbow trout Reproduction, developmental stages and growth of Carp Feeds, feed production and feeding management Aquaculture technology and water quality Health management, welfare and disease avoidance New species Breeding Harvest, Slaughter and Processing Technology Planning and Control of production

Activity 2. Questionnaire Prior to the courses in Latvia Nofima prepared a questionnaire that all participants were asked to answer –Aim: gather information from the participants about their expectations in order to tailor the topics and content of lectures to the expectations

Activity 2. Questionnaire

Activity 2. Improvement of knowledge base in the Aquaculture sector Lectures Written material Group work and discussions –Is it possible to reach the overall goals for aquaculture prospectives with the technology used in Latvia today? –Where is the most important market (domestic/international)? –Is there a market for increased production? –What products/species does the consumer want/pay for? –Will the aqucuaculture industry take place in freshwater / pond culture systems also in the future? –Is it possible to use aquaculture to resolve some of the problems observed in the fishing fleet today with non- sustainable harvesting of certain fish species?

Activity 2. Improvement of knowledge base in the Aquaculture sector cont…. Organizing a study trip to Norway for a group of 26 Latvian aquaculture entrepreneurs, managers and lecturers The aim of the study trip: –Give an introduction to small-scale commercial production of freshwater crayfish, value adding, processing and marketing of products through the use of branding and traditional and local production of products (“rakfisk” – half-fermented trout), as well as to give insight into water treatment and technology –Learn about Norwegian experience and best practice in aquaculture, application of education and scientific achievements NOFIMA Marin and the University of Life Sciences at Ås

Activity 3. Development and implementation of Latvian Inland Waters Fisheries and Aquaculture Information System (LIAIS) NOFIMA prepared a report summarizing the existing data collection system for aquaculture in Norway The report includes information on: –What information is included into data bases in Norway (laws and regulations, statistics, licenses etc) –How data collection is organized, how/where and how frequent information and data is submitted to data bases –Responsibility and delegation rules, availability of different kinds of data to/from system in Norway and EU, information system owners, users, beneficiaries, public availability and reporting packages Given input to the LIAIS

Lessons learned from the project - Output 1.Unique opportunity for people to meet and talk together 2.More collaboration among the fish producers 3.A very good platform to continue developing Latvian Aquaculture 1.Hopefully some new theoretical knowledge 2.System to report and monitor production in small lakes 3.Demonstration lakes 4.…… 5.……  Succesful project: All deliverables completed thanks to skillful project leader and her slaves….

Where do we move in the future è Why… … has performance followed this path? è Where… … is performance going in the future? è How… … can we act to change the future? Today Time Earnings ?

Latvian aquaculture today Good water resources Good water quality Traditon for cultivation and fishery several species in aquaculture High quality products Fish consuming people Aquaculture is a tradition  Small and fragmented industry  High competition from imported fish  Need for investment / Lack of funding (financial crisis)  Need for knowledge  Lack of aquaculture industry

Future: Great interest to develop Latvian aquaculture and improve the profit. How? –Latvia – the green corner of Europe? Eco-tourism in combination with ”Angling” –More spesialisation in fewer and more profitable species Intensification of production (e.g. rainbow trout) Creyfish –Product development –Marketing

How? You have to identify the opportunities –The fish farmers need to identify the opportunities –Get funding for management of an innovation network? Marketing / product development Education and training, research Funding and venture capital  Nofima would like to your partner

Funding schemes: EEA grants – Norwegian funds Nordforsk –Open call: Cross-border Living Labs Structures – Empowering Users in Real Life Settings –2 scandinavian countries + one from Baltics –Deadline March 5th. EU funds

Conclusion: Succesful project –More collaboration among the aquaculture entrepeneurs Platform for future development of the aquaculture sector –All milestones completed We have enjoyed meeting entrepeneurs, managers and lecturers – the pool of creativeness, knowledge and ideas