The most important event in the aquaculture sector in Europe was held this week in the city of Valencia, with 500 oral presentations, 400 scientific posters and the participation of more than 2,000 people from almost 80 countries.
With six oral presentations, five scientific posters and the presence of several of the projects it promotes, the ECOAQUA University Institute, belonging to the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC), participated this week in Aquaculture Europe 2025 (AE2025), the most important event in the aquaculture sector in Europe.
Organised by the European Aquaculture Society (EAS), this conference, held at the Valencia Conference Centre, brought together more than 2,000 professionals from almost 80 countries and disciplines such as science, education, production, supply and policy to discuss advances and challenges in the sustainability of the aquaculture sector.
ECOAQUA has been present at this conference through important projects such as Larvoost (PID2021-122474OB-I00), which has Dr. Daniel Montero Vitores and Dr. Silvia Torrecillas Burriel as principal investigators (PI); Aquaexcel 3.0, whose PI is Dr. Rafael Ginés Ruiz; AquaWind, whose PIs are Dr. Rafael Ginés Ruiz and Dr. Francisco Javier Roo Filgueira; SIRENA, with Ángel Rodríguez Santana, director of the Physical Oceanography and Applied Geophysics (OFYGA) research group, and Ana María Mancho Sánchez (CSIC/ICMAT) as principal investigators; ReMAP. European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund, whose PI is Ricardo Haroun, also director of ECOAQUA, as well as the Canary Islands Marine Science Programme THINKINAZUL-Canarias, in which ECOAQUA participates.
Among the more than 500 oral presentations and 400 e-posters, ECOAQUA was present at several of the 40 scientific sessions in a top-level scientific programme covering all aspects of research and innovation in aquaculture.
On Tuesday 23rd, in the session entitled “Allocating Space for Aquaculture”, Andrej Abramic, a researcher from ECOAQUA's Biodiversity and Conservation (BIOCON) group, gave a presentation on the study “How Input Data Quality Affects Aquaculture Zoning”.
On the same day, in the session entitled “Nutrition-Functional Ingredients”, Luis Molina-Roque, a researcher from the Aquaculture Research Group (GIA) Luis Molina-Roque gave a presentation entitled “In Vitro and in Vivo Effects of Bioactives from Terrestrial and Marine Byproducts and Low Value Biomass in Gilthead Seabream Sparus Aurata Post-Larvae”, a study that forms part of the Larvoost project (PID2021-122474OB-I00).
Presentation by Luis Molina Roque at the conference.
In the same session, Professor Daniel Montero, also from the GIA, gave an oral presentation entitled ‘Immuno-Nutrition in Weaning Diets: The Use of Paecilomyces Variotii (Pekilo®) for Gilthead Seabream Sparus Aurata Larvae: Effects on Growth Performance and Larval Health’.
Professor Daniel Montero during his speech at Aquaculture Europe.
The “Early Life” session, also held on Tuesday 23rd, also featured the presentation “Effects of Single and Combined Microalgae on Larval Growth, Development and Survival of the Sea Cucumber Holothuria Arguinensis” by GIA researcher Gercende Courtois de Viçose.
On Wednesday 24th, in the ‘Selective Breeding & Genomics’ session, GIA researcher Marina Martínez Soler gave a presentation entitled ‘Integrating Imashrimp, a Deep Learning and Computer Vision Tool for Morphometric Analysis, Into Commercial-Scale Shrimp Breeding Programmes’.
Marina Martínez Soler during her presentation at the conference held in Valencia.
On Thursday 25th, in the session “Nutrition Physiology Requirements”, David Domínguez, also from the GIA group, gave another of the oral presentations at this important conference on aquaculture, entitled “Use of Calcifediol in Gilthead Seabream Sparus Aurata: Effects on Growth Performance, Biochemical Composition, Skeletal Anomalies and Histology”.
Researcher David Domínguez during his speech at AE2025.
The posters were presented by Jacob Stefan Torres Ojeda, a researcher from the Physical Oceanography and Applied Geophysics (OFYGA) research group, with “Turbulence and Surface Wakes in a Coastal Aquaculture Area: Insights from the SIRENA Project”; Francisco Javier Roo Filgueira, from the GIA, with posters entitled “Comparative Biofouling Analysis of Copper-Alloy and Nylon Netting for Offshore Aquaculture Integrated with Marine Renewable Energy” and “Performance and Health Assessment of an Offshore Renewable Integrated Cage Prototype Comparative Trials with Sparus aurata”; and Paula Sarmiento Mendoza, also from the Aquaculture Research Group, with 'Impact of Alternative Feed Ingredients and Feeding Strategies on Muscle Morphology, and Fillet Quality of Genetically Selected Gilthead Seabream Sparus aurata in a Long-Term Feeding Trial' and “Effects of Alternative Diets, Genotype, and Feeding Level on Intestinal Morphology of Gilthead Seabream Sparus aurata”.
Under the slogan “Aquaculture for all”, Aquaculture Europe 2025 stands as a dynamic platform for sharing knowledge, forging alliances and exploring how aquaculture can address global challenges in food, climate and society.
The conference featured inspiring plenary sessions by key experts such as Carlos Duarte on regenerative aquaculture, Elisabetta Giuffra on harnessing the value of functional genome annotations, and Joan Riera on seafood consumption.
In addition, the event featured an industry forum, an innovation forum, an FAO workshop on its ‘Guidelines for Sustainable Aquaculture’, a round table organised by the Women in Aquaculture Network, and an international fair showcasing the latest innovations available on the market.