GAIN (Green Aquaculture Intensification in Europe) is a European Union Horizon 2020 research project led by the University of Venice (IT). The partnership includes the Alfred Wegener Institute (DE), IBM (IE), University of Stirling (UK), Longline Environment (IE), Wageningen University (NL), SPAROS (PT), NOAA (USA), Dalhousie University (CA), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (ES), and Salten Havbrukspark (NO).
GAIN started on May 1st, 2018, runs for 42 months, and is designed to support the ecological intensification of aquaculture in the European Union (EU) and European Economic Area (EEA), with the dual objectives of increasing production and competitiveness of the industry, while ensuring sustainability and compliance with EU regulations on food safety and environment.
The eco-intensification of EU and EEA aquaculture is the only way to satisfy the increasing demand for high quality aquatic products and decrease dependence on imports, which, in the EU 28, reached 65% by volume in 2008-2012.Successful eco-intensification of European aquaculture requires the integration of scientific and technical innovations, new policies and economic instruments, and the mitigation of social constraints.
