AQUAPHOENIX partners – including scientific experts, industry players, technological innovators and local, regional and European initiatives – came together in person for the first time from February 12-13 2025 to pool their perspectives and plan for the coming months and years. Partners gained crucial insights into each other’s work, with discussions centering on the technological innovations, scientific research, green value creation and novel policy guidance that the project aims to achieve.
AQUAPHOENIX is a four-year Horizon Europe project working to capture aquaculture waste – also known as “sludge” – and repurpose it into sustainable assets like clean energy. By extracting value from materials that have formerly been dismissed as waste, AQUAPHOENIX aims to facilitate sustainable growth for the aquaculture industry and protect marine environments.
Wednesday, February 12
The kickoff took place in Hardangerfjord, the second longest fjord in Norway known for its magnificent coastal and mountain views. The Hardangerfjord is also a major aquaculture hub, producing more than 100,000 tonnes of salmon every year. Here and in the Åland archipelago, key figures in the aquaculture industry will work with AQUAPHOENIX to test and optimise novel sludge collection technologies with the aim of making business more efficient and sustainable.
All partners had the opportunity to learn more about the challenges and opportunities facing industry partners, with representatives from Lingalaks and Eide (both operating in Hardangerfjord) and Brändö Lax and Storfjärdens Fisk (who operate in the Åland region) presenting on Wednesday. Speakers shared stories of locally rooted company histories and current operations, emphasising the need for specific, local solutions to support communities and environments in the long term.
With a study visit to a nearby Lingalaks fish farm, attendees were able to see sludge collection technologies in context. These technologies have been developed by Framo LiftUP to capture and store aquaculture waste at fully operational sites, and can be easily integrated into existing infrastructures. Lingalaks and other aquaculture companies will test and improve sludge collection under real conditions, facilitating flexible adjustments at the source. As Framo LiftUP explained during their presentation, continuing to refine the pump and filter systems will be essential to optimising the waste collection technologies as the project progresses.
By collecting waste before it disappears from the cages and enters the sea, sludge collection technology is expected to have a lasting positive impact on the fjord ecosystem. Representatives from project coordinator NORCE detailed their plans to test, determine and model these impacts. Under Work Packages 2 and 3, these scientific efforts will explore and validate the exact ways in which sludge collection technologies mitigate the negative impacts of aquaculture and help restore marine and seafloor ecosystems.
As industry partners emphasised, sludge is an untapped resource. Presentations from Ragn-Sells, EasyMining and St1 Biokraft, all leading innovators in the creation of clean products from waste, detailed plans to test and grow the circular value of aquaculture sludge across a number of pathways including biogas, sustainable feed and biofertiliser.
New initiatives will require novel policy and governance strategies in order to guide the regulation and adoption of clean aquaculture technologies. Partners discussed the need for policy-based incentives, as well as the importance of enabling policy-based conditions to make waste collection technologies and its circular valorisation pathways feasible.
AQUAPHOENIX has ongoing opportunities to exchange its approaches and learnings with its sister Horizon Europe projects NPower and GREENHOOD under the cluster “Zero Pollution — Demonstrating how regions can operate within safe ecological and regional nitrogen and phosphorus boundaries.” Representatives from both projects shared their stories on Wednesday afternoon, opening up new lines for collaboration and knowledge transfer over the course of all three projects.
Thursday, February 13
On Thursday morning, attendees embarked on a fjord cruise to visit an Eide production site, where sludge collection technologies are being installed, tested and optimised. They also had a chance to explore one of the groundbreaking local initiatives Eide is involved in, with a visit to the world-famous exhibition space and educational hub Salmon Eye.
A gleaming dome floating on the fjord, Salmon Eye is a hub for exploring the relationship between humanity and the ocean as a crucial life source. The space is also home to the Michelin restaurant Iris, known for showcasing local ingredients and sustainable culinary innovations. With seafood supplied by AQUAPHOENIX partner Eide, the menu is inspired by the surrounding landscape.
Back on land, partners discussed the operational aspects of the project in detail and spent their remaining time in break-out sessions to address specific action plans of different work packages, milestones and deliverables. It was a productive end to a highly informative and collaborative few days, which set the stage for next steps across the different scientific, technological, economic and social aspects of AQUAPHOENIX.
