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Products and services offered currently and their future prospects While the development of the aquaculture sector in Europe has stabilised in terms of production, there is still considerable innovation and effort to address the challenges that have emerged during the expansion of the sector. At the same time, globally aquaculture is a growing industry with high demand for new production and impact mitigation technologies. There are a range of products and technologies that are currently in production or development that could contribute to the development of the sector in the EU and beyond. The status of aquaculture globally as the fastest growing form of food production in the world, high levels of demand and position of European companies mean that there is significant potential within the sector. While there have been impressive advances made in reducing the use of antibiotics in a number of aquaculture systems – notably salmon – culture of new species, such as cod, is still in need of similar advances. Aquaculture in other parts of the world, e.g. Asia, is still dependent on chemicals and antibiotics to treat disease outbreaks and there is significant potential for technologies that can address this which European companies and researchers may be well placed to assist with. Feed for aquaculture is dominated by three large European companies and these companies are also well placed to supply aquaculture globally with formulated feeds and with feeds that are based on raw materials other than wild sourced fish oils and meals. Drivers and barriers of the aquaculture sector With the pressure on wild fish stocks globally and focus on rebuilding stocks in EU waters together with a global expansion of aquaculture production there is interest in the potential of the sector within the EU. The development of aquaculture within the EU has been identified as offering the potential to generate additional employment and income, in particular within rural regions. Furthermore, it would reduce the large EU fish trade deficit, as 50-60% of fish consumed in the European Union is imported from non-EU countries203. Marine aquaculture in the EU has a long history but there have also been recent advances in the production of a number of species (e.g. salmon and sea bass) that have increased significantly the volume and value of production. Marine biotechnology has the potential to make significant contributions to the sector in the quest to increase production, production efficiency and minimise impacts. However, the industry also faces a number of constraints that are beyond the scope of marine biotechnology. One of the most critical of these is in the number of suitable sites that exist that could allow for the expansion of aquaculture activities. Should these constraints be overcome, e.g. through the development of offshore cages, the potential contribution of marine biotechnology will be enhanced. It should also be noted that aquaculture is an expanding global industry. In salmon farming for example, many of the companies operating in the EU are also engaged in or supplying production facilities in other parts of the world (e.g. New Zealand and Chile). The potential markets for EU marine biotechnology applications are therefore much wider than the EU alone and this is evident from the recent agreements for the delivery of genetically improved salmon eggs to Australis seafood in Chile. European expertise also support the development of aquaculture in many developing countries where there is also likely to be an expanding market for EU marine biotechnology derived products. 203 Framian (2009) 152 Study in support of Impact Assessment work on Blue Biotechnology

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