The SustainLarvae project formally began recently with an inaugural meeting at Matís' headquarters. The project is for three years and there are three participants in the project. Matís and Sæbýli from Iceland, together FishVet Group from the UK.
The project was successful The Eurostar program through mediation Iceland Innovation Center and funding from Technology Development Fund.
The aim of the project is to develop and evaluate the benefits of new ways of assessing the health of invertebrates for use in aquaculture, but sea urchins from the Sæbýli farm will be used. The novelty lies in the use of DNA sequencing methods to analyze the microbial composition of farming systems and the search for microbial groups that may have a potential positive or negative effect on the biodiversity or growth of sea urchins. Rapid methods will also be set up to assess the welfare of the animals based on unwanted micro-organisms in the system and with measurements of substances and hormones that the animals release under stress. Matís will conduct experiments and research in the project, Sæbýli will provide the project with materials as well as expertise in farming methods and FishVetGroup will be involved in marketing and access to foreign markets for the project's products.
For further information Eyjólfur Reynisson at Matís.