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E u r o p e a n S u mm i t o n
Aquaculture, Fisheries
and Horticulture
Journal of
ISSN: 1307-234X
S e p t e m b e r 2 0 - 2 1 , 2 0 1 8
L i s b o n , P o r t u g a l
Aquaculture 2018
Page 17
Aquaponics is the process of growing fish and plants in the same water circuit,
taking advantage of aquaculture and hydroponics techniques. Nutrients,
generated by fish farming, fertilize water and are absorbed by plants, which in
turn grow and clean the water returning to the fish tanks. Aquaponics, as a recent
productive discipline, has seen its ups and downs, successes and failures on a
commercial and entrepreneurial scale. More recently, the American continent has
beendemonstratingaquaponicseconomic feasibility, with largeandmedium-sized
projects generating profitability and banks taking the first steps in financing such
projects. In the last 3 years, as a result of the push of the COSTAction FA1305 - EU
Aquaponics Hub, Europe has jumped from follower to leader in science research
in this field, becoming the continent that has devoted more studies and scientific
publications to aquaponics. While universities and scientific institutes make
Europe a world leader, Europe is still making a very shy progress in aquaponics
at a commercial level. The reasons for this difficulty and little expression are
several but very striking and determinant for this slow development. Of note is
the impossibility of certifying aquaponic production as organic in Europe and
also an unreasonable preconception regarding the Blue Economy, facing it as
economy of the sea and ignoring the potential of freshwater aquaculture, which
ends up contributing to a more environmentally unsustainable aquaculture. It is
also worth noting the widespread lack of experience and technical skills in the
design, installation and operation of aquaponics systems, with some very large
investments but lacking the technical and economic feasibility. Finally, most of
the EU governments are still very much focused in conventional aquaculture and
agriculture, not considering the advantages of this more sustainable concept,
reflecting the lack of legislative harmonization and of European policies in this
respect, with excessive legislative and licensing constraints.
Biography
Raul Bernardino graduated in Technological Chemistry at the
Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisboa (FCUL). After
graduation, he worked in the Food Industry (Garina Ltd) and
then joined the Department of Chemical Engineering of the
Polytechnic Institute of Tomar (IPT) as Teaching Assistant. In
1998, he started his post-graduate studies in the Department of
Chemistry of FCUL, where in 2002 he obtained his Ph.D. degree
in Computational Chemistry applied to Supramolecular Chem-
istry. In the same year, he moved to Polytechnic Institute of Lei-
ria where he pursues his teaching and research career. From
2005 to 2009 he was the director of “Laboratório Biotecnológico
do Oeste” (LBO) and in 2009 to 2012 was the coordinator of
the aquaculture master degree. From 2011 to 2012 he made a
specialist degree in Aquaculture in the Polytechnic University of
Valencia, Spain. Since 2009 water quality and Aquaponics are
part of his research, having oriented several master thesis on
these subjects. He is the Principal Investigator of an ongoing
European funded research project “Home Greens, Household
Aquaponics: Integrated Multi Trophic Aquaculture (IMTA)”.
Aquaponics in Europe pointing the way to a
more sustainable development
Raul Bernardino1, Joao Cotter2
1Polytechnic Institute of Leiria, Portugal
2Aquaponics Iberia, Portugal
Raul Bernardino et al., Journal of Volume:12
DOI: 10.21767/1307-234X-C1-001