The University of Stirling, along with 10 other organisations from Europe, the US and Canada, is a partner in the newly-launched GAIN (Green Aquaculture Innovation) project, led by the University of Venice. The project is a European Union Horizon 2020 project, "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 GAIN project has three themes: Production and Environment, Secondary Outputs, and Policy and Markets. Under these, the project aims to support the sustainable eco-intensification of the EU and EEA. This will lead to more higher-quality aquaculture products, more jobs and a reduces dependency on imported fish, increasing European food security.

Professor Dave Little, Dr Richard Newton and Dr Sonia Rey Planellas attended the kick-off meeting for the GAIN project in Venice last week.