New results show that mussel farms in the Baltic Sea can make a significant contribution to reducing eutrophication while supporting the circular economy and circular food production. In order to take mussel farming to the next step, further improvements to farm technology are required, larger farms must be implemented, and new knowledge is needed about how harvested mussels can be efficiently reintroduced back into the food system. 

The Baltic Blue Growth project has been featured in a blog post written by PA Nutri (Sanni Turunen, Policy Area Nutri Coordinator). The post elaborates on how the project has implemented several pilot mussel farms in the Baltic Sea and explored under which biological and financial conditions mussel farming is possible. The full post is included below.

Check out the courses on Marine Natural Products developed by our partners at the Division of Marine Biotechnology, Institute of Oceanography, University of Gdańsk.

The main topic of this year's Forum is Circular and sharing economy as an answer to demographic changes and environmental challenges in the Baltic Sea Region.

ALLIANCE project has reached its next level, realized through ALLIANCE+, an extension project, which has just been approved by the Interreg Monitoring Committee, ensuring the continuation of blue biotechnology activities under the Interreg BSR funding umbrella.

BalticRIM coordinator searched for anomalies with a side-scan sonar off the Schwansen peninsula’s coastline.

Representatives from different ports in the Baltic Sea region came together at the conference “Development of sustainable maritime economy: opportunities and challenges for small and medium ports in the Baltic Sea Region” in Jurmala on 3-4 April. They shared their experiences of port development using modern technology and adapting to the rapid pace of global development. Good practices on solving environmental issues and maritime safety were shared – topics relevant to any one of the Baltic ports.

The network for the European Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Fund Managing Authorities and national FLAG-networks in the Baltic Sea Region (the BSR-EMFF Network) organised a meeting on 26 March in Warsaw, Poland to discuss the alignment of funding across the Baltic Sea Region.

The Blue Platform project organised a workshop during the Interreg Baltic Sea Region annual conference which took place on 9-10 April 2019 in Lübeck, Germany. More than 300 participants attended the conference to discuss about how we can make the Baltic Sea Region more innovative, better accessible and more sustainable.

In the context of the recently finalised ‘Baltic Blue Growth’ project, a conference was organised on 24 April in Malmö, Sweden, that brought together experts from across the Baltic Sea Region,  including many representatives from Baltic mussels or mussels-related projects. The day was organised around three sessions, focusing on Science and Technology; Business and Finance; and Outreach.

A scientific and applied-science conference on integrated ocean governance was hosted by Kaliningrad State Technical University (KSTU) on the World Water Day and the Baltic Sea Day. Around 60 partipicants attended the event. SUBMARINER presented its work and the new Interreg project "Blue Platform".

The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) has approved a project coordinated by Kiel University: "Bioeconomy at Marine Sites (BaMS)" with funding of up to 20 million Euro.