SPAROS recently announced their partnership with the WiseFeed Project, an integrated network of research groups from academia and industry working together to improve performance and sustainability of aquafeeds for fish production. SPAROS will contribute to the project by sharing expertise in aquafeed ingredients and additives, feed formulation, ingredient processing, feed technology, nutrient retention and growth studies, digestibility studies, and mechanistic modelling.

The project is organized as a collaborative network where knowledge will be shared and joint research will be conducted in activities ranging from building knowledge in basic physiology and mechanistic modelling, selection of raw materials and feed additives, applied testing of feed producing technology and feeding trials. The final applied aim is to implement the findings into innovative products and services in the industrial partners. WiseFeed is funded by H2020 Research and Innovation Staff Exchange (RISE) scheme, under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions.

The partners work on different target fish species: Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar), Ballan wrasse (Labrus bergylta), gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata), Senegalese sole (Solea senegalensis), and cobia (Rachycentron canadum). These species have their unique characteristics but also share some of the same challenges with respect to sustainability and performance of feed formulations and the diversity thus adds to a better understanding of the overall aims of the project as well as the biology of each species.

In addition to SPAROS and University of Bergen (project coordinator), the consortium include the Industry partners EVONIK (Germany) and BIOMIN (Austria), and the Academic partners NIFES (Norway), CSIC (Spain), CCMAR (Portugal) and Nha Trang University (Vietnam).

SPAROS is currently hosting Dr. Le Minh Hoang (Nha Trang University), who is doing a 2-month stay at the SPAROS pilot plant to conduct training in fish feed formulation and production. He is also preparing extruded diets for a Wisefeed trial with Cobia, to take place in Nha Trang later this year.

SPAROS is a spin-off company of the Centre of Marine Sciences of Algarve (CCMAR) / University of Algarve, devoted to innovate in the development of new products and processes for fish feeding and nutrition. SPAROS is located in the South of Portugal (Algarve region) but aims to serve the whole European market.