Aquaculture innovation celebrated in Ireland
Aquaculture, engineering, and scientific entrepreneurs gathered for the annual Aquatech Community Day run by Ireland’s seafood development agency, Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM), in Dublin this week.
The event, now in its fifth year, is the culmination of a month-long Innovation Studio where ten business start-ups from different disciplines took part in an intensive programme to help fast-track their business ideas for commercial viability in the Irish and global aquaculture industry.
To date 46 start-ups have participated from BIM’s Innovation Studio, supported by the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund, and delivered in partnership with global aquaculture accelerator Hatch. The initiative has seen more than €13 million invested and 130+ new jobs generated in aquatech in Ireland.
Oyster welfare
Lee Hunter, a young Donegal oyster farmer, was among the start-ups taking part in this year’s programme. His business, The Oyster Pitch, uses sound technology to monitor oyster welfare and to reduce mortality.
Another 2022 Innovation Studio participant was TelLab, which has developed Aquamonitrix, a continuous real-time sensor technology to monitor nitrate and nitrite levels in sea water.
Giving the opening address at the event, BIM chief executive Jim O’Toole spoke about food security and the long-term strategy to develop and foster local aquaculture talent. This involves attracting other crucial disciplines like engineering, analytics, and finance to help develop Irish aquaculture businesses with a global reach.
“Investing in aquatech is specifically targeted in the Government’s Food Vision 2030 strategy and is something BIM is intent on delivering,” said O’Toole. “Our ambition is to position Ireland as a global centre for aquaculture innovation and to support companies to grow and develop in this sector in collaboration with other agencies.”
Risk-taking
Wayne Murphy, co-founder and managing partner at Hatch, said: “Aquatech has entrepreneurship at its core - and entrepreneurship is about risk-taking. BIM were enthusiastic partners when Hatch first approached the agency. Five years on and 46 start-up businesses from a wide range of disciplines have taken the risk, creating more than 130 jobs.”
The event included a panel discussion with Teresa Morrissey, head of the Irish Farmers’ Association’s (IFA) aquaculture branch, Carsten Krome, Hatch founder and partner, Martin Dempsey, founder and chief executive of Sealac Ltd, and BIM’s shellfish and salmon manager Richard Donnelly.
The next IFSC
Donnelly drew parallels with the ability of Ireland’s International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) to spur investment and innovation following its establishment three decades earlier.
“It is just 35 years since the IFSC was established. It is remarkable to consider how its establishment was truly visionary at the time, and how many other sectors followed in its path. The aquatech sector in Ireland has the potential to achieve this same effect,” said Donnelly.
The Irish aquaculture industry is currently valued at €175 million with primary production (finfish and shellfish farming) at its core.
