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AquaReg forum boosts building bridges
 | | Regional cooperators, from left Mr. Pål Ranes, Sør-Trøndelag county council, Norway, Mr Mark Norman, Taighde Mara Teo, Ireland, Ms Susanne Bratli, Nord-Trøndelag county council, Norway, Seán Ó Neachtain, MEP Ireland, Ms Fatima Linares, Xunta de Galicia, Spain and Mr Dave Jackson, Marine Institute, Ireland. |
The second AquaReg Forum in Ireland this week proves the programmes ability to build bridges between Spain, Norway and Irelands Inshore Fisheries and Aquaculture Sectors
The second AquaReg forum was held in Galway, Ireland 23-24 of May.
The Forum, hosted by the Marine Institute at Days Hotel, Galway last week, brought together politicians, researchers and inshore fisheries and aquaculture representatives from the BMW region, Ireland, Galicia in Spain and Trøndelag in Norway. A main part of the forum was to continue the process of looking for new initiatives, trying to form new partnerships that contributes to the development of the coastal communities.
Project participants from the three regions presented the results of the 12 co-operative projects carried out over the last two years with posters and presentations.
These ranged from the recycling/re-using of aquaculture by-products to the development of innovative packaging for the transport of fresh mussels, to cultivation of cod, and restocking clawed lobster.
AquaReg, an Interreg III C funded project, successfully funded 12 sub-projects to the value euro 2,730,000 with 36 organisations from the three regions participating.
AquaReg differs from many other INTERREG funded programmes in that it involves small businesses at a local level in areas such as sea-angling, finfish farming, shellfish gathering/farming and allowed them to build strong working relationships with their counterparts in Galicia and Trøndelag. "The programme has yielded very successful results according to the partner organisations objectives, and our aim now is to further develop these projects and working networks into the future", says AquaReg Steering Committee Member, Jorn Ekrem.
Opening the forum, Mr. Seán O'Neachtain, Member of the European Parliament, said that "while there were differences between the regions in the inshore fisheries sector, regional cooperation clearly is a benefit, and helps development of the sector within all three regions. We must look forward, and can develop a very strong industry with co-operation and common understanding of how things are done in other regions", he said.
"I am very hopeful that the Interreg Initiative will continue and that AquaReg will go ahead and be extended into the future", he concluded.
The success of AquaReg, according to Mr. Mark Norman, Taighde Mara Teo, was the result of its focus on bringing together people with a common interest in aquaculture, the marine environment and inshore fisheries. "There was a strong bottom-up approach which focused on the needs of the businesses on the ground. Gaining experience from other regions and learning from their practical experience, and indeed mistakes, is very valuable. We should continue to support these links to help develop our own resources", he said.
Both Ms Susanne Bratli, cabinet member of Nord-Trøndelag County Council, and Ms Fatima Linares, General Director for Innovation in the Galician Ministry of Fisheries (Xunta de Galicia) expressed in their opening remarks, that AquaReg had met its objectives. "The introduction to new cultures, languages, markets and people, creates innovative thinking. And we really need that to be able to develop", Ms Bratli said. Ms Linares pointed out the strong scientific cooperation that have taken place during the AquaReg period. "The results of the AquaReg sub-project are very good, and can be of great importance for Galicia. AquaReg is a good instrument for putting in practice regional development policies related with the marine sector" she pointed out.
Several of the results and best practices that we now see in AquaReg can be valuable inputs into the future development of the regional strategies", programme manager Geir Tevasvold says.
During the forum delegates visited the Marine Institutes new Headquarters and laboratory facilities at Rinville, Oranmore.
Five politicians from the Trøndelag region in Norway also met with Pádraig Ó hAoláin, Chief Executive, Udarás na Gaeltachta and community groups in Kilkieran, Connemara, to discuss potential collaboration on coastal community development initiatives such as education, marine tourism, seaweed harvesting and traditional boat building in addition to the coastal fisheries and aquaculture industry.
Following the Galway AquaReg Forum the steering committee will propose a number of potential areas for future co-operation, having already identified coastal zone management as an important area of collaboration. They also aim to broaden participation within the Atlantic Region and include Canada, which has already established links with Ireland and Norway.
The presentations from this Forum are available on this web site under documents, presentations.
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