The Operationalizing Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation for aquaculture (OCCAM) Innovation Action is funded by the Horizon Europe funding programme and consists of 22 industry and research partners from across Europe. The OCCAM objective is to implement, test, and evaluate practical and innovative solutions for climate change adaptation and mitigation in the aquaculture sector, and to deliver scalable, replicable, and exploitable solutions with accompanying recommendations ready for deployment in a wide variety of aquaculture supply chains. Some solutions are generic in nature with application across countries and sectors; this includes a Good Practice recommendation for self-assessment of CO2 emissions, guidelines for how to meet sustainability reporting requirements, templates for requesting and providing scientific advice, and a policy recommendation focusing on gaps and opportunities for climate-resilient aquaculture production. Other solutions are specific for sectors, species, and production methods, including solutions for carp, rainbow trout, salmon, bivalves, and seaweed (Ulva). To reduce emissions and contribute to aquaculture sector mitigation of climate change, sediments from freshwater aquaculture are upcycled, sludge is used to produce biochar, a digital tool for self-assessment of emissions from bivalve production is developed, and nets and pens with significantly reduced emissions are produced. Adaptation solutions include assessment of water availability and quality for freshwater aquaculture, selective breeding of more resilient rainbow trout, digital tools for forecasting and managing sea lice and Harmful Algal Blooms, and change of deployment parameters for oysters and seaweed given the expected changes in temperature and other environmental conditions. A prototype or proof of concept is developed for each solution, and where possible the proposed solution is also evaluated at a different site, and general recommendations are provided to other industry actors wishing to implement similar solutions.
OCCAM started in 2025 and will end in 2029, and in addition to the 22 project partners an Industry Reference Group (IRG) is being established, consisting of aquaculture industry partners interested in testing and evaluating mature prototypes of the various solutions. The IRG will be invited to stakeholder workshops and will be invited to give feedback on the functionality and the potential application of the respective sol utions and will thus have an opportunity to influence the final version of these. Membership in the OCCAM IRG is free and might be of particular interest for producers of carp, rainbow trout, salmon, bivalves, and macroalgae.