EXcellence and competitiveness in marine algae AQUAculture for a sustainable Black Sea

2026-07-22

Algae aquaculture represents an alternative for high quality, healthy and diverse sea products, with climate change benefits in terms of carbon sequestration and positive environmental, social and economic impacts. In Romania, marine algae aquaculture (m.a.a.) is underdeveloped and faces considerable challenges in meeting the current targets, despite its considerable potential for the sustainable development of the country, and especially the Black Sea region. To overcome this challenge, EX-AQUA supports NIMRD in building excellence in the field of m.a.a., as a catalyst in the Black Sea, developing and enhancing competitiveness of the local value chain for the exploitation of marine living resources in multiple applications, creating new jobs and market opportunities. The aim is to transfer m.a.a. knowledge, tailored to the Black Sea specific environment, from Western top leading institutions to NIMRD, with the support of other targeted public-private organisations, to finally enable the creation of new industries and business and to enforce the Blue Economy value chain. EX-AQUA will be implemented through 4 action pillars: 1) creating Excellence Science in marine algae aquaculture; 2) enforcing Capacity Building for NIMRD to increase their impact in RDI; 3) strengthening the local Innovation ecosystem for the industrial uptake of new technological solutions for m.a.a.; 4) creating Synergies through the creation of a Cluster for Marine Applied Aquaculture. The two top-leading institutions will enable NIMRD´s research skills in macro algae large-scale cultivation and will open new lines for further developement. These actions will unlock structural changes enabling stronger collaborations between industry, academia, policy makers and civil society in the Black Sea and beyond, to add the EU South-East region to the marine and algae aquaculture map, reducing disparities among EU regions, and contributing to the achievement of the Green Deal targets.

Romania

2025-10-15