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Barry Costa-Pierce, Ph.D., Henry L. & Grace Doherty Professor of Marine Sciences, chair of the ɫ����ƵDepartment of Marine Sciences and director of the Arthur P. Girard Marine Science Center, gave one of the two keynote talks to open the new national Swedish Mariculture Research Center (SWEMARC ) at the University of Gothenburg on September 5, 2016.

Costa-Pierce’s talk was titled, “Ecological Aquaculture: The Evolution of the Blue Evolution.” He was joined by Professor Kåre Skallerud of the Arctic University of Norway, who gave a talk titled, “What Can Marketing Offer Sustainability?” These two international guests were welcomed by Pam Fredman, Ph.D., vice-chancellor of the University of Gothenburg, and Kristina Snuttan Sundell, Ph.D., the new director of SWEMARC.

SWEMARC is one of six centers of Global Societal Challenges established by the University of Gothenburg in April 2016. The goal of SWEMARC is to use marine transdisciplinary and community-based research to increase the production of food from the sea in an environmentally friendly way. SWEMARC intends to use international approaches to find solutions for increased food production to meet the needs of a growing world population, while reducing the ecological footprint, protecting natural resources and ecosystems and advancing rural development.

At SWEMARC, Costa-Pierce shared ɫ����Ƶ’s research in ocean food systems with Swedish and Norwegian colleagues. They discussed how seafood systems throughout the world interact with marine ecosystems, fisheries, aquaculture, and people, and his work to implement the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization global protocols for an “Ecosystems Approach to Aquaculture.” He toured the University of Gothenburg Sven Loven Centre marine labs in Tjärnö and Kristineberg in northwest Sweden, and discussed possibilities for joint programs and exchanges in sustainable marine food production between ɫ����Ƶ, Sweden, Iceland and Norway. 

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