Collaborative Laboratory for Blue Bioeconomy Marks European Maritime Day 2022 with New Digital Campaign for Children

Aquaculture is not a ‘boogeyman’

The Collaborative Laboratory for Blue Bioeconomy is launching the new digital campaign “AEIOU of Aquaculture”, aimed at school-age children, to mark European Maritime Day.

“Aquaculture, and especially Portuguese and European aquaculture, is not a ‘boogeyman’. It is an ancient practice, initiated by the Japanese, Egyptians and Hawaiian peoples, and if, like other topics, it is explained in a simple, rigorous and engaging way to our children, they will be more enlightened, interested and knowledgeable and, therefore, less susceptible to myths and prejudices,” explains the Technical-Scientific Coordinator of B2E, Elisabete Matos.

Each vowel with its own concept

The campaign consists of various digital media, including a general video available on CoLAB’s social media channels and website, which will be shared nationally, including by the Escola Azul network and institutions linked to the sector.

In the general video, each vowel A, E, I, O, U is associated with a keyword that begins with the respective vowel. Watch the video:

Every week, additional content was released on each of the letters and themes mentioned: “Aquaculture”, “Species”, “IMTA and Production Systems”, “Omega-3”, and “Universities”.

A – corresponds to Aquaculture, which is defined as “the cultivation of fish, shellfish, or plants in water”.

E – is associated with Species, indicating the main species produced in aquaculture in Portugal, which are “clam, oyster, turbot, mussel, sea bream and sea bass”.

I – designates the IMTA (Integrated Multitrophic System) aquaculture production system, “one of the possible aquaculture production systems” where “the food waste of one species is recycled and becomes food for another species,” thus ensuring circularity.

Omega-3 stands for omega-3, whose main source is fish, being strongly present in farmed fish, and which “is an essential fat for us to be healthy”.

U – refers to Universities and the respective training in the area, available from north to south of the country, opening horizons for possible professions in the area, ranging from “marine biology” to “research”, “fish production”, “diving”, among others.

B2E bets on literacy for all ages!

“After launching the online campaigns “Oh No! It’s a Myth After All,” in which we clarified aquaculture myths based on scientific facts, and the digital guide “The 10 Commandments of Fish,” with useful tips to consider when buying fish, which reached thousands of people, we felt it was time to target a younger audience, thus encompassing a large – and fundamental – sector of our society,” says Elisabete Matos.

These two campaigns were recently approved and selected to be presented at the Satellite Activities event of the Ocean Decade, sponsored by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, in partnership with UNESCO.