An aquaponics seminar was held at Tknika (www.tknika.es) with participation of aquaponics researchers from two Leonardo funded projects; AQUAVET (http://project.zhaw.ch/de/science/aqua-vet.html) and EUROPONICS (http://aquaponics.is/ecoponics/?page_id=12), young researchers from Breen and Tknika and Mr. Charlie Shultz from Lethbridge College in Canada.

Breen´s aquaponics technology was well presented at Aquaculture Europe 14 in their home town San Sebastian. Breen got a lot of interest at their stand and many small and large groups visited their pilot farm.

After fruitful days attending the ESF and COST meetings on aquaponics at the University of Greenwich the group visited Thanet Earth (http://www.thanetearth.com/) and learned about their hydroponics system. Thanet Earth is the UK´s largest and most high-tech greenhouse complex presently including four greenhouses growing tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers. Thanet Earth has followed the development in aquaponics closely.

ESF and COST meetings were held 1.-4. September at the University of Greenwich.
The future of aquaponics was discussed thoroughly at the ESF and COST meetings hosted by the University of Greenwich. Four internationally renowned pioneers in aquaponics were invited and presented their work on aquaponics; Dr. James Rakocy the aquaponics pioneer and designer of the UVI-system from the University of Virgin Island, Dr. Edoardo Pantanella one of the authors to FAO´s report on aquaponics (http://www.fao.org/3/a-i4021e/index.html ) , Dr. Wilson Lennard from Australia and Mr. Charlie Shultz aquaponics researcher at Lethbridge College in Canada.

Svinna together with the University of Iceland has expanded the aquaponics system in Iceland during the last months. The first mass balance calculations have been carried out based on tilapia and basil+mint production.

IGFF has built a pilot aquaponics unit based on modern RAS technology. AquaGroup advised on the design and construction and AgroTech will join IGFF for future development of production. Agrotech and IGFF also collaborate on modelling and estimating sustainability criteria.

Breen has since May operated the new aquaponics facilities at Tknika. The system is being expanded further also including high quality laboratories for quality testing and product development.

EcoPonics will be well presented at Aquaculture Europe to be held in San Sebastian Spain October 14-17 2014.
Three oral presentations have been accepted from the group and furthermore the project will be presented at Breens stand during the trade show.

University students will be building EcoPonics systems in Iceland during the next months. The first systems have been designed and will be built during the next weeks. The systems will use geothermal water for heating. Tilapia from Fishgen UK has been chosen as the fish species and focus is on leafy greens and strawberries in the hydroponics units.

Breen recently started up the new aquaponics installations at Tknika in San Sebastian, Spain. Breen has been developing the aquaponics technology for four years and the company is now expanding the system. Breen has been testing many different plant species that all grow very well.