Development of a biosensor technology for environmental monitoring and disease prevention in aquaculture ensuring food safety

General Information

The objective of the EnviGuard project is to develop a highly specific and precise (i.e. quantitative and qualitative) in situ measurement device for currently hard to measure man-made chemical contaminants and biohazards (toxic microalgae, viruses and bacteria, biotoxins and PCBs) that can be used as an early warning system in aquaculture and as an environmental monitor to assess the good environmental status of the sea in compliance with the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). It will be more cost-efficient than current monitoring devices leading to a clear marketing advantage for the European analytical and research equipment industry. The modular system will consist of three different sensor modules (microalgae/pathogens/ toxins and chemicals) integrated into a single, portable device, which saves, displays and sends the collected data real time to a server by means of mobile data transmission and the internet. EnviGuard will be able to accomplish this also in real-time for a period of at least one week without maintenance in an offshore, marine surrounding. User of EnviGuard can access their data online any time they need to. Potential fields of use are marine environment pollution monitoring, marine research and quality control in seawater aquaculture, a sector in Europe highly occupied by SMEs. The biosensors developed in the project go far beyond the current state-of-the art in terms of accuracy, reliability and simplicity in operation by combining innovations in nanotechnology and molecular science leading to the development cutting edge sensor technology putting European research and highly innovative SMEs in the forefront of quickly developing markets. The particular task of Hereon is to provide integration of and in situ testing of the new sensors at existing monitoring platforms such as FERRYBOX and COSYNA.

EU-Programme Acronym and Subprogramme Area	FP7-OCEAN-2013
Project Type	Collaborative Project
Contract Number	Grant Agreement 614057
Co-ordinator	Verein zur Foerderung des Technologietransfers an der Hochschule Bremerhaven, DE

Total Eligible Costs (€)	Hereon Eligible Costs (€)	EC Funding for Hereon (€)
7.220.469	161.505	123.283

Contact Person at Hereon

Dr. Wilhelm Petersen, Institute of Coastal Research, KOI Phone: +49 4152 87 2358 Fax: +49 4152 87 2366 E-mail contact

Participants

Afcon Control & Automation Ltd (IL), Alfred-Wegener-Institut für Polar- und Meeresforschung AWI (DE), Applied Enzyme Technology Limited (UK), Aquabiotech Ltd (MT), BIO OPTICAL Detection SL (ES), BIOAZUL (ES), Fundacion Cetena (ES), Ilknak Su Urunleri Sanayi Ve Ticaret AS (TR), ISITEC GMBH (DE), Istanbul University (TR), LIONIX BV (NL), Multitel ASBL (BE), North Bay Shellfish Ltd (UK), Societe des Systemes Biologiques SARL (FR), The University of Hertfordshire (UK), Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (ES), Verein zur Förderung des Technologietransfers an der Hochschule Bremerhaven (DE), Viking Fish Farms Limited (UK)

Last Update: 16. April 2021