Stirling University has invested £3.5 million in AquaSoS, an interdisciplinary project that will use data from satellites, sensors and labs to address challenges such as pollution, climate change and disease among fisheries in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta.
Funded by UK Research and Innovation, the project will ultimately create a digital tool to protect ecosystems and promote sustainable aquaculture. This will equip scientists, policymakers, and industry leaders with vital information required to balance environmental protection with food production.
“Rivers, seas and deltas are particularly vulnerable to rising water temperatures, salinisation, pollution, and changes in sediment flow due to environmental change,” said Simon MacKenzie, Head of the Institute of Aquaculture (IoA) who is leading the project. “These changes disrupt ecosystems, reduce biodiversity, and threaten food and water security, disproportionately impacting developing nations such as Vietnam.
“We have chosen to develop our AquaSoS framework in the Mekong Delta in Vietnam because there is multi-species production at scale, but an increasing burden of infectious diseases. Indeed, infectious diseases in Asian and global aquaculture are a major continuous threat to sustainable production. AquaSoS will be designed to address this problem.”
AquaSoS is one of four projects to be announced as part of a £12m UKRI initiative to enhance sustainable aquaculture in Southeast Asia, addressing climate change, food security and community resilience.
Iain Frew, British Ambassador to Vietnam, said, “The University of Stirling is leading the way globally in aquaculture research, and the decades long work undertaken in Vietnam contributes significantly to the livelihoods of fishermen and communities throughout the Mekong region. The fundamental work on tackling disease outbreak in Pangasius and efforts to overcome Anti-Microbial Resistance (AMR) will ensure that aquaculture in the Mekong thrives for decades to come.”
Iain Frew (left), and Sir Gerry McCormac, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Stirling
Earlier in March the University of Stirling announced that its Marine Environment Research Laboratory (MERL) research capacity will receive a £3.84 million investment funded by the UK government through the Argyll and Bute Rural Growth Deal, a 10-year program that will deliver £70 million of investment to develop the region’s economic potential. The Scottish and UK Governments have each allocated £25 million to the program. The deal aims to foster economic growth through connecting the region’s high-value business sectors with national and international markets and linking local economic successes with national strategic priorities.
The investment will enhance the University’s facilities in the Kintyre Peninsula, where the University’s Institute of Aquaculture already operates a marine aquaculture research base.
