Welcome to the United Nations
UN DESA
United Nations
#OceanAction17446
Blue Economy Aquaculture Challenge
by Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) (Government)
The $3 million Blue Economy Aquaculture Challenge was an open call for innovative ideas for fish feed; new ocean products; and better farm design for use in Indian Ocean countries.

In September 2016, ten winning innovations were selected, receiving funding (up to $550,000) and tailored accelerator support to pilot and scale their projects.

The solutions target three key problems: feed that does not use wild caught fish meal and oil; new ocean products that alleviate demand for wild caught fish; and new farm systems that improve efficiency, production levels and environmental impact.

Progress reports
14.7
By 2030, increase the economic benefits to Small Island developing States and least developed countries from the sustainable use of marine resources, including through sustainable management of fisheries, aquaculture and tourism
Type of commitment
June 2017
The Blue Economy Challenge and Aquacelerator accelerator program is an effort to revolutionize the aquaculture industry, develop local economies across the Indian Ocean region and improve our relationship with oceans, fishing and aquatic life, by connecting inspiring innovators with the networks capable of turning their ideas into reality. There were 10 Challenge winners - Climate Foundation, Tanzania; Bridging International Communities, India; Odyssey Sensors, Bangladesh; Institute of Marine Sciences, Tanzania and Kenya; EnerGaia Co. Ltd, Thailand, Bangladesh and India (TBC); Indian Ocean Trepang, Madagascar; MicroSynbiotiX Ltd, South East Asia (TBC); AgriProtein, South Africa; The Recycler, Tanzania; CSIRO/ Worldfish, Indonesia, Tanzania and Bangladesh.
Financing (in USD)
22,300,000 USD
Staff / Technical expertise
6 months of acceleration support including business development support and access to a network of advisors, industry leaders and investors.
Basic information
Time-frame: September 2016 - June 2017
Website
Partners
Australia (Government), SecondMuse (Private sector, implementing partner), WWF (NGO), conservationXlabs (implementing partner), CSIRO (Australian Government)
Ocean Basins
  • Indian Ocean
Beneficiary countries
Other beneficaries
Contact information
Nicole Steinweg, Officer, InnovationXchange, DFAT, Nicole.steinweg@dfat.gov.au, +61 2 6261 5179
Canberra, Australia
Other SDGs
United Nations