Spearheaded by universities in Türkiye, Spain, Italy, Croatia and Greece, and funded by the EU and the Turkish National Agency, the project aims to shed light on the water used in the catching, aquaculture and processing of seafood.

“This will be the first time that we systematically calculate the water consumption of our seafood production for both Türkiye and European waters,” explained İlker Aydın of Ege University’s Faculty of Fisheries, the project’s lead coordinator in Türkiye.

“Through the Wantefish project, we’ll analyze water usage across commercial fishing boats, fish farms and aquaculture processing facilities, using tailored algorithms to quantify their consumption.”

Highlighting the importance of tracking the water footprint for sustainable fisheries, Aydın noted that the project would go beyond just data collection.

“As a result of our work, an EU-accredited digital curriculum will be developed for higher education, with modules on water-saving methods, waste prevention and practical approaches to water conservation within the fisheries sector,” he said.