OCCAM

Project Overview

"OCCAM" stands for Operationalising Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation for Aquaculture. It is a four-year research and innovation project funded by the Horizon Europe programme under Grant Agreement No. 101182044. The project officially runs from 1 May 2025 to 30 April 2029. It is coordinated by Nofima AS (Norway) and brings together 22 partners from research, industry and policy across Europe.

Vision & Objectives

The project’s vision is to create a resilient, sustainable and climate-smart future for European aquaculture. It uses the principle of “Occam’s razor” (preferring the simplest effective solutions) as a guiding metaphor—seeking practical, scalable tools rather than overly complex approaches.

Key objectives include:

• Developing adaptation and mitigation solutions for aquaculture in the face of climate change.

• Piloting these solutions in nine regional case studies across diverse aquaculture systems (freshwater, marine, seaweed, bivalves, fish) to test applicability in real-world settings.

• Producing tools, best practice guidance, policy recommendations and decision support that are scalable, replicable, and industry-relevant.

What Challenge It Addresses

The aquaculture sector in Europe is facing increasing risks from climate change: rising water temperatures, changes in salinity, more extreme weather events, changes in water availability, increased disease pressure, and shifting ecological baselines. At the same time, aquaculture operations are under pressure to reduce their own environmental footprint (e.g., greenhouse gas emissions, resource use), meet sustainability reporting obligations, and maintain economic viability. OCCAM addresses both sides: adapting to climate impacts and mitigating emissions and environmental impacts of aquaculture.

Key Solutions & Activities

The project organises a set of “solutions” mapped to case studies. Some examples include:

• Solution 1A / 1B (Case Study 1: Carp in ponds, Poland) — Developing a self-assessment model for water availability/quality (Water Safety Index) and upcycling of pond sediments.

• Solution 2A / 2B (Case Study 2: Rainbow trout in Spain) — Selective breeding for heat-stress resilience and adaptation of RAS/flow-through systems from freshwater to brackish water.

• Other solutions cover diverse species/systems: seaweed, bivalves (oysters), large marine fish (salmon), sludge up-cycling to biochar, developing digital tools for self-assessment of emissions, improved monitoring and forecasting for harmful algal blooms and sea-lice.

Geographic & Sector Scope

By virtue of its consortium and case-study design, OCCAM covers a wide array of aquaculture types across Europe (freshwater ponds, flow-through fish farms, recirculating systems, marine cages, shellfish, seaweed). This broad scope is intended to ensure relevance across the diversity of European aquaculture rather than being limited to one species or region.

Impact & Expected Benefits

• For industry: Better tools to manage climate risks, reduce operational vulnerability, maintain productivity under changing conditions, and potentially lower emissions and environmental impact.

• For environment: More resilient aquaculture systems, less negative impact (or even positive contributions) to ecosystem health, better alignment with sustainability goals.

• For policy and governance: Generation of scalable best practices, templates for self-assessment, policy briefs and wider uptake of climate-smart aquaculture across Europe.

Collaboration & Stakeholder Engagement

The project emphasises multi-actor collaboration: between researchers, industry practitioners, SMEs, policymakers and other stakeholders. There is an Industry Reference Group (IRG) made up of industry stakeholders who will test and evaluate the solutions developed in OCCAM, helping to ensure scalability and real-world applicability.

Why It’s Relevant for Sweden & the Nordic Region

Given that the Nordic region (including Sweden) features significant aquaculture activity (sea-farmed fish, shellfish, seaweed) and is exposed to climate change pressures (e.g., temperature shifts, sea-lice issues, water quality changes), OCCAM’s work could provide important tools and guidance that apply in Swedish waters. If you are involved in seaweed farming, fish farming or aquaculture value chains in Sweden, keeping an eye on OCCAM might help adopt new monitoring tools, adaptation strategies or emission-reduction approaches.

Read more about the project here: https://occamproject.eu/