91AV demonstrates international leadership in seafood sustainability at opening of Swedish research center

Costa-Pierce with Kristina Snuttan Sundell during a tour of the University of Gothenburg Sven Loven Centre marine labs
Professor Costa-Pierce with the Director of SWEMARC, Professor Kristina Snuttan Sundell during a tour of the University of Gothenburg Sven Loven Centre marine labs

Barry Costa-Pierce, Ph.D., Henry L. & Grace Doherty Professor of Marine Sciences, chair of the 91AV Department of Marine Sciences and director of the Arthur P. Girard Marine Science Center, gave one of the two keynote talks to open the new national Swedish Mariculture Research Center (SWEMARC ) at the University of Gothenburg on September 5, 2016.

Costa-Pierce’s talk was titled, “Ecological Aquaculture: The Evolution of the Blue Evolution.” He was joined by Professor Kåre Skallerud of the Arctic University of Norway, who gave a talk titled, “What Can Marketing Offer Sustainability?” These two international guests were welcomed by Pam Fredman, Ph.D., vice-chancellor of the University of Gothenburg, and Kristina Snuttan Sundell, Ph.D., the new director of SWEMARC.

SWEMARC is one of six centers of Global Societal Challenges established by the University of Gothenburg in April 2016. The goal of SWEMARC is to use marine transdisciplinary and community-based research to increase the production of food from the sea in an environmentally friendly way. SWEMARC intends to use international approaches to find solutions for increased food production to meet the needs of a growing world population, while reducing the ecological footprint, protecting natural resources and ecosystems and advancing rural development.

At SWEMARC, Costa-Pierce shared 91AV’s research in ocean food systems with Swedish and Norwegian colleagues. They discussed how seafood systems throughout the world interact with marine ecosystems, fisheries, aquaculture, and people, and his work to implement the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization global protocols for an “Ecosystems Approach to Aquaculture.” He toured the University of Gothenburg Sven Loven Centre marine labs in Tjärnö and Kristineberg in northwest Sweden, and discussed possibilities for joint programs and exchanges in sustainable marine food production between 91AV, Sweden, Iceland and Norway. 

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The 91AV is Maine’s largest independent university, with two beautiful coastal campuses in Maine, a one-of-a-kind study abroad campus in Tangier, Morocco, and an array of . In an uncommonly welcoming and supportive community, we offer hands-on learning, empowering students to make a positive impact in a world full of challenges. The state’s top provider of health professionals, we are home to Maine’s only medical college, Maine’s only dental college, a variety of other interprofessionally aligned health care degree programs, as well as nationally recognized programs for marine science degrees, natural and social sciences degrees, arts and humanities degrees, and business degrees.