The EUROSHELL project will provide solutions to identified challenges that may constrain the transfer of knowledge to the shellfish sector and thus affect its sustainable development. It will focus on identification of the underlying factors that inhibit effective knowledge management in the sector and provide regional forums to facilitate dialogue between shellfish companies (especially through their regional or national producers’ organisations) and researchers, with a strong focus on developing efficient methodology for knowledge transfer. This will result in the production of visions for the future of the sector and the identification of key research objectives that could be integrated in the European Aquaculture Technology and Innovation Platform (EATIP) and also provide clear cooperation opportunities with the Fisheries Local Action Groups (FLAGS) of the European Fisheries Areas Network (FARNET) through enhanced methodology for an extension network. The core objectives of EUROSHELL are to: (1) Enhance integration of knowledge into the production cycle of the main farmed species, by assessing current critical problems experienced by the sector that have a direct link to research and reviewing current knowledge and especially the extent of its uptake. (2) Assess the current structural organisation that links knowledge to practice in key European production countries and identify solutions that will address structural difficulties (where these exist) for shellfish SME’s to participate in RTDI initiatives. (3) Identify future visions for the European shellfish sector by industry, including the identification of gaps and research needs, so as to lay the basis for more effective methodology for future dialogue and possible integration of the sector into the EATIP. EUROSHELL does not seek to create new STRUCTURES for knowledge management in the sector, but looks to strengthen the existing relationships between the existing one.
