Balfegó y AZTI join forces to promote research and valorisation projects for the bluefin tuna fishery and aquaculture.

• The technology centre and the company have signed a collaboration agreement to make progress in the sustainability of this species and the application of artificial intelligence in production processes.
• The agreement foresees the construction of a joint R&D unit that will define an innovation plan for annual review.

Madrid, 14 October 2021 – AZTI technology centre, an expert in the sea and food value chain, and Balfegó, a company specialised and world leader in the capture, feeding, study and marketing of bluefin tuna, have signed a collaboration agreement to jointly promote research, development and valorisation of new products linked to the aquaculture of this species in the open sea.

The agreement will allow both organisations to exchange their in-depth knowledge and share human resources, technologies, scientific instruments and technical infrastructures for the development of different projects. Among other aspects, the agreement plans to delve deeper into the sustainability and digitalisation of bluefin tuna production processes, the quality of the final product, and authentication and traceability, points in which Balfegó has been a pioneer in the fishing sector. This collaboration will also focus on the commercial development of new products and environmental sustainability, as well as research and the application of artificial intelligence in the fields of bluefin tuna fishing and aquaculture.

Launch of a joint R&D&I unit

The agreement also foresees the setting up of a joint R&D&I unit whose main function will be to define an innovation plan in which the priority lines of research for the coming months will be defined.

“At Balfegó we work to guarantee the continuity of bluefin tuna for future generations, which is why we have found no one better than AZTI, a world leader in tuna research, to share our knowledge and develop R&D initiatives that benefit the fishery, the species and the quality of our product,” says Juan Serrano, general manager of Balfegó.

In AZTI, in addition to working together for the sustainability of the species, they highlight the creation of value and the increase in competitiveness that this alliance will bring to the sector.

According to Rogelio Pozo, General Manager of AZTI, “transforming our knowledge into business opportunities and committing to projects with companies as the main way to transfer our scientific results to the industrial fabric is one of the priority lines of action of AZTI’s strategy, a technology centre that is characterised both by the excellence of its research activity and its proximity to the business world”.