The team of the EU-funded ODYSSEA project’s leading partner, the Democritus University of Thrace (DUTH), held a virtual session with mussel-farming producer Anastasiou Mussels, based in Olympiada, in Greece’s Chalkidiki region, on 8 December 2020. The session aimed to provide guidance to the company on the use of the ODYSSEA platform, from data collection via sensors (the company hosts one of ODYSSEA sensors) to application of the processed data towards optimising their aquaculture operations.
“This is a case study on the successful collaboration between data providers, through the platform, and end-users, like this mussel farmer,” commented ODYSSEA project coordinator Prof. Georgios Sylaios of DUTH. “It is also a successful example of the deployment and the maintenance of the system by the farmer since the surface station has been deployed at his premises.”
Vassilis Anastasiou, the company’s manager was also happy to begin benefiting from the ODYSSEA platform and its services to end-users.
“This is the first research project I have seen all these years that produces really important and easy-to-use tools for mariculture. Having the right information about the living conditions of our mussels on a near real-time basis can make a real difference for our daily activities, as well as in extraordinary circumstances,” Anastasiou said.
Data provided by the ODYSSEA platform can help the four mussel farms and the other aquaculture farmers of the area to optimise their feeding and other essential activities, on the basis of timely information on key parameters, such as water temperature, salinity, wave height, or eutrophication, and alert them if any emergency action is needed to avoid the loss of mussels due to a rapid deterioration of marine environmental conditions.
For ODYSSEA, the collaboration with Olympiada is also “an opportunity to access and process data about mussel growth and validate the models that we use,” Sylaios noted, as data from in situ measurements help correct and calibrate data produced by forecasting models.
Perhaps more importantly, Sylaios added, the cooperation between ODYSSEA and Olympiada is a convincing demonstration of how scientists can support SMEs and other businesses active at sea, and at the same time benefit from the association with them in order to gather the information that can help them tackle the challenges caused by adverse and volatile environmental conditions in a successful and sustainable manner.
