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Portugal achieves major milestone with permit for offshore aquaculture facility

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Portugal has issued a permit for an offshore aquaculture facility in the open sea for the first time in its history. 

Mariculture Systems, a company based in Ramat Negev, Israel, announced that it had obtained an Aquaculture Activity Title (Ttulo de Atividade Aqucola - TAA) from the Portuguese authorities. The authorisation enables the company to proceed with the construction of an offshore aquaculture facility off the coast of Portugal. 

The planned facility will deploy the company's CORALIS offshore aquaculture technology, based on a semi-submersible platform designed to operate in exposed offshore conditions. Portugal's favourable environmental conditions for offshore aquaculture and its access to European seafood markets were also identified by the company as factors supporting the investment. Mariculture Systems intends to cultivate gilthead sea bream and European sea bass at the facility, with a planned production capacity of up to 8 000 tonnes annually once fully operational. The offshore design allows fish cages to be submerged during adverse weather conditions, with the aim of improving fish welfare and enhancing the resilience of the infrastructure. 

The production system will also incorporate digital monitoring technologies, including artificial intelligence and camera-based feeding systems, to optimize feed management and reduce waste and seabed impacts. According to the company, the Portuguese project forms part of a broader deployment plan involving up to ten offshore farming systems. Construction and assembly of the first installation are expected to take approximately 18 months. Subject to the project timeline, offshore production could commence in 2027, followed by commercial operations in 2028

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