Inauguration of the aquaponics training unit at Montpellier University

On Wednesday, July 5, 2023, starting at 11 a.m., the University of Montpellier will inaugurate the brand-new aquaponics training unit at the Station Méditerranéenne de l'Environnement Littoral in Sète, in the presence of Philippe Augé, President of the University of Montpellier, Éric Servat, Director of the Observatoire de Recherche Montpellierrain de l'Environnement (OSU OREME), Laurence Weil, Director of the Service de Formation Continue (SFC UM), and François Pierrot, Deputy Director of the Comité des Investissements Stratégiques et Structurants. 

Aquaculture is a sector that is growing by 5 to 10% a year worldwide, with around 125 million tonnes a year. In recent years, aquaculture production has outstripped that of the fishing industry. This booming sector aims to reach 200 million tonnes per year by 2030, and employs 70 million people.

To train and upgrade the skills of professionals in this sector, the University of Montpellier is opening an aquaponics training unit.

Meeting market needs

The aquaculture vocational training program offered by the University of Montpellier's Continuing Education Department (SFC-UM), based at the Station Méditerranéenne d'Environnement Littoral (SMEL) in Sète, covers the development, use and promotion of aquatic living resources and the management of their environment (aquaculture, aquaponics, leisure and culture, public aquariums, etc.).

The development of this training program is based on meeting market needs, making the most of research-based knowledge, mobilizing the expertise of researchers and our transnational professional network, delivering multi- and inter-disciplinary skills and putting them into practice during training cycles. This global approach has been conceived within the regional ecosystem where research and higher education institutions specialized in Mediterranean and tropical agronomic developments (IFREMER, IRD, CIRAD, CNRS, IRSTEA, INRAE...) are grouped together.