Research Institute for Fisheries, Aquaculture and Irrigation (HAKI)

Research Institute for Fisheries, Aquaculture and Irrigation (HAKI)

The Research Institute for Fisheries, Aquaculture and Irrigation (HAKI), based in Szarvas (Hungary), is an internationally acknowledged research and training centre. The institute implements multidisciplinary research, to provide a scientific basis for the development of sustainable aquaculture and agriculture systems, and for the responsible use and protection of aquatic resources. The major fields of research are: aquatic ecology; fish genetics and immunology; fish feeding and nutrition, aquaculture systems and irrigation.

The demand-led approach, the complexity and flexibility are enabling HAKI to assist aquaculture, fisheries and irrigation development programmes efficiently both in Hungary and abroad, through adaptive research, technology development, training, demonstration and extension. The wide range of activities of HAKI are supported by a unique complex of facilities.

The HAKI Research Infrastructures open for Access in the AQUAEXCEL project are:

1. HAKI Outdoor Experimental Pond Station (OEPS):The facility consists of 53 earthen ponds with varying surface areas. The pond system is suitable for experiments in different purposes (e.g. feeding tests, testing different production, management and technological elements, ecosystem modelling, etc.). Besides the experimental ponds a constructed wetland system is also operated as a part of the experimental station.

2. HAKI Indoor Fish Rearing Facility for Semi- and Large-scale Experiments (RECIRK): The recirculation system has 100 m3 useful volume, consisting from plastic tanks of different shape and volume.