The initiative WOLLFISH, funded by Bilateral Relation fund from EEA Grants, started at the end of last year 2020 and the objective is to find sperm quality indicators in spotted wolffish (Anarchicas minor) to improve the protocols of sperm handling in this species.
Spotted wolffish is a fish species very appreciated in Norway which presents reproductive constraints related to the low sperm volume and high variability in sperm quality among males.
The promoter of the initiative, Center of Marine Sciences (CCMAR) has the Nord University as the Norwegian partner, where the fish are located. The knowledge generated in the last years from the Norwegian partner in the wolffish reproduction and the expertise of sperm handling techniques from the promoter is the perfect combination to obtain successful results of the present initiative.
WOLFFISH initiative will run until February of 2022 ending with a report about this field. Currently, to reach the objectives of the project, the project Manager from Nord University (Dr. Jorge Galindo) has collected the sperm samples of wolffish for further being analysed by the researchers from CCMAR (Drs. Elvira Fatsini and Elsa Cabrita) in Norway.
About EEA Grants:
Through the Agreement on the European Economic Area (EEA), the countries: Iceland, o Liechtenstein and Norway are partners on the internal market with the European Union state members.
In order to boost a continuous and balanced strengthening of the economic and trade relations, the parties to this agreement have stablished a multianual Financial Mechanism um Mecanismo Financeiro plurianual, known as EEA Grants.
EEA Grants have, as its main targets, to reduce social and economic disparities in Europe as well as to strengthen the bilateral relations between these three countries and the beneficiary countries.
For the period 2014-2021, it was agreed a 2.8 billion euros contribution for the 15 beneficiary countries. Portugal benefits from a 102.7 million euros amount.