A research center for fishing will be established in Vodňany

Vodňany (Strakonicko) - A new center for fishery science and research will be established in Vodňany for 350 million crowns. Builders will begin renovating and converting several buildings at the site of the current Vodňany Fisheries and Hydrobiological Institute, which is under the Faculty of Fisheries and Water Protection of the University of South Bohemia. This is expected to create a top regional center with international reach. The director of the Fisheries and Hydrobiological Research Institute, Pavel Kozák, informed ČTK about this.
    "We will obtain the conditions and equipment to conduct research that is comparable to European or global research, and the results should correspond to that," he stated. The institute already has a granted subsidy and is preparing a tender for construction suppliers.
    At the beginning of next year, the main building of the institute is set to be refurbished, where new laboratories will be created. In the area currently housing a hatchery, there will be an experimental breeding center focused on sturgeons. Additional innovations are also planned.
    "As part of establishing the research center, we have also received funding to support top-tier research, which required us to commit to fulfilling several research activities," Kozák added. These include research on fish meat quality and its enhancement, sturgeon breeding, and the use of fish and crayfish in monitoring water quality in waterworks, for example, in the context of counter-terrorism measures. A strong emphasis is placed on transferring research results to practice.
    The total costs for the project amount to 350 million, of which nearly 77 million will be covered by the university's own resources. The remaining 273 million will be funded through the Operational Program for Science and Research for Innovation, with 75 percent covered by the European Union and 25 percent by the state budget. The Vodňany Research Institute is the only one in the South Bohemia Region to receive a grant from this operational program.
    The Faculty of Fisheries and Water Protection of the University of South Bohemia was established on September 1, 2009. It comprises the Fisheries and Hydrobiological Research Institute in Vodňany and the Aquaculture Institute in České Budějovice. It is the most comprehensive facility in Europe offering bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral studies, research, and applied research, with habilitation and professorship rights in the field of fisheries and water protection. The faculty has experimental facilities for studying and researching aquaculture, hydrobiology, toxicology, fish diseases, reproduction, genetics, fish and crayfish breeding, and a unique fishing library.