Aquaculture has been the fastest growing food production sector during the last two decades. In the Baltic Sea region, though, the industry has stagnated or even decreased. The goal for the Aquabest project is to change this trend. However, the future growth in aquaculture production has to be built on sustainable practices and technologies.Aquabest aims to: 1. Start a self-evaluation of the environmental legislation and licensing system of the Baltic Sea region aquaculture.2. Demonstrate a spatial planning process for sustainable aquaculture.3. Close the nutrient loop of Baltic Sea aquaculture through fish feeds based on regional ingredients.4. Create innovative concepts for land-based farms and transfer the technology throughout the region.Aquaculture regulations in the Baltic Sea region require new environmental policies and economic incentives. Current licensing systems do not encourage the adoption of eco-efficient technologies and practices. The aim is to suggest hands-on improvements, alternative policy instruments and incentives. Locally focused control-and-command regulations should be expanded to a sea-wide ecosystem approach, supported by local regulations.One of Aquabest's objectives is to improve spatial planning to create new sustainable aquaculture. Aquabest will produce a spatial planning manual for aquaculture. The manual, intended for local, regional and national authorities in the region, will show a path to new sustainable, conflict free locations for aquaculture farms. At these newly discovered sites new farming technologies, such as robust offshore cages and mussel farms will be adapted. Aquabest attempts to close the nutrient loop of the Baltic Sea: turn aquaculture from net ocean nutrient importer to a nutrient-neutral system. This is accomplished by creating incentives and technologies for using regionally produced feed ingredients, such as detoxified Baltic Sea fish meal, farmed mussel, microbial meal and by-products from crop. The costs and benefits of nutrient recycling will be demonstrated through pilot farming of trout, charr and turbot.A technological shift in land-based aquaculture is underway in Denmark, and production is increasing with no additional nutrient pollution. This is enabled by the use of a unique recirculation farming concept, which brings major environmental benefits in addition to being economically viable. Aquabest will explore how these technologies could also be used in coastal areas with limited access to fresh water. A feasibility study manual for the Danish farm concept will be produced and field tested. Competitiveness will be tested through economic feasibility calculations. Also an intensive recirculation training course will be arranged.Aquabest project has 14 partners, consisting of regional authorities, producer organizations, universities and stakeholders from 8 BSR countries. Achievements: Aquabest-project performed hands-on examples on how to increase aquaculture production without negative environmental effects. New regulation systems were suggested and partially adopted, spatial planning process carried out, regional feed ingredients piloted and low-pollution farming technologies developed and implemented in new regions. On the issue of regulation, data from present licensing systems and voluntary regulation schemes were collected from BSR countries. The work to improve regulation e.g., by including incentives, is being evaluated by HELCOM. HELCOM will together with BSR stakeholders, including several Aquabest partners, prepare new Recommendation for aquaculture during 2014. EU Commission will, through project SUSAQ, recommend how to develope aquaculture taken into account framework directives. In this process, Aquabest recommendations is being adopted. Also improvements in national regulation has been initiated through Aquabest activities.Spatial planning processes in Jämtland, Kalmar and Åland were conducted. This has led and will lead to new farms being established. A large scale mussel farming project is being build within BSR, including several partners from Aquabest.New fish and mussel farming sites are often located offshore or in otherwise harsh conditions. Summaries of state-of-art technologies for these conditions were published.To facilitate the use of feed ingredients from the Baltic Sea region, instead of importing them from oceans and other continents, discussion series with feed industry, fish farmers and decision makers was carried out and conclusions published. Ten tons of mussel farmed in Åland Islands was transferred to Sweden, and first ever batch of Baltic mussel meal with low shell content was manufactured and included in fish diets. Several reports on the manufacturing and pilot farming were published. However, these new ingredients are not yet available in commercial quantities.To implement Danish recirculation aquaculture systems (RAS) throughout the region, feasibility study guidelines was prepared and field-tested in Belarus. Findings of the field test are being used in Belarus for implementation during the next Belarusian five-year planning period. National and regional authorties were closely involved with the project. It is expected that present production will be multiplied through adopting new technologies. Training course on RAS was conducted, and the participating consultants, farmers and authorities will use the knowledge within BSR countries. Finally, new knowledge on nitrogen removal from the RAS effluents, and how to use chemicals within the systems was developed and knowledge disseminated within the aquaculture sector.In addition to outputs for administration and business sector, Aquabest was very beneficial in bringing together first time knowledge institutions responsible for aquaculture development in the entire Baltic Sea region.