The basic idea of the project is to provide a solid scientific base for the development of practical guidelines on the three main objectives identified and for all of the fish species included in the project.

The three main objectives are:

Identify optimal rearing temperatures for early life stages of the major European aquaculture species, given as a table specifying lethal and teratogenic temperatures for different stages of early life.

Identify nutritional components influencing the incidence of malformations, concentrating on bone mineralization and muscle growth as affected by dietary components in starter diets and in fast growing juveniles.

Identify abiotic factors of tank environment that influence the incidence and development of malformations, including tank hydrodynamics as well as gas supplementation.

The objectives for the FINE FISH project are reflecting improvements in the performance of European fish hatcheries (for the species treated by this project)

Achievement of these objectives place the greatest importance on achieving the widest impact of dissemination and training activities throughout the European fish farming profession.