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To limit compromising the integrity of the planet, a shift is needed towards food production with low environmental impacts and low carbon footprint. How to put such transformative change towards sustainable food production whilst ensuring food security into practice remains a challenge and will require transdisciplinary approaches. Combining expertise from natural- and social sciences as well as industry perspectives, an alternative vision for the future in the marine realm is proposed. This vision includes moving towards aquaculture mainly of low trophic marine (LTM) species. Such shift may enable a blue transformation that can support a sustainable blue economy. It includes a whole new perspective and proactive development of policy-making which considers, among others, the context-specific nature of allocation of marine space and societal acceptance of new developments, over and above the decarbonization of food production, vis á vis reducing regulatory barriers for the industry for LTM whilst acknowledging the complexities of upscaling and outscaling. This needs to be supported by transdisciplinary research co-produced with consumers and wider public, as a blue transformation towards accelerating LTM aquaculture opportunities in a net zero-carbon world can only occur by considering the demands of society.

The use of single-use packaging materials has increased dramatically in recent decades in parallel with increasing trends in convenience and fast-food. Most of these packaging materials are made of non-biodegradable, petroleum-based polymers that have degradative impacts on the environment and contribute to the global plastic pollution crisis. Finding alternative packaging materials is an important step towards building a bio-based circular economy. Sustainable land-based macroalgae cultivation can provide a solution, as it eliminates land-use pressure on coastal areas, doesn’t interfere with recreational activities or agriculture, reduces seasonal limitations, allows for complete control over product quality, and ensures consistent quality and traceability. Here, we present the success story of land-based macroalgae production for sustainable packaging solutions in the food industry via the Mak-Pak and Mak-Pak Scale-Up projects

The mission of the Mak Pak Scale Up project 2021 present) is to develop a seaweed based food packaging material and to sustainably scale up the production of seaweed, including Ulva spp in a recirculating land based facility supplemented with artificial seawater that requires a selection and optimization of the seaweed of interest The Ulva genus has previously shown high plasticity and capacity to acclimate and develop under broad ranges of environmental conditions, suggesting this may be a promising candidate for production in a RAS with low salinity artificial seawater Selecting an Ulva strain well adapted to such conditions will help reduce the costs of salt and, therefore, optimize production The aim of this study was to determine how salinity can be used and adapted throughout the entire Ulva production to define several key points 1 strain selection 2 nursery and seeding 3 optimized production in adult Ulva and 4 increasing functionality (e g high antioxidant activity) Based on the results of three different experiments, it was possible to conclude how salinity impacts different strains of Ulva (tubular and blade species) from warm temperate environments, during three key moments of their development and with that, conclude which strains would be more suited to be scaled up within the scope of land based production At the same time, the data presented serve as a baseline for further work with Ulva under different cultivation conditions

With regard to the current climate crisis, offshore wind energy in particular is developing into an increasingly important sustainable resource for energy production in order to replace fossil fuels in the future. The foundations of the individual wind turbines create a reef effect and provide a habitat for organisms that would not naturally occur on the predominantly sandy seabed of the southern North Sea. Through artificial hard substrates, settlement and development processes of so-called biofouling organisms can be observed and documented. During the construction of such plants, load coefficients caused by fouling organisms have to be taken into account. Until now, these load coefficients have always been estimated, since no suitable studies exist to calculate the values accurately. Therefore, within the EnviSim4Mare project, a seawater wave and flow channel is constructed for the first time in Germany to perform measurements on suitable test bodies with fouling. To ensure standardized sampling for the evaluation of fouling communities, two artificial hard substrates were developed and deposited at an exposed offshore (Nordergründe wind farm) and sheltered site (north-east harbour of Helgoland). This bachelor thesis presents and discusses the compiled results of the development (with consideration of different environmental conditions) deployment, handling during sampling as well as the developed emergent communities of the two systems. A sampling period of two years (May to December 2021 and April to October 2022) was considered. Monitoring under real conditions of biofouling communities will provide information on the seasonal and spatial settlement processes as well as composition of individual taxa and show which organisms exhibit dominant characteristics. Three habitats were distinguished between the two sites: Nordergründe sublittoral (underwater), Helgoland eulittoral (intertidal) and Helgoland sublittoral. Through morpho taxonomic analyses three biofouli

The purpose of this publication is to perform a system analysis of new cultivation technology for exposed bivalve farming. The technical feasibility of the new construction, called Shellfish Tower, was assessed. The device has gone through several very different phases of development on its way to the deployment of the prototype. These included multiple iterations during the designing stage, wave tank testing, fabrication, loading and unloading on trucks and vessels, deployment at sea, installation and assembly on the single mooring line, and bring it to its final position in a submerged mode 5m-10 m below the water surface. The final structure has a hexagonal body, with a centrally orientated variable buoyancy unit with culture sub-units on each of the six corners. These sub-units can be used for the culture of oysters (Magallana gigas – formally Crassostrea gigas) as well as for the collection of mussel spat (Perna canaliculus). Other possible candidates could be seaweed, lobsters, sponges or tunicates. The operational depth of the whole system can be at any depth but was tested at between 5 and 10 m below the water surface positioned on the mooring line between the screw anchor and surface floats for the prototype tests. The system was deployed in March 2019 six nautical miles off the Bay of Plenty, North Island (New Zealand), in exposed waters near a commercial mussel farm and has been in test mode since then. The modelled structure indicates a design tolerance of significant wave height of over 7 m and currents of over 0.8 m/s. Initial results show that the new design has survived waves at 4.6 m significant height and current velocities of up to 0.7 m•s-1, while showing best growth conditions of the cultured oysters as well as for the spat settlement of juvenile greenshell™ mussels.

Aquaculture is projected to be a major supplier of marine proteins to large parts of the global population. This includes bivalves, which have a high potential to offset protein deficits, as they are highly adaptable to varying water temperature, salinity, desiccation, and oxygen conditions. This work is part of a two-piece contribution on novel marine aquaculture technology and details physical laboratory tests of a new cultivation system for bivalve farming called “Shellfish Tower”. The tested 1:20 model consists of a rectangular cage (2 × 2 m prototype scale) with a central buoyancy element and a height of 2 – 4 m. Testing was done in a current flume as well as a wave basin for current velocities between 0.4 – 2.2 m/s and wave heights of 1.6 to 5.0 m with periods between 5 to 14 s. The tests were conducted to prove the feasibility and functionality of this aquaculture system, which is usable for the collection and cultivation of mussel spat as well as for the grow-out of oysters, scallops, and seaweed in marine environments. Tests carried out in a current flume revealed that drag coefficients decrease with increasing current velocities, and range from Cd=0.5 to 2.5, while the mooring inclination increases from 12° to 84° with increasing flow velocity, which is highly dependant on the buoyancy related pretension. The examination of the mooring line tensions recorded in a wave basin showed that the largest values of snap-induced tension were up to 10 times that of the semi-static tension. The maximum-recorded tension on the system was 48 kN for a single and 89 kN for a double configuration, compared to non-snap tension values, which were in the range of 6 – 10 kN. The insights gathered in this study will inform the future design of aquaculture systems in high-energy environments and allow for an integration into numerical models.

Marine aquaculture holds great promise for meeting increasing demand for healthy protein that is sustainably produced, but reaching necessary production levels will be challenging. The ecosystem approach to aquaculture is a framework for sustainable aquaculture development that prioritizes multiple-stakeholder participation and spatial planning. These types of approaches have been increasingly used to help guide sustainable, persistent, and equitable aquaculture planning, but most countries have difficulties in setting or meeting longer-term development goals. Scenario analysis (SA) for future planning uses similar approaches and can complement holistic methods, such as the ecosystem approach to aquaculture framework, by providing a temporal analogue to the spatially robust design. Here we define the SA approach to planning in aquaculture, outline how SA can benefit aquaculture planning, and review how this tool is already being used. We track the use of planning tools in the 20 International Council for the Exploration of the Sea member nations, with particular attention given to Norway’s development goals to 2050. We conclude that employing a combination of an ecosystem framework with scenario analyses may help identify the scale of development aquaculture goals over time, aid in evaluating the feasibility of the desired outcomes, and highlight potential social-ecological conflicts and trade-offs that may otherwise be overlooked.

This paper examines the concept of maritime multi-use as a territorial/SPATIAL governance instrument for the enhancement of sustainable development in five EU sea basins. Multi-use (MU) is expected to enhance the productivity of blue economy sectors, as well as deliver additional socio-economic benefits related to the environmental and social dimensions of sustainable development. The paper provides a definition of maritime multi-use and identifies the multi-uses with the highest potential in EU sea basins. In each sea basin, multi-use plays a different role as concerns sustainable development. For the Eastern Baltic Sea, the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea, the MU focus should remain on the environmental pillar of sustainable development. In the North Sea, North Atlantic and Western Baltic Sea, addressing social sustainability seems a key precondition for success of MU in enhancement of sustainable spatial development at sea. Moreover, it has been suggested to introduce MU key global strategies such as SDGs or Macroregional strategies and action plans and to supplement maritime spatial planning with sectoral incentives and educational efforts as key vehicles supporting MU. The paper concludes by identifying aspects which, in order to inform maritime spatial planning and maritime governance regarding a more conscious application of the aforementioned concept, require further investigation. Key tasks are related to: more profound evaluation of performance of policies supporting MUs, researching the impact of MU on societal goals and on the MU costs and benefits, including external ones, and finally identifying the impact of MU on the development of various sectors and regions on land.

Aquaculture development in Europe, while critical to the European Union (EU) Blue Growth strategy, has stagnated over the past decades due largely to high competition for space in the nearshore coastal zone among potential uses and the lack of clear priorities, policy, and planning at EU and national scales. Broad Marine Spatial Planning, including the designation of Allocated Zones for Aquaculture, requires spatial data at the corresponding broad spatial scale, which has not been readily available, as well as model projections to assess potential impacts of climate change. Here, daily chlorophyll-a, water temperature, salinity, and current speed outputs from a marine ecosystem model encompassing the coastal North East Atlantic, the North Sea, and the Mediterranean Sea (the pan-European POLCOMS-ERSEM model configuration) are used to drive a Dynamic Energy Budget growth model of Pacific oyster (Crassostrea gigas). Areas broadly suitable for growth were identified using threshold tolerance range masking applied using the model variables mentioned above, as well as bathymetry data. Oyster growth time series were transformed into simplified indicators that are meaningful to the industry (e.g., time to market weight) and mapped. In addition to early-century indicator maps, modelling and mapping were also carried out for two contrasting late-century climate change projections, following representative concentration pathways 4.5 and 8.5. Areas found to have good oyster growth potential now and into the future were further assessed in terms of their climate robustness (i.e., where oyster growth predictions are comparable between different future climate scenarios). Several areas within Europe were highlighted as priority areas for the development of offshore Pacific oyster cultivation, including coastal waters along the French Atlantic, the southern North Sea, and western Scotland and Ireland. A large potential growth hot spot was also identified along northwestern Africa

The purpose of this publication is to perform a system analysis of new cultivation technology for exposed bivalve farming. The technical feasibility of the new construction, called Shellfish Tower, was assessed. The device has gone through several very different phases of development on its way to the deployment of the prototype. These included multiple iterations during the designing stage, wave tank testing, fabrication, loading and unloading on trucks and vessels, deployment at sea, installation and assembly on the single mooring line, and bring it to its final position in a submerged mode 5m-10 m below the water surface. The final structure has a hexagonal body, with a centrally orientated variable buoyancy unit with culture sub-units on each of the six corners. These sub-units can be used for the culture of oysters (Magallana gigas – formally Crassostrea gigas) as well as for the collection of mussel spat (Perna canaliculus). Other possible candidates could be seaweed, lobsters, sponges or tunicates. The operational depth of the whole system can be at any depth but was tested at between 5 and 10 m below the water surface positioned on the mooring line between the screw anchor and surface floats for the prototype tests. The system was deployed in March 2019 six nautical miles off the Bay of Plenty, North Island (New Zealand), in exposed waters near a commercial mussel farm and has been in test mode since then. The modelled structure indicates a design tolerance of significant wave height of over 7 m and currents of over 0.8 m/s. Initial results show that the new design has survived waves at 4.6 m significant height and current velocities of up to 0.7 m•s-1, while showing best growth conditions of the cultured oysters as well as for the spat settlement of juvenile greenshell™ mussels.