Talking to BBC Radio 4 about offshore aquaculture
Working closely with the fishing and mussel farming industry, and building on previous and ongoing research, we can deliver essential evidence regarding the impact of offshore aquaculture.
The biggest environmental gain from offshore mussel farming is that it produces large quantities of high-quality protein with a lower environmental footprint than virtually any other food production method. So what we are getting is food provision with zero land use, zero fresh water use, zero pollution, zero fertiliser, zero chemicals, zero medication, zero feed input, zero or very low net carbon emissions. On the flip side to that, it delivers positive ecosystem services, increased biodiversity, habitat creation and the spillover benefit to surrounding fisheries. When you add up all of that, it makes a very powerful case for this type of food production.
Anecdotally, we often say that scallop farms are a breeding ground for fish. They have creatures growing on all the equipment we have in the water, some living and growing on or around it and others feeding on the life it houses. Ropes to Reefs will add the science and rigour to this, quantifying and rationalising what we see as we go about our daily work. When we truly understand how the farm interacts and supports the surrounding ecosystem, we can build a case for why low-trophic aquaculture is such an important part of the modern world.