Ropes to Reef FISP

Reporting lower environmental impacts and higher growth potential compared to traditional inshore farms, offshore mussel farming has the potential to become one of the most sustainable, large-scale sources of healthy protein.

Image: Dr. Llucia Mascorda-Cabre

By annually monitoring the UK’s first offshore, long-line mussel farm since it was first developed in 2013 in Lyme Bay UK, the University of Plymouth has used ecological and oceanographic techniques to evidence how the farm has delivered increases in pelagic, epi-benthic and infaunal biodiversity.

The Ropes to Reef project will further assess the ecosystem services and benefits offshore mussel farming and assess the restoration of essential fish habitat (EFH), biodiversity and associated healthy fish stocks (biomass). The project will also aim to quantify the connectivity of these ecosystem services and its connectivity with the adjacent MPA and spillover effect to fishing grounds. This project’s methodology is based on a multi-trophic level approach combining ecological and oceanography techniques

Figure: Dr. Llucia Mascorda-Cabre

The project will use non-destructive remote sampling techniques such as an echosounder, multibeam and ground truthing cameras deployed from local fishing boats, to produce high resolution data on the biodiversity and extent of essential fish habitat and associated mobile species. Fishes and crustaceans will also be tracked using acoustic tags via the world’s first multi-farm (mussel, scallop, and seaweed) aquaculture telemetry network.

Image: Dr. Llucia Mascorda-Cabre

The project will be lead by Dr. Emma Sheehan and Post-doctoral researcher Dr. Llucia Mascorda Cabre, supported by funding from the Fisheries in Science Partnership (FISP) from the UK Seafood Fund. Alongside University of Plymouth, project partners are Offshore Shellfish Ltd., Scallop Ranch Ltd., Biome Algae Ltd., Shellfish Association of Great Britain and the Fishmongers Charitable Trust. Ropes to Reef will continue the aMER teams longstanding collaboration with local fishers in the southwest, with charter skippers being used at each stage project field work.

Project Partners