“NutriMat” - Nutritional Material from Fouling Organisms


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Monika.Weiss [ at ] awi.de

Abstract

The conceptual work of the project “NutriMat” will be presented. The project aims to examine the applicability and quality of fouling organisms on offshore submerged structures to serve as an alternative protein and lipid source in aquaculture. An additional goal is the development of a harvest device and a processing procedure. The constantly rising demand on fishery products from aquaculture raises the problem of feeding those organisms. Stagnating catches meet rising demands and intensify the costs for fishmeal which is an essential ingredient of aquaculture feeds. Due to the rising prices and the request for ecologically sustainable feed stuff, alternative protein and lipid resources need to be established. Due to the soaring offshore wind energy business the newly built artificial substrates offer a habitat for Blue Mussel (Mytilus edulis) dominated fouling communities in the North Sea. The fouling community involves several disadvantages for the submerged structures of the platforms like an increased weight-load, aggravated corrosion and a restricted possibility to survey the structures. As specified by the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency each year 25 % of the windmills per park have to be inspected, consequently the removal of the biofouling is reasonable and necessary. Harvesting the biofouling of the high number of planned offshore wind turbines in the North Sea opens an enormous protein and lipid source. M. edulis offers a highly valuable nutrient composition and presents an alternative renewable resource from the marine realm whose application has no obvious disadvantage for the ecosystem nor is it ethically questionable. It has a high potential to serve as a sustainable, organic feed stuff which not only meets the western aesthetics but also offers a species-appropriate feed, originating from the same milieu. The consortium working on this project for the next two years is composed of companies from Bremerhaven/Cuxhaven and combines expertise on operating offshore wind parks, maritime engineering, processing marine resources, economics, recirculation aquaculture and biochemical analytics.



Item Type
Conference (Talk)
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Published
Event Details
Marine Resources and Beyond, 05 Sep 2011 - 11 Sep 2011, Bremerhaven.
Eprint ID
38791
Cite as
Weiss, M. (2011): “NutriMat” - Nutritional Material from Fouling Organisms , Marine Resources and Beyond, Bremerhaven, 5 September 2011 - 11 September 2011 .


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