Innovative new shellfish tower solution for open ocean farming in the U.K.

Innovative new ‘Shellfish Tower’ solution for open ocean farming. A recently published study has shown that an innovative new open ocean aquaculture structure is a promising solution for marine farming of shellfish and other species in exposed waters. Aquaculture researchers at Nelson’s Cawthron Institute worked with a team of international researchers and industry partners to design and test the ‘Shellfish Tower’ structure through an MBIE Endeavour Fund project that began in 2016. Five years on, a full-scale prototype of the Shellfish Tower has been trialled in partnership with Ōpōtiki’s Whakatōhea Mussels and shown great potential as a farming system for mussel spat and oysters, and other species like scallops, lobsters, sponges and tunicates. The trial also confirmed the structure performs well in the high-energy open ocean environment, tolerating wave heights of over 7m and currents of over 0.8m/s. With limited space in sheltered coastal areas for farming, environmental ...