Shellfish growers have welcomed a new research project which will measure the benefits to the coastal environment of their activity.
The ShellAqua project led by researchers at the Ryan Institute in NUI Galway (NUIG) aims to quantify the "benefits to human wellbeing provided by the natural environment from healthy ecosystems, potentially provided by shellfish aquaculture".
It has secured funding by Bord Iascaigh Mhara through the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund funded Knowledge Gateway Scheme, and was developed from partnerships and engagement with industry through an Atlantic Area Interreg project.
It aims to develop an ecosystem services-based tool using operational and monitoring data for case-study shellfish aquaculture sites and develop life cycle datasets on mussel and oyster production.
This will allow for monitoring of environmental performance after the project is over.
The project also aims to assess the economic benefits and engage in knowledge transfer of methods, results and approaches.
Industry partners supporting it include Coney Island Shellfish Ltd, Blackshell Farm, and Kelly Oysters.
The application was also supported by the Galway Bay community-based organisation Cuan Beo and the representative body for Irish Aquaculture, Irish Farmers’ Association Aquaculture.
Datasets and profiling of mussel (Mytilus edulis) and oyster (Crassostrea gigas) aquaculture will take place in Galway Bay, Clew Bay, Co Mayo, Sligo harbour and Drumcliffe bay, Co Sligo.
"The ShellAqua project is valuable for the future and helps take the industry in the direction we need to go," IFA Aquaculture chairman Michael Mulloy, who is owner of Blackshell Farm, said.
" The project will provide the tools we need to verify the sustainability of our industry,"he said.
Alan Kennedy, MOREFISH and ShellAqua project manager at NUIG described it as "another example of how proactive engagement between researchers and the aquaculture sector can support the industry's sustainable development with significant potential benefits for broader society.”
Cuan Beo's Diarmuid Kelly said that "while we have always known the importance of having healthy bivalve populations within our bays, this project will provide us with the scientific evidence of the ecosystem services provided by such communities".
"It will also give us the necessary information needed to inform policymakers of the benefits of protecting shellfish waters," Kelly said.