Research area 1: A framework for sustainable expansion of mariculture

Researcher in charge

Mats Lindegarth

Challenges

There is a global consensus about the increasing importance of aquaculture as an essential provider of food and other valuable products. Sweden and the EU have identified aquaculture as an important component of “blue growth”. Expansion of the underdeveloped mariculture sector is however a challenging political and social task. In order to provide recommendations and strategies for sustainable mariculture expansion, in Sweden and globally, a common framework needs to be adopted that takes into account the diverse set of economic, societal, institutional and biological factors that are preventing expansion of the sector.

Objectives and expected outcomes

• To summarize the state-of-the-art for assessing different aspects of carrying capacity, to analyze limiting factors for the development of different types of mariculture under a range of socio-economic settings and ecological conditions, and to develop ways to overcome these obstacles.
• To study current public opinion and in particular to analyze major factors determining pro-mariculture opinion, in order to understand how a broad support among citizens and stakeholders can be gained.
• To develop a conceptual framework, based on carrying capacities that will encompass relevant factors currently complicating and limiting sustainable expansion of mariculture.
• To implement this framework on RA2-RA5
• To provide a baseline and alternative scenarios for managing limiting factors to be evaluated in RA6.