This page provides basic information on the combination between different type of aquaculture production and will be further populated as more information becomes available.
The combination between different types of aquaculture production is commonly known as Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture (IMTA). It refers to the integrated farming of different species from different trophic levels in close proximity, generating benefits for each other. These interactions have been specifically designed to enable productions with positive environmental impacts. IMTA notably offers the potential to limit the impacts of fish farming, by combining it with low-trophic aquaculture (shellfish and algae productions) which will reduce and filter organic waste material.
In addition to enabling the development of aquaculture with a low environmental impact, and even positive impact (e.g., bioremediation [1]) this approach can also provide economic benefits (e.g., diversification of aquaculture businesses) and support the implementation of circular-economy models.
- SECTORS' CHARACTERISTICS
Aquaculture is defined as “the rearing or cultivation of aquatic organisms using techniques designed to increase the production of the organisms in question beyond the natural capacity of the environment” [2]. The EU aquaculture sector is slowly but steadily growing and is ranked the eleventh largest worldwide with a 0.9 % share of the volume of global output in 2021 [3]. At EU level, the activity is framed by the guidelines for sustainable and competitive EU aquaculture. It is a hugely diverse industry [4]: fish farming refers to the growth of fish in controlled aquatic enclosures, farming of shellfish is the cultivation and harvest of molluscs and crustaceans, and algaculture focuses on the farming of algae species. The EU Algae Initiative aims at making a wider use of that resource, that is not sufficiently developed [5].
Physical factors (water temperature and quality, currents, nutrient availability, etc.) have a direct effect on the growth of aquaculture species. Companies are therefore looking for the most suitable locations for their farms, also considering the associated costs of operations such as depth or distance from port that modify transport possibilities as well as construction, and maintenance costs [6]. This makes distant offshore farming more expensive and more exposed to extreme weather hazards. One of the main challenges is therefore the limited availability of inshore sheltered areas.
For more European statistics and data you can also visit the Eurostat website
Existing co-existence and multi-use initiatives
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