Mussel Cultivation as a Co-Use in Offshore Wind Farms: Potential and Economic Feasibility

The German Case Study: Pioneer Projects of Aquaculture-Wind Farm Multi-Uses

“…Consumption mussels reach market size after approximately 1.5 years; therefore, the farm will operate at full scale in the second year, which results in a form of shifting cultivation (Bartlett 1956). While only in the first year of the enterprise no mussels can be harvested due to their growth period to reach market size, in the following years two plots can be Table 11.6 Site-specific data of the offshore wind farm-aquaculture multi-use concept at the offshore lighthouse "Roter Sand" (modified after Buck et al 2010, based on Buck 2004and Buck et al 2008a Basic data harvested biennially each year (6 harvests in four years). Once the longline is transferred at sea, deployed and ready for cultivation the production undergoes two cycles: Spat collection (April-June) in year one and maintenance of longlines to remove fouling organisms and modify buoyancy (August-May) in year one as well and grow-out to consumption size within 15-18 months (market size: <5.5 cm) and harvest in August-November in the second year.…”

“…Four of these six designated plots were calculated according to our mussel cultivation projections (numbers in brackets). b Presents a design of a single mussel plot within a group of four wind turbines (not to scale) (modified after Buck et al 2010). c Example of a submerged longline system design with a V-shaped spat collector harness.…”

“…In this image only a part of the 700 m long longline is presented (not to scale). Modified after Buck et al 2010 11.6.2 Data for the Economic Analysis Table 11.6 (2) As the best and safest working conditions are to maximize onshore activities (Sørensen et al 2001), the setup of all longline devices should take place on land-based facilities and transferred to the aquaculture site during spring to allow settlement in May of the same year. It was planned to install two full mussel plots, which were scaled up in the following year, which would then be equivalent to four mussel plots in operation.…”

“…a Shows a polypropylene-based longline with coupling elements b and its equipment and connection with floats/collectors (c-d); e displays a steel hawser-based longline; f shows a longline with polypropylene (PP) as a backbone and V-shaped spat collectors. Images were modified after Buck 2007 andBuck et al 2010. All images are not to scale (Tortell 1976) were also connected to the longline to determine the settlement of mussel post-larvae.…”

Offshore and Multi-Use Aquaculture with Extractive Species: Seaweeds and Bivalves

“…2.2a-f). Economic feasibilities studies were carried out as well as a protocol for a one-step mussel cultivation method that doesn't require any thinning procedure till reaching market size (Buck et al 2010). …”