World Aquaculture Magazine -December 2021

28 DECEMBER 2021 • WORLD AQUACULTURE • WWW.WA S .ORG development fund is being proposed by the IMO to provide the capital to develop new technologies. Amandatory levy on carbon fuels of US$2/t would generate US$5 billion over 10 years to explore fuel developments of hydrogen, ammonia, methanol and nuclear. Maersk (Denmark) is planning to launch a methanol-based liner in 2023 and Wallenius Wilhelmsen hopes to launch a wind-powered carrier in 2025 (Ocean Economist 2021). Radical Transformation– IntegratedAquaticFood-EnergySystems There have been significant developments to realize more sustainable infrastructure for food systems through the integration of operations for food, energy and water systems (FEWS) (Memarzadeh et al. 2019). Saundry and Ruddell (2020), in their book on the food- energy-water nexus, detail the needs for new ecological designs of mixed systems at scale. Agriculture is going through a transformative revolution with the emergence of “agrivoltaics,” the integration of land for both solar photovoltaic energy and food production (Harshavardhan and Pearce 2016). Solar panels and crops are placed to optimize crop yields and qualities, energy production and to conserve water. Large-scale, land-based aquaculture systems are similarly going through an exciting innovation phase integrating with renewable energy systems, led by the development of integrated solar fish farms of 120-200MW in China (Harkell 2020) (Fig. 3). Buck and Langan (2017) have led research on the integration of offshore renewable energy systems and aquaculture for over 20 years. However Stead (2019) stated that co-location of aquaculture facilities has “come to nothing or had limited success,” blaming “the lack of systems thinking and in particular concerns about insurance, access, regulations, risk or governance issues.” Although wind- power is well developed in European seas, and worldwide on land, just one small offshore wind energy facility exists to date in the US. Major development plans are moving forward, however. Twigg et al. (2020) published a “Special Issue on Understanding the Effects of OffshoreWind Energy Development on Fisheries” in Oceanography containing valuable experiences fromEurope and the one facility in Rhode Island, USA that are broadly applicable to aquaculture co-location with wind energy. Haggett et al. (2020) had especially poignant comments about the need for “meaningful engagement” with fisheries interests. Much more work needs to be done to articulate fully the benefits to fisheries of offshore structures and the opportunities to use renewable energy platforms for both aquaculture and marine restoration. For example, Claissea et al. (2019) provided solid scientific evidence that oil platforms off California are among the most productive marine fish habitats globally. In the 1980s-1990s, oil platforms in the Santa Barbara channel were the sites of three California companies harvesting mussels for sale to consumers and for a biofouling control strategy for oil companies (Richards et al. 2009) (Fig. 4). The most successful was ECOMAR, which documented the unique business and environmental strategy and developed all regulatory approvals for human consumption. ECOMAR estimated it harvested US$50,000-75,000 of shellfish per platform every 16-20 months (Meek 1989). Between 1992 and 1997, mussel production rose in California from approximately 84.8MT to 213.6MT with most of the newmussel production coming from the southern California oil platform harvests. Development of shellfish harvesting as a biofouling control strategy and profitable business was a win-win situation for both the oil and gas industry and shellfish harvesting entrepreneurs, allowing oil platform operators to reduce or eliminate costs for cleaning stress-load biofouling communities off platform legs and crossbeams, while at the same time providing entrepreneurs an opportunity to develop a valuable new ocean foods market for human consumption. As aquaculture markets have grown and become more profitable, and as oil and gas prices have fluctuated widely and climate change has become an urgent global priority, oil and gas companies have become major investors in aquaculture both on land and at exposed, high-energy sites remote from the many conflicts rife in the world’s coastal zones. The Norwegian offshore oil industry sees profits to be made globally from plans to produce 5MT of farmed salmon by 2050, the lack of nearshore lease sites to expand production, the technological advancements being made in automation and digital systems and the emergence of industrial-scale recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) on land. Norway’s Moreld, a major North Sea oil service conglomerate, formedMoreld Aqua to “capitalize on…expertise…from energy management to marine operations” (Holmyard 2021) and China’s Three Gorges Corporation sees the growth of aquaculture markets as major growth opportunities. The Three Gorges Corporation is FIGURE 4. Divers from ECOMAR harvesting mussels using Venturi pumps off the legs of oil platforms in the Santa Barbara Channel, California in the mid- 1990s (Photos: John Richards). FIGURE 3. The integration of renewable energy systems and aquaculture is developing rapidly. Pictured is an aerial view of the integrated 200MW solar energy-fish farm in Zhejiang Province, China. Another 120MWproject is also operational in Jiangxi Province, and more are planned.