Many EU countries aim to be less dependent on global markets and create new income opportunities for coastal communities in a climate changing world. In addition to the already overused coastal areas of Germany, the site development plan for offshore wind farms in the German Bight will increase significantly over the next 25 years. Multi-Use (MU, Schupp et al. 2019) is intended to offer the possibility of joint use of the marine realm by different users without exerting additional ecological impact on the marine environment. Consequently, MU could pave the way for new stakeholders, such as offshore aquaculture enterprises, which will be conducted in synergy with offshore wind farms.
The OLAMUR-Project aims to assess the viability of MU aquaculture in three case studies representing differently exposed areas in the North and Baltic Sea. 70 km off the coast in Germany (case study A) low-trophic aquaculture experiments are located in the wind farm MeerWind Süd/Ost. After two years of planning, designing, testing of various system-designs, mooring concepts and farming strategies, farming of some of these selected taxa such as blue mussels (Mytilus edulis), European Oysters (Ostrea edulis), sea lettuce (Ulva sp.) and sugar kelp (Saccharina latissima) started in spring and early summer 2025.
Here, we present preliminary results (abiotic/biotic data, technology, moorings) of all farming trials. Results of this case study may provide a first insight whether aquaculture in very exposed offshore areas could be a potential new sector in the North Sea to achieve the above-mentioned aims.
Schupp MF, Bocci M, Depellegrin D, Kafas A, Kyriazi Z, Lukic I, Schultz-Zehden A, Krause G, Onyango V and Buck BH (2019) Toward a Common Understanding of Ocean Multi-Use. Front. Mar. Sci. 6:165. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2019.00165