Diverseafood: Evaluating the potential of multi-trophic aquaculture to improve nutrition and ecosystem sustainability in the UK

如果环境可持续性挑战和消费障碍得到充分解决，通过水产养殖生产的海鲜在促进健康和可持续饮食方面具有独特的地位，并有助于解决英国慢性非传染性疾病和营养不良日益增加的负担。生产多样化，特别是针对环境可持续性较高的物种，如海藻、贻贝和海胆，特别是通过综合多营养水生生态系统，可为生物修复发挥重要作用，同时还可实现产品多样化，提高公众对该行业的接受程度。然而，《国际商品贸易协定》的商业实施继续面临挑战，阻碍了投资。该项目将通过评估IMTA对水产养殖生产的海产品的营养价值和该部门的环境可持续性的贡献，解决英国水产养殖系统多样化的障碍。为了支持水产养殖多样化，将调查在商业模式、政策和消费者接受程度方面的有针对性的干预措施。为了评估IMTA（WP 1）的营养贡献，我们将比较单一栽培和IMTA系统的总脂肪酸预算，使用来自桌面审查和直接数据收集的数据，来自海藻农场和贻贝和海胆的培养试验，作为脂肪酸参数化的生长模型和质量平衡营养模型的输入。将通过开发生物经济模型和评估IMTA系统运营的潜在社会许可证（WP 4），将社会经济价值纳入生物物理分析，以全面评估与IMTA系统相关的供应，监管和社会文化生态系统服务。除了描述IMTA在促进健康和可持续饮食和生态系统方面的潜力外，该项目还将解决生产者和消费者在实现水产养殖多样化方面面临的执行挑战。为了查明采用《国际商品贸易协定》和多样化的政策障碍（第五工作方案），该项目将评估现有的政策优先事项，并查明影响《国际商品贸易协定》改革环境的根本利益和激励措施。它将进一步探索综合系统中产生的海藻和无脊椎动物作为营养物和碳交易信用候选物的潜力。为了评估提高消费者接受度的范围（WP3），该项目将在一个实验性的在线超市中测试零售干预的力量，目的是确定具有高市场扩张潜力的海鲜产品。评估之后将进行感官实验，以评估IMTA新产品的可接受性，使用面部识别软件监测品尝者在任务期间表现出的感受，这将有助于在每个海鲜类别（例如藻类）中识别消费者最欣赏的品种，从而为商业模式研究提供信息。为了应对行业吸收的经济挑战，将描述英国水产养殖生产的现有商业模式，并将得出分类，以确定如何改进这些模式（WP 2）。这一分析将得到利益攸关方讲习班的补充，以利用商业模式画布设计创新的商业模式。研讨会将探索为客户提供的新价值主张以及公司市场差异化的机会。通过这种跨学科的方法，该项目将共同评估和记录IMTA和水产养殖多样化的环境，营养和经济效益，为行业和政策制定者提供见解，以促进向更健康，更可持续的水产养殖过渡。

Seafood production through aquaculture is in a unique position to contribute to healthy and sustainable diets and help to tackle the rising burden of chronic noncommunicable diseases and malnutrition in the UK, if environmental sustainability challenges and barriers to consumption are adequately addressed. Diversifying production, especially towards species of higher environmental sustainability, such as seaweed, mussels and sea urchins, and in particular through Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture (IMTA), can serve a significant purpose towards bioremediation, while also allowing for product diversification and increased public acceptability of the industry. However, continued challenges to the commercial implementation of IMTA have hindered investment. This project will address barriers to the diversification of aquaculture systems in the UK by evaluating the contribution of IMTA to the nutritional value of aquaculture-produced seafood and to the environmental sustainability of the sector. To support aquaculture diversification, targeted interventions at the levels of business models, policies and consumer acceptance will be investigated. To assess the nutritional contribution from IMTA (WP1), we will compare the total fatty acid budget on monocultures and IMTA systems, using data from desk-based reviews and direct data collection, from seaweed farms and culture trials of mussels and sea urchins, as input to growth models and mass-balance trophic models parameterised for fatty acids. Socio-economic values will be integrated into biophysical analysis by developing a bioeconomic model and assessing the potential social license to operate of IMTA systems (WP4), to comprehensively evaluate the provisioning, regulatory and socio-cultural ecosystem services linked to IMTA systems. Further to describing the potential of IMTA to contribute to healthy and sustainable diets and ecosystems, the project will address implementation challenges by producers and consumers towards the diversification of aquaculture. To identify policy barriers to the adoption of IMTA and diversification (WP5), the project will assess the existing policy priorities and identify the underlying interests and incentives that affect the environment for reform towards IMTA. It will further explore the potential of seaweeds and invertebrates produced in integrated systems as candidates for nutrient and carbon trading credits. To assess the scope for improving consumer acceptance (WP3), the project will test the power of retail interventions in an experimental online supermarket with the aim of identifying seafood products with high market expansion potential. This assessment will be followed by a sensory experiment to evaluate the acceptability of novel products from IMTA, using facial recognition software to monitor the taster's displayed feelings during the task, which will help identify within each seafood category (e.g. algae) those varieties that consumers appreciate the most, therefore informing the research on business models. To address economic challenges to industry uptake, existing business models for aquaculture production in the UK will be described and a classification will be derived to identify how the these could be improved (WP2). This analysis will be complemented by stakeholder workshops to design innovative business models, using the Business Model Canvas. The workshops will explore new value propositions to the customers and opportunities for companies' market differentiation. Through this interdisciplinary approach, the project will collectively assess and document the environmental, nutritional and economic benefits of IMTA and aquaculture diversification, providing the industry and policy-makers with insights to facilitate the transition to healthier and more sustainable aquaculture.