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，水产养殖的海产品生产在促进健康和可持续饮食方面处于独特地位，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，特别是生产环境可持续性较高的品种，如海藻、贻贝和海胆，特别是通过综合多营养水产养殖（IMTA），可对生物修复起到重要作用，同时也可实现产品多样化和提高公众对该行业的接受程度。然而，对IMTA商业实施的持续挑战阻碍了投资。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等层面的有针对性的干预措施。为了评估IMTA （WP1）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，使用基于桌面的评论和直接数据收集的数据，从海藻养殖场和贻贝和海胆的培养试验中获得的数据，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。通过开发生物经济模型和评估IMTA系统运行的潜在社会许可（WP4），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。该项目除了说明国际水产综合评价在促进健康和可持续饮食和生态系统方面的潜力外，还将解决生产者和消费者在水产养殖多样化方面面临的执行挑战。为了确定采用国际贸易组合和多样化的政策障碍（WP5），该项目将评估现有的政策重点，并确定影响国际贸易组合改革环境的潜在利益和激励因素。它将进一步探索在综合系统中生产的海藻和无脊椎动物作为养分和碳交易信用的候选者的潜力。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展潜力的海鲜产品。这项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所表现出的感受，这将有助于识别消费者最喜欢的每种海产品（例如藻类），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，并得出分类，以确定如何改进这些模式（WP2）。该分析将由利益相关者研讨会补充，以使用业务模型画布设计创新的业务模型。研讨会将探讨为客户提供新的价值主张，以及公司在市场上脱颖而出的机会。通过这一跨学科的方法，该项目将集体评估和记录IMTA和水产养殖多样化的环境、营养和经济效益，为行业和决策者提供见解，以促进向更健康和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.