Transformational blueprint for a blue economy on UK terrestrial farms: integrating sustainable shrimp production in a changing agricultural landscape

陆地农业是生物多样性丧失的最大驱动力，是温室气体排放和水污染的主要贡献者，并面临着50年来最具变革性的改革，以提高环境和经济的可持续性。新的农业法，25YEP，承诺净零碳排放，并制定政策加强环境管理、可持续性和支持公共产品的生产。该项目旨在展示世界领先的‘陆地蓝色经济’的社会经济效益，为英国农业改革贡献多种公共产品。将高价值的对虾水产养殖与以农场为基础的可再生能源相结合，将提供具有可观但鲜为人知的经济和健康潜力的新型本土产量。从牛肉/绵羊生产转向养虾的公共产品好处包括减少温室气体排放、水污染和土地利用，释放土地用于其他公共产品，如树木、生物多样性、生物多样性净收益和娱乐。此外，独立的室内虾生产单元与英国农场厌氧消化器(AD)共用将最大限度地利用它们(否则被浪费)热能，增强这两个行业的可持续性和循环性。额外的收入也将促进以农场为基础的可再生能源部门，帮助英国实现排放目标。虾是一种健康的海鲜，含有高蛋白、低卡路里、低脂肪、富含维生素、矿物质和抗氧化剂，有助于大脑和心脏健康。温水虾在英国已经是非常受欢迎的海鲜，每年从中美洲和东南亚进口22852吨(英国零售价319M)。然而，传统的海外生产容易受到气候/疾病危机的影响，与运输相关的二氧化碳排放量很高，而且经常使用环境不可持续的做法，例如，破坏高达80%的国家的红树林，这些森林吸收和捕获的二氧化碳比地球上任何其他生态系统都多。它们还提供海岸保护，防止暴风雨和海岸侵蚀。此外，非法使用(或仅仅是误用)杀虫剂和抗生素等化学品导致出口到英国、欧盟和美国的一些虾中存在可能导致健康问题的污染物残留的问题。这项提案旨在完全避免这些问题，并确保这种对心脏和大脑健康的海鲜为英国消费者提供一个无风险、更健康和可持续的供应链，方法是促进英国虾RAS生产部门的大幅扩张，目前该部门供应的虾相当于英国进口的1%。我们的目标是将RAS生产与可再生能源共同部署在英国陆地农场。我们保守地估计，如果英国目前只有20%的厌氧消化器(AD)工厂被改造用于对虾养殖，我们可以维持960个虾生产单位，每年收获5520吨虾(约占英国目前温水虾进口量的25%)。随着AD工厂在整个英国农场的快速增长(自2010年以来增长了10倍)，除了加强环境管理、可持续性和支持从英国农业实践中生产公共产品之外，真正可持续、更健康的本地养殖虾显然有潜力提供大部分在不久的将来消费的虾。重要的是，该项目将生成数据，以评估使用可再生能源技术进行英国对虾可持续生产的真正潜力，并为对虾行业提供必要的世界级科学支持。因此，该项目将致力于改变英国食品系统的三个目标：1)提高农业实践的环境可持续性(例如，可持续利用ADS产生的现有废热)；2)在经济上可持续地扩大英国陆上水产养殖生产和就业；3)使英国在农业和水产养殖共同改革方面的能力、专业知识和创新方面处于领先地位。

Terrestrial farming is the greatest driver of biodiversity loss, a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and water pollution, and faces its most transformational reform in 50 years to improve both environmental and economic sustainability. The new Agriculture Act, 25YEP, has commitment to net zero carbon emissions and policies to enhance environmental stewardship, sustainability and support the production of public goods. This project aims to demonstrate the socio-economic benefit of a world-leading 'terrestrial blue economy', contributing multiple public goods to reform UK agriculture.Combining high value shrimp aquaculture with farm-based renewable energy will provide a novel home-grown output with considerable but poorly understood economic and health potential. The public goods benefits of a switch from beef/sheep production to shrimp include lower greenhouse gas emissions, water pollution, and land use, freeing land for other public goods such as trees, biodiversity, biodiversity net gain, and recreation. Furthermore, co-locating self-contained, indoor shrimp production units with UK farm anaerobic digesters (AD) will maximise use of their (otherwise wasted) heat energy, enhancing sustainability and circularity of both industries. Extra income will also boost the farm-based renewable energy sector, helping the UK meet emissions targets.Shrimp is a healthy seafood with high protein, low calories, low fat, rich in vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, promoting brain and heart health. Warm water shrimp is already highly popular seafood in the UK, with 22,852 tons (UK retail £319M) imported annually from Central America and SE Asia. However, traditional overseas production is vulnerable to climate/disease crises, has high transport-related CO2 emissions, and often uses environmentally unsustainable practices, e.g., destroying up to 80 % of nations' mangrove forests which absorb and trap more CO2 than any other of Earth's ecosystems. They also provide coastal protection against storms and coastal erosion. There is also the problem of illegal use (or just misuse) of chemicals such as pesticides and antibiotics resulting in contaminant residues in some of the shrimp exported to the UK, EU and US that can cause health issues.This proposal aims to completely avoid these problems and ensure a risk-free, healthier and sustainable supply chain of this heart- and brain- healthy seafood for UK-consumers, by facilitating a major expansion of UK's shrimp RAS production sector which currently supplies equivalent to <1% of imports. We aim to co-locate RAS production with renewable energy sources on UK terrestrial farms. We conservatively estimate that if only 20% of the UK's current Anaerobic Digestor (AD) plants were adapted for shrimp farming, we could sustain 960 shrimp production units and harvest 5,520 tonnes of shrimp per year (~25 % of current UK warm water shrimp imports). With the rapid growth of AD plants across UK farms (10-fold increase since 2010), there is clear potential for truly sustainable, healthier, home-grown shrimp to provide the majority consumed in the near future, in addition to enhancing environmental stewardship, sustainability and supporting the production of public goods from UK agricultural practices. Importantly, this project will generate data to evaluate the true potential of sustainable UK shrimp production using renewable energy technology, as well as providing this shrimp industry with the necessary world-class scientific support. This project will therefore address 3 goals to transform the UK Food System:1) increased environmental sustainability of farm practices (e.g., sustainable use of existing waste heat from ADs),2) economically sustainable expansion of UK land-based aquaculture production & employment,and3) establishing the UK as a leader regarding capability, expertise and innovation in co-reforming agriculture and aquaculture.