With the growing ambitions of implementing low trophic aquaculture, a framework for cohesive and balanced assessment of effects resulting from seaweed cultivation was performed for a hypothetical case study in 2021. As, traditionally, such assessments tend to focus on the negative impacts, it was recommended to also assess the benefits from seaweed cultivation. The concept of ‘Ecosystem services’ (ES) is a sensible construct to express such benefits, as it focuses on the benefits supplied by the ecosystem. The goal of the present study is investigating how these ecosystem services can be included in the comprehensive framework developed last year for a seaweed cultivation case. In order to achieve this, we specifically looked at the project design process, how to map the project needs and how to select or develop the instruments to meet those needs. Roughly, three phases can be distinguished in the study design process: the ideal design phase, where the project specifications required to fulfil the goal of an assessment are defined to ensure the most comprehensive assessment; the realistic design phase, where one performs a reality check on the ideal design, where practical issues, technical issues and resource availability are considered; and finally an adaptive phase: the phase where modifications are made resulting from new insights. In order to facilitate the study design process we developed and applied a so-called ‘rubric’ tool. This rubric is a questionnaire that scores a wide range of elements that are relevant when evaluating ecosystem services for one or more activities (such as seaweed cultivation). This questionnaire considers and addresses elements of ecosystem services impact assessments grouped in the following three aspects: - Which elements are relevant and considered for the study? -What level of detail is required (for these elements)? -How to quantify ES and process the data?. Each sub-question in the rubric is answered with a score between 0 and 5 (where the scale is arbitrary). In the present study, the questionnaire is applied to the case-study goals. But also two contrasting strategies (i.e. application of top-down versus bottom-up methodologies) are included as examples and are evaluated with the rubric for suitability. The top-down strategy uses an existing framework from the EU project Aquacross, which was also used last year to address seaweed cultivation impacts. This framework uses linear cause-effect chains where effects on the ecosystem components are linked to the capacity to supply ecosystem services. The bottom-up methodology is formulated from scratch. It focuses more on the desired outcome, and more attention is paid to benefits resulting from the activities (rather than impacts). Feedback mechanisms are also considered. It should be noted that both methodologies are only available as concepts and are not yet operational. By applying the rubric to both set case-study goals (including ecosystem services in an assessment of the effects from seaweed cultivation) and the proposed methodologies, both results could be compared. It is shown that neither of the two strategies have a 100% match with the case-study goals. This means that neither methodology is preferable at the moment. Also, this means that the methodologies need to be adjusted or the case-study goals need to be revised. In order to make informed decisions on how to proceed in this process a final piece of the puzzle is still missing, which unfortunately is beyond the scope of the present study. - The missing puzzle piece is ‘consequences’. The rubric approach had helped in structuring the project design phase and support underpinning discussions. It made insightful what the study intentions are, and what the proposed methodologies can and cannot offer. It also shows that there is a mismatch between the ideal design and the realistic design. In order to decide which changes (in either case- study goals or strategies to include ecosystem services) are necessary, it is required to know the consequences of these decisions. Several recommendations are made to generalize the assessment of these consequences by linking case-study goals to requirements and their feasibility. This is not further developed in the present study. In conclusion, the rubric approach can be used to score the capacity and limitations of methodological strategy (such as the top-down and bottom-up strategy evaluated here) on one hand and the improve specifications of requirements for a specific case or project on the other hand. As such the approach can be used to evaluate different methodologies, to determine which strategy is most suitable for a specific research question. The approach can also be used to refine research questions or identifying knowledge and data gaps in an early stage of a project. In addition, the approach can be used iteratively during a project execution to manage and adjust the project requirements (and indirectly stakeholder expectations of the project). As such the approach is suitable in each of the three identified study design phases (targeted design, realistic design, adaptive design). In its current form the rubric approach shows promise, but is not yet able to fully support study design choices for evaluating ecosystem services from the seaweed cultivation case from Tonk et al. (2021). For that purpose the approach needs to be extended such that it addresses consequences of design choices, for which recommendations are made.

Aquaculture is one of the world's fastest-growing industries, with 6 % annual growth since 2010, and is becoming an increasingly important component of the world's food production. European aquaculture has not kept up with the pace of change in other parts of the world, growing only 24 % since 1990, and only 6 % since 2007. As with all food production industries, aquaculture has a range of positive and negative impacts for the environment and the socio-economic system, which varies across production type, species, geography and biophysical context. The overall purpose of this study is to present the scientific basis of the positive and negative impacts of European aquaculture from an economic, environmental and social point of view, in order to facilitate a well-informed debate. However, the study does not seek to assess the magnitude or likelihood of impacts, compare magnitude or likelihood of impacts among different types of aquaculture nor compare the impacts identified to those of alternative food production systems. In order to achieve this aim, the project first undertook an extensive literature review to collate state-of-the-art scientific information on the positive and negative impacts of aquaculture. The study examined scientific peer-reviewed literature, supplemented by the Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries and European Data Collection Framework for aquaculture and focused on finfish culture (sea cages; ponds, tanks, and raceways; and recirculating aquaculture systems), shellfish culture (suspended, trays, and bottom culture), macroalgae and microalgae. To complement the impacts derived from the scientific literature a deeper analysis of impacts was conducted via 18 case studies across Denmark, Germany, France, Poland, Netherlands, Croatia, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain. The case studies covered a range of production technologies and species types. The case studies were used to verify impacts identified in the scientific literature, to identify any impacts potentially overlooked by the scientific literature and to identify legislation and mitigation relevant to the aquaculture type at the national level. The case studies combined information from the literature review, supplementary scientific and grey literature of specific relevance to the case study, and key expert interviews (40 in total). Key experts consulted were primarily those from relevant national authorities and national research institutes. In parallel with the case studies, a review of the EU and national regulatory frameworks and associated mitigation measures was conducted. The review and the key expert interviews from the case studies were used to provide a preliminary analysis of the extent to which the regulatory framework mitigates negative impacts from aquaculture. The information from the literature reviews and the case studies was then collated and evaluated to provide an overview of the most important and most broadly identified positive and negative impacts for different aquaculture types. The evaluation made specific efforts to highlight consensus between the scientific literature and the opinions of key experts, as well as highlighting where these differ - indicating potential priority areas for future research.

Seaweed is increasingly becoming a crop of interest in aquaculture. Seaweed has potential as a low trophic food source as no fresh water or fertiliser is needed for its growth. However, to start a profitable business in seaweed farming in the North Sea, space is required. Besides that, offshore seaweed farming is met with numerous technical challenges in this sometimes-turbulent environment. To monitor the crop farmers can make use of the latest technology in remote sensing. Potential remote sensing technologies, which could be used in seaweed farming, were identified in 2020. The use of the DIDSON sonar was thought in advance to make the most useful underwater images of the seaweed Saccharina latissima in a test farm in the Oosterschelde. Were in 2020 the first preliminary images were made with the DIDSON. In 2021 the DIDSON was used to make images in the seaweed test farm, in combination with using Humminbird sonar (Helix 12, MSI/GPS G3N). In situ, it was found that handling the DIDSON while in a small boat was a difficult task. Because of movement of the sonar, it was difficult to make sharp images. The DIDSON again did not yield a lot of useful images. However fully convolutional neural network models for image recognition were tested using images from both years. The Humminbird fish finder was not successful in taking any images of seaweed in 2021, though the mussel lines in the same farm could be detected. In 2022 the last sampling was done again using both sonars. This time using different settings, the Humminbird was able to detect the seaweed in the lines in the farm. The images that the Humminbird yielded had a better resolution and quality than those of the DIDSON from the previous years. This data could be used on further expanded neural networks. The images of the Humminbird were used in a classical approach for segmenting in the neural network and showed promise for future use. However the data had a lot of limitation and in follow up studies multiple lines should be measured using the Humminbird sonar. For the deep learning architecture, to further expand the neural network a larger test dataset is needed. Besides the neural network, the biomass of the seaweed was also measured and samples were taken to the institute to measure length and surface area. However there didn’t seem to be a clear correlation between seaweed length and biomass. To be able to estimate biomass from sonar images sufficient biomass measurements need to be made to determine the correlation, before accurate biomass predictions can be made using the segmentation in the neural network.

This report describes the result of literature review about the farming and use of seaweed in Indonesia. It includes results of studies and surveys on seaweed processing, trade, consumption and research.

Het Natuurwinstplan van LIFE IP Delta natuur en de Programmatische aanpak grote wateren (PAGW) werken aan de ontwikkeling van ecologische streefbeelden (2050) voor de grote wateren. In deze studie is een herleidbaar expertoordeel opgesteld over de haalbaarheid van zestig Vogel- en Habitatrichtlijndoelen (VHR) in het IJsselmeergebied met de aanname dat de gewenste arealen te ontwikkelen leefgebieden uit het streefbeeld daadwerkelijk gehaald worden in 2050. Ten tweede is een inventarisatie gemaakt wat klimaatverandering kan betekenen voor de haalbaarheid van VHR-doelen in het IJsselmeergebied. Tot slot zijn kansen, knelpunten en mogelijkheden voor intrinsieke en geïnspireerde natuurwinst beschouwd. Op basis van de conclusies zijn aanbevelingen opgesteld voor de uitwerking van het ecologisch streefbeeld voor het IJsselmeergebied en voor nader onderzoek.

Het doel van deze studie is om aan de hand van literatuur analyse de effecten van hangcultuur mosselen in het Grevelingenmeer inzichtelijk te maken en kennislacunes te definiëren. Sinds de afdamming van het Grevelingenmeer in de jaren ’70 door de bouw van de Grevelingendam en de Brouwersdam is de ecologie in het gebied zeer sterk veranderd.