Textile-based onshore production for cultivation of marine macrophytes.

Aquaculture is the production of products from freshwater, marine animal and plant organisms through carefully controlled processes. Aquaculture products are harvested from monocultures cultivated in open spaces such as ponds or net cages offshore, or in closed systems such as tanks as part of onshore aquaculture facilities.

Closed-cycle systems such as aquaponics or integrated multitrophic aquaculture (IMTA) have a high potential to provide a low-impact, well-controlled and more sustainable use of resources, responding to consumer needs for safer and more sustainably produced food. To date, aquaculture enterprises are characterised by limited competitiveness but moderate profitability, especially due to high investment costs for technical plant components and lengthy production times with fixed operating costs coupled with highly volatile end-product prices.

The main aim of the project is the development of a modular, resource-optimized device for the production of food and biotechnologically relevant aquatic macrophyte biomass.