Active Climate, Earth & Environment Clean Energy

Mitigating impacts and ecosystem services with scaling of marine aquaculture of kelp and shellfish

Funder BBSRC (part of UKRI)
Recipient organisation University of Portsmouth
Funding Not disclosed
Period Feb 2025 — Jan 2029

In plain English

AI plain-English summary

Kelp forests around the UK are vanishing so fast that scientists predict their complete loss within 80 years, and this project will test whether farming kelp and shellfish together at sea can replace some of the ecosystem services those wild forests provide. The problem is twofold. First, kelp absorbs atmospheric CO₂ 20 to 30 times faster than land plants, making it a powerful natural carbon sink. Second, the UK needs new sources of nutritious, low-carbon protein that do not require agricultural land. Current farming systems cannot meet net-zero targets alone, and wild kelp cannot be restored everywhere. This project fills the gap by treating kelp and mussel farms not just as food production systems but as engineered ecosystems that could simultaneously sequester carbon, reduce coastal erosion, buffer storm waves, and improve water quality. If the research succeeds, it could reshape how the UK sources ingredients for food and materials. Instead of relying solely on land-based agriculture, coastal regions could host integrated kelp and shellfish farms that quietly perform infrastructure work—protecting shorelines, absorbing carbon, and filtering water—while producing nutritious ingredients. The work is applied, not fundamental: it aims to generate the evidence needed to scale these systems commercially and ecologically.

View original technical description
Objective: The objective of this PhD project is provide evidence for the ecosystem services provided by the culture of kelp and shellfish in ocean production systems and seek to enhance the related climate change impact. Background: There is a need to investigate new systems of ingredient and material production that sit more naturally with a net zero future, alongside efforts to make our current systems more sustainable. Research is required towards sourcing of nutrient dense, low carbon, land-free diverse ingredients that can be produced using approaches compatible with a Net Zero future. There is an opportunity to increase ingredients sourced from regenerative production and reduce the pressure on land for nutritious protein sources. There is also the possibility to increase impact on biodiversity and water quality. Kelp, a type of seaweed that is commonly farmed in ocean, sequesters atmospheric CO2 20-30 times faster than terrestrial plants. Kelp forests are disappearing around the UK at an alarming rate, leading to a prediction of complete loss in 80 years. The presence of kelp can help reduce coastal erosion and reduce the impact of storms by reducing wave energy. However, not all places can be restored for kelp, and so farms can be used instead. By combining kelp and other extractive species such as mussels, there is the potential to create a resilient system that can provide ecosystem benefits whilst producing ingredients and materials that can be used for nutritious products.

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Related Research

Grants with similar aims, by meaning.

KELP UK: From farm to factory - Accelerating UK seaweed industry to generate sustainable opportunities for the coastal economy
Developing approaches for kelp forest restoration to futureproof UK marine biodiversity
Developing and testing innovative approaches to support seaweed cultivation in the UK
Quantifying ecological impacts and changes to ecosystem services as a result of seaweed aquaculture
Coastal rewilding and food security: understanding restoration pathways using ecoacoustics and environmental DNA (eDNA)

Original classification

Studentship

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