Bachelor Thesis Candidate Thomas Manefeld (2006)

The planed development of offshore wind farms in the German Bight offer new perspectives for the co-use and co-management with marine aquaculture. There is a possibility to use the moorings of the wind energy plant to fix longlines for the cultivation of blue mussels (Mytilus edulis). To catch mussel larvae spat collectors will be suspended in the water column. After a short period of 1� years the mussels reach marked size. This offshore cultivation offers new opportunities for the commercial mussel fishery as (1) mussels grow faster than those reared on-bottom and (2) because no expansion of the traditional on-bottom culture method is possible in the German Bight due to stakeholder conflicts. In the planed Bachelor thesis I want to determine which type of rope design and which type of rope material is best for the settlement of mussels and which of the proven collectors could resist harsh weather conditions occurring in the German North Sea. Another topic of the study is to find out which collector is best in terms of its commercial potential (prices, availability, etc). The study is financed by the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research (River Jade Project) and by the Ministry for Construction, Environment and Transport in Bremen (MytiFit).

Supervisor:

Prof. Dr. Bela H Buck (AWI)
Prof. Dr. Oliver Zielinski (University of Applied Sciences, Bremerhaven)