The project is working on compatibility between productions of new commodities with the provision of an instrument to improve water quality in coastal waters. Thrust is compensated farming mussels. The mussels eat the algae in the water, which has absorbed nutrients were supplied from shore, where mussels are reused, such as feed in agriculture, fish, field enhancements or biogas, put nutrients back to land.

Specifically, the existing production technologies for mussels to be developed and adapted to cost-effective practices aimed at maximum removal of biomass, and thus nutrients.
The overall effect of compensation farming's impact on the environment studied, along with clam the content of hazardous substances as well as compensation breeding can be used nationally. Besides the biological studies, the costs of nutrient removal using environmentally mussels are estimated.
The project is collaboration between a number of Danish universities and private companies and international partner from Canada and New Zealand.
The project is 4-year and runs from 2010-2013 and funded by the Strategic Research - Health, Food and Welfare.

ENVS-AU contribution

Economic assessments of extraction culture directed to 1) analysis of the cost-effectiveness of extraction culture mussel production compared to other nutrient abatement measures in agriculture and point sources, and 2) analysis of efficient use of market based incentives (for extraction culture production different from conventional mussel production. Incentives considered are a): use of payments for environmental services (PES) and b) quota trading between farmers and mussel producers.

Contact: Senior researcher Berit Hasler, bh@dmu.dk

For more information: http://www.skaldyrcenter.aqua.dtu.dk/mussels-as-an-instrument-mumihus-2009-2013/