Commercial mussel farming, processing and end-use in the Baltic Sea Region

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Recent research shows that commercial farming of mussels in the Baltic Sea Region is viable and offers socio-economic and environmental benefits. Commercial farming of mussels would enable fishing communities to diversify their income sources, create jobs and provide an alternative feedstock for use as feed, in biogas production or in other sectors. Several small pilot farms in Sweden, Finland and Aland have been established in previous projects and the Baltic EcoMussel partners have worked together in a SIDA-financed project to plan a common approach for market development and further research actions. The Baltic EcoMussel project represents a key step in the commercialisation of mussel farming, as it will provide stakeholders with tools to enable upscaling across the Baltic Sea Region. Moreover, Baltic EcoMussel includes a range of strategic analyses that will ensure that commercialisation of mussel farming is done in an efficient and sustainable manner. Baltic EcoMussel aims to help accelerate the adoption of mussel farming in the Baltic Sea Region by providing information and tools to support investments. This includes assessment of regulatory conditions and developing guidelines and business plans for farmers (WP2); assessment of market potential and socio-economic impacts of large-scale farming (WP3); establishing methodologies and routines for monitoring and evaluation of farms (WP4); and gathering, informing and training key stakeholders from the research community, aquaculture and end-user groups (WP5). The actions of the different WPs will be coordinated (WP1) and synthesised in project communications (WP5). Baltic EcoMussel is an innovative project aiming to achieve a commercially-viable mussel economy in the Baltic Sea Region, thereby directly contributing to the aims of the Central Baltic programme. The project builds on previous research projects and includes representatives from research institutions, private and public bodies. Baltic EcoMussel emphasises broad, qualitative cooperation across borders to ensure an efficient flow of goods and increase in labour in this sector. Moreover, the project offers a number of environmental benefits that will strongly benefit other sectors. For example, as mussels reduce the risk of algae blooms which often close beaches around the Baltic Sea, the tourist sector will benefit directly from the commercialisation of mussel farming.

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