Baltic MUPPETS

BalticMUPPETS were happy to be contacted by Niclas Riecken to give some input on innovation using #BalticSea #bluemussels. 🙌 Grobruket ABs developments of #fertilisers / soil improvement made it to the list! Soon we will also have available pet food products on the market to brag about... #i3instrument European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA) #musselinnovation #sustainableaquaculture #lowtrophic

🐚 Did you know that the #BalticSea #bluemussel is genetically different from its bigger neighbours in the west? 🔬 A study from 1990 showed that if you move a blue mussel from the west to the east, about 90% die quickly from the low salinity stress. The rest adapt, and survive at the same rate as the "native" mussels. However, if you do the opposite transfer, the mussels survive better until a few years in when the mortality increases. 🦀 Although the same species, the different environments have put pressure on the mussels to favour different traits. The mussels from high-salinity areas have thicker shells and stronger muscles for closing the shell, which is probably due to higher predation. In the Baltic Sea, where predators are fewer, more energy goes to growing the mussel meat itself and keeping it alive. There is a lot to say about blue mussel genetics, so we continue on the same track next week in #Musselmonday!

🌊 🐚 Baltic MUPPETS is not all about #productdevelopment from small #bluemussels or improvements of #cultivation method and #technology. We are also looking at the #business case for #BalticSea #musselcultivation, and the ecological aspects such as trapping nutrients. 🤔 So, can a mussel farm have ecological benefits like de-eutrophication? This depends on the growth rate of the mussels, and as we have established before it therefore depends on where the farm is located. Of course, the added benefit depends on #waterquality and other #environmental #pressures. 🗺 Tartu Ülikool (University of Tartu) has done a great job of visualising this complicated situation in the #digital mapping tool ODSS (Operational Decision Support System), where you can see the growth- and #nutrient accumulation potential of mussels in different areas, as #humanimpacts and activities. 📊 It can be used to strategically plan placement of a farm, and to better understand the #environmentalbenefits a #musselfarm can have in a given area. And it also Check it out here 👉 https://gis.sea.ee/odss Jonne Kotta, Merli Rätsep, European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA) Central Baltic Programme ETAG - Estonian Research Council KIK (Environmental Investment Centre) Kliimaministeerium / Ministry of Climate of Estonia Estonian Ministry of Finance / Rahandusministeerium #i3instrument #sustainableaquaculture #lowtrophic #aquaculture #blueeconomy

🐚 Ready for another #musselmonday example of how #mussels blow our minds? Have you hard of the Dębiec Water Treatment Plant in Poland, using mussels as their most valuable #drinkingwater quality controllers? 🚰 In the building Gruba Kaśka (or "Fat Kathy"), they have a set of 8 #swanmussels (freshwater mussels) monitored to see if they are open or closed. When half of the mussels close, they also close the water supply. ❌ When mussels feed, they open their shell to be able to filter particles from the water. The swan mussels are very sensitive to #pollution, and if anything potentially harmful is detected, they close and stop feeding. 💙 These mussels constitute a real-time water quality monitoring system accounting for multiple contaminants simultaneously, and are responsible for millions of people´s health. They don´t break, need spare parts and calibration, or depend on any complicated algorithms. They just do their thing. 📽 These mussels are so important for the citizens, they even got their own short #documentary! Read more 👇 , and watch the documentary trailer here: https://lnkd.in/d4erefXD

🇩🇰 In August Baltic MUPPETS will be at #Aqua24 in Copenhagen! 🤝 We are joining together with AWARE-EU, AlgaeProBANOS, FishEUTrust Project, SAFE (SmartAqua4FuturE) and #EUMOFA to showcase the work for sustainable aquaculture in the EU. 👇 Register today and stop by for a chat about mussel cultivation and valorisation of #BalticSea #bluemussels 🐚 https://lnkd.in/dEhmfFXV #i3instrument European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA) European Aquaculture Society World Aquaculture Society

📣 #Musselmonday alert! Right now is the #spat season in the #BalticSea! 🤔 What does this mean? It means that now all the little #bluemussel larvae are settling. This is one of the most important seasons for our blue mussel cultivations, and you have to be ready to put in all the ropes the mussels will grow on. This is a lot of rope to prepare, which is all manual labor, just look at #Ecopelags summer workers from last year! 🙌 💪 🐚 Both #Ecopelag and Kieler Meeresfarm GmbH have had some hectical weeks to prepare and deploy their ropes, but are all up to speed and now we just wait for those little #mussels to grow well. #i3instrument European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA)

🐚 🎞 #MusselMonday features the video from Blue Research ApS on our Baltic MUPPETS study visit to Wittrup Seafood A/S. 🇩🇰 Watch and learn more about the farm and the activities done in Denmark. #I3instrument #sustainableaquaculture #Bluemussels

👀 Curious about our site visit to Wittrup Seafood A/S? 🎬 Take a look at the video below to see what we were up to! 🇸🇪 And stay tuned, in not long we will be off for our second site visit, this time to #Ecopelag in Sweden. #I3instrument European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA) #sustainableaquaculture #lowtrophicaquaculture #bluemussels #musselcultivation #denmark SUBMARINER Network for Blue Growth EEIG

🐚 In todays #Musselmonday we take a look at the size of #BalticSea mussels. Why are they so small? 🌊 #Bluemussels are originally a salt water species, adapted to live in marine waters. The Baltic Sea is #brackish, in-between fresh and salt water, and the salinity decreases eastward. 😵 The mussels have adapted to handle this, however, it puts a lot of #stress on them as they have to actively pump in salt to maintain a salt-level in which their metabolism functions. 📏 This makes their growth slow down, as they spend more energy on simply staying alive. ❗ And size matters! Read more on a previous workshop held by Baltic MUPPETS in the Blue Mission Banos Project #MissionArena in Gothenburg here 👇 https://lnkd.in/dRTfxPuZ

🐚 Have you seen a baby #bluemussel? Last week we visited Wittrup Seafood A/S in #Denmark, and we were lucky to see the #submerged #smartsystem farms right after settling! Right before the site visit, Wittrup cleaned all the nets to allow the settling #larvae to attach. These will then grow for about a year before being harvested. Now you can see all the little mussels glittering on the ropes ✨ 👇 📈 In the project, Wittrup has worked with developing the smart system to increase and improve their production. For example, they have designed concrete blocks for better #biodiversity under the farm, a #ropecutter and a #harvester for more efficient operations, all being tested now. European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA) #I3instrument