Transformational blueprint for a blue economy on UK terrestrial farms: integrating sustainable shrimp production in a changing agricultural landscape
Lead Research Organisation:
UNIVERSITY OF EXETER
Department Name: Biosciences
Abstract
Terrestrial farming is the greatest driver of biodiversity loss, a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and water pollution, and faces its most transformational reform in 50 years to improve both environmental and economic sustainability. The new Agriculture Act, 25YEP, has commitment to net zero carbon emissions and policies to enhance environmental stewardship, sustainability and support the production of public goods. This project aims to demonstrate the socio-economic benefit of a world-leading 'terrestrial blue economy', contributing multiple public goods to reform UK agriculture.
Combining high value shrimp aquaculture with farm-based renewable energy will provide a novel home-grown output with considerable but poorly understood economic and health potential. The public goods benefits of a switch from beef/sheep production to shrimp include lower greenhouse gas emissions, water pollution, and land use, freeing land for other public goods such as trees, biodiversity, biodiversity net gain, and recreation. Furthermore, co-locating self-contained, indoor shrimp production units with UK farm anaerobic digesters (AD) will maximise use of their (otherwise wasted) heat energy, enhancing sustainability and circularity of both industries. Extra income will also boost the farm-based renewable energy sector, helping the UK meet emissions targets.
Shrimp is a healthy seafood with high protein, low calories, low fat, rich in vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, promoting brain and heart health. Warm water shrimp is already highly popular seafood in the UK, with 22,852 tons (UK retail £319M) imported annually from Central America and SE Asia. However, traditional overseas production is vulnerable to climate/disease crises, has high transport-related CO2 emissions, and often uses environmentally unsustainable practices, e.g., destroying up to 80 % of nations' mangrove forests which absorb and trap more CO2 than any other of Earth's ecosystems. They also provide coastal protection against storms and coastal erosion. There is also the problem of illegal use (or just misuse) of chemicals such as pesticides and antibiotics resulting in contaminant residues in some of the shrimp exported to the UK, EU and US that can cause health issues.
This proposal aims to completely avoid these problems and ensure a risk-free, healthier and sustainable supply chain of this heart- and brain- healthy seafood for UK-consumers, by facilitating a major expansion of UK's shrimp RAS production sector which currently supplies equivalent to <1% of imports. We aim to co-locate RAS production with renewable energy sources on UK terrestrial farms. We conservatively estimate that if only 20% of the UK's current Anaerobic Digestor (AD) plants were adapted for shrimp farming, we could sustain 960 shrimp production units and harvest 5,520 tonnes of shrimp per year (~25 % of current UK warm water shrimp imports). With the rapid growth of AD plants across UK farms (10-fold increase since 2010), there is clear potential for truly sustainable, healthier, home-grown shrimp to provide the majority consumed in the near future, in addition to enhancing environmental stewardship, sustainability and supporting the production of public goods from UK agricultural practices. Importantly, this project will generate data to evaluate the true potential of sustainable UK shrimp production using renewable energy technology, as well as providing this shrimp industry with the necessary world-class scientific support. This project will therefore address 3 goals to transform the UK Food System:
1) increased environmental sustainability of farm practices (e.g., sustainable use of existing waste heat from ADs),
2) economically sustainable expansion of UK land-based aquaculture production & employment,
and
3) establishing the UK as a leader regarding capability, expertise and innovation in co-reforming agriculture and aquaculture.
Combining high value shrimp aquaculture with farm-based renewable energy will provide a novel home-grown output with considerable but poorly understood economic and health potential. The public goods benefits of a switch from beef/sheep production to shrimp include lower greenhouse gas emissions, water pollution, and land use, freeing land for other public goods such as trees, biodiversity, biodiversity net gain, and recreation. Furthermore, co-locating self-contained, indoor shrimp production units with UK farm anaerobic digesters (AD) will maximise use of their (otherwise wasted) heat energy, enhancing sustainability and circularity of both industries. Extra income will also boost the farm-based renewable energy sector, helping the UK meet emissions targets.
Shrimp is a healthy seafood with high protein, low calories, low fat, rich in vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, promoting brain and heart health. Warm water shrimp is already highly popular seafood in the UK, with 22,852 tons (UK retail £319M) imported annually from Central America and SE Asia. However, traditional overseas production is vulnerable to climate/disease crises, has high transport-related CO2 emissions, and often uses environmentally unsustainable practices, e.g., destroying up to 80 % of nations' mangrove forests which absorb and trap more CO2 than any other of Earth's ecosystems. They also provide coastal protection against storms and coastal erosion. There is also the problem of illegal use (or just misuse) of chemicals such as pesticides and antibiotics resulting in contaminant residues in some of the shrimp exported to the UK, EU and US that can cause health issues.
This proposal aims to completely avoid these problems and ensure a risk-free, healthier and sustainable supply chain of this heart- and brain- healthy seafood for UK-consumers, by facilitating a major expansion of UK's shrimp RAS production sector which currently supplies equivalent to <1% of imports. We aim to co-locate RAS production with renewable energy sources on UK terrestrial farms. We conservatively estimate that if only 20% of the UK's current Anaerobic Digestor (AD) plants were adapted for shrimp farming, we could sustain 960 shrimp production units and harvest 5,520 tonnes of shrimp per year (~25 % of current UK warm water shrimp imports). With the rapid growth of AD plants across UK farms (10-fold increase since 2010), there is clear potential for truly sustainable, healthier, home-grown shrimp to provide the majority consumed in the near future, in addition to enhancing environmental stewardship, sustainability and supporting the production of public goods from UK agricultural practices. Importantly, this project will generate data to evaluate the true potential of sustainable UK shrimp production using renewable energy technology, as well as providing this shrimp industry with the necessary world-class scientific support. This project will therefore address 3 goals to transform the UK Food System:
1) increased environmental sustainability of farm practices (e.g., sustainable use of existing waste heat from ADs),
2) economically sustainable expansion of UK land-based aquaculture production & employment,
and
3) establishing the UK as a leader regarding capability, expertise and innovation in co-reforming agriculture and aquaculture.
Organisations
- UNIVERSITY OF EXETER (Lead Research Organisation)
- The Eden Project (Collaboration)
- Sainsbury's (Collaboration)
- National Marine Aquarium (Collaboration)
- PML Applications (Collaboration)
- Hatch (Collaboration)
- CENTRE FOR ENVIRONMENT, FISHERIES AND AQUACULTURE SCIENCE (Collaboration)
- Department For Environment, Food And Rural Affairs (DEFRA) (Collaboration)
- TORRIDGE DISTRICT COUNCIL (Collaboration)
- Lyons Seafood (Collaboration)
- Cargill (Collaboration)
- Centre for Innovation Excellence in Livestock (Collaboration)
- University of Bristol (Collaboration)
- Rastech Research CIC (Project Partner)
- Cargill (United States) (Project Partner)
- Sainsbury's (United Kingdom) (Project Partner)
- Ixora Energy Ltd (Project Partner)
- PML Applications (United Kingdom) (Project Partner)
- FloGro Systems Ltd (Project Partner)
- Ocean Conservation Trust (Project Partner)
- GW4 Water Security Alliance (Project Partner)
- Lyons Seafoods (Project Partner)
- Three Sixty Aquaculture Ltd (Project Partner)
- Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Project Partner)
Description | Advisory Board |
Organisation | Centre For Environment, Fisheries And Aquaculture Science |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Public |
PI Contribution | on-going |
Collaborator Contribution | Acting as Advisory Board to project |
Impact | Ongoing |
Start Year | 2022 |
Description | Advisory Board |
Organisation | Centre for Innovation Excellence in Livestock |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
PI Contribution | on-going |
Collaborator Contribution | Acting as Advisory Board to project |
Impact | Ongoing |
Start Year | 2022 |
Description | Advisory Board |
Organisation | Department For Environment, Food And Rural Affairs (DEFRA) |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Public |
PI Contribution | on-going |
Collaborator Contribution | Acting as Advisory Board to project |
Impact | Ongoing |
Start Year | 2022 |
Description | Advisory Board |
Organisation | The Eden Project |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | on-going |
Collaborator Contribution | Acting as Advisory Board to project |
Impact | Ongoing |
Start Year | 2022 |
Description | Advisory Board to Work Package 4 (National Aquaculture Centre) |
Organisation | Centre For Environment, Fisheries And Aquaculture Science |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Public |
PI Contribution | ongoing |
Collaborator Contribution | Advisory Board to Work Package 4 (National Aquaculture Centre) |
Impact | ongoing |
Start Year | 2022 |
Description | Advisory Board to Work Package 4 (National Aquaculture Centre) |
Organisation | Centre for Innovation Excellence in Livestock |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
PI Contribution | ongoing |
Collaborator Contribution | Advisory Board to Work Package 4 (National Aquaculture Centre) |
Impact | ongoing |
Start Year | 2022 |
Description | Advisory Board to Work Package 4 (National Aquaculture Centre) |
Organisation | Hatch |
Country | Canada |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | ongoing |
Collaborator Contribution | Advisory Board to Work Package 4 (National Aquaculture Centre) |
Impact | ongoing |
Start Year | 2022 |
Description | Advisory Board to Work Package 4 (National Aquaculture Centre) |
Organisation | National Marine Aquarium |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
PI Contribution | ongoing |
Collaborator Contribution | Advisory Board to Work Package 4 (National Aquaculture Centre) |
Impact | ongoing |
Start Year | 2022 |
Description | Advisory Board to Work Package 4 (National Aquaculture Centre) |
Organisation | PML Applications |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | ongoing |
Collaborator Contribution | Advisory Board to Work Package 4 (National Aquaculture Centre) |
Impact | ongoing |
Start Year | 2022 |
Description | Advisory Board to Work Package 4 (National Aquaculture Centre) |
Organisation | Torridge District Council |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Public |
PI Contribution | ongoing |
Collaborator Contribution | Advisory Board to Work Package 4 (National Aquaculture Centre) |
Impact | ongoing |
Start Year | 2022 |
Description | Advisory Board to Work Package 4 (National Aquaculture Centre) |
Organisation | University of Bristol |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | ongoing |
Collaborator Contribution | Advisory Board to Work Package 4 (National Aquaculture Centre) |
Impact | ongoing |
Start Year | 2022 |
Description | Industry Partners Advisory Grouping |
Organisation | Cargill |
Country | United States |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | ongoing |
Collaborator Contribution | Advice on technical and business aspects of king prawn production process |
Impact | ongoing |
Start Year | 2022 |
Description | Industry Partners Advisory Grouping |
Organisation | Lyons Seafood |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | ongoing |
Collaborator Contribution | Advice on technical and business aspects of king prawn production process |
Impact | ongoing |
Start Year | 2022 |
Description | Industry Partners Advisory Grouping |
Organisation | Sainsbury's |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | ongoing |
Collaborator Contribution | Advice on technical and business aspects of king prawn production process |
Impact | ongoing |
Start Year | 2022 |
Description | Blog 'Celebrating women in knowledge exchange' |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Blog 'Celebrating women in knowledge exchange' for International Women's Day 2023, celebrating women who excel in the field of knowledge exchange at the University of Exeter. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
URL | https://researchandinnovation.co.uk/celebrating-women-in-knowledge-exchange/ |
Description | Press release about project award |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Press release about the award 'Multi-million funding for new 'terrestrial blue economy' research' |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
URL | https://www.exeter.ac.uk/news/research/title_908571_en.html |
Description | Project Advisory Board meetings |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Regular series of Advisory Board meetings, advising on direction and focus of project |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
Description | WP4 (National Aquaculture Centre) external partner advisory meetings |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Professional practioners drawn from business and policy, regularly meet to advise and contribute to WP4 - Scoping the National Aquaculture Centre and necessary conditions to create a new UK sustainable king prawn aquaculture production sector. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
Description | Weekly Staff bulletin |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | Article published in Weekly Bulletin for University of Exeter Staff on the inaugural meeting of the external Advisory Board for the UK Sustainable King Prawn Project. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
Description | Whole academic team meetings, including visiting industry partners |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | Industry/business professionals are regularly invited to participate in 'whole academic' team meetings, to contribute expert knowledge, advice and data. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022,2023 |