Utilising marine worms

Aquaculture is the fastest growing food-producing sector, but most cultured species rely on food manufactured from other fish. This results in over fishing of many key species such as sardines and anchovies. Although the industry is developing plant-based feeds (e.g. soya), these compete directly with agriculture as they utilise valuable farmland. Polychaete worms are also an excellent source of protein/oils. They are avidly eaten by cultured fish and crustaceans, and have potential to be a sustainable aquaculture feed contributing to the regional economy.

RaNTrans project partners will assess polychaete growth and biomass production and the data gathered from these experiments will underpin the sustainability strategy for reducing nutrients and algal cover via polychaete conversion (scaled up operation of algal mat feed to worms).