Norway has the potential for being world leading in the fast expanding industry with production of lower-trophic-level marine species, i.e. for instance the large seaweeds (kelp). This is an attractive industry supplying the global marked with resources for food, medicine, bio-fuel and cosmetics. To lead this emerging industry in a sustainable manner, Norway needs knowledge on how large-scale industrial kelp production will impact marine areas in both positive and negative ways. Positive impacts are kelp uptake of nutrients and CO2, reducing marine eutrophication and CO2 concentration (i.e. reducing ocean acidification). Negative impacts are depletion of limited nutrients or the depositing of large quantities of detached kelp on the seafloor, leading to poor environmental conditions, oxygen deficiency, and change in natural biodiversity. KELPPRO will provide an integrated assessment of the positive and negative impacts of large-scale industrial kelp production on the Norwegian coastal environment. It will deliver basic knowledge and predictions on future ecological consequences, and provide guidance for decision makers, managing agencies, and end users. KELPPRO is a multidisciplinary project integrating kelp ecology, biodiversity, seafloor biogeochemistry, water columns physics and chemistry, spatial modelling and mathematical projections. The project will carry out mesocosms experiments, field investigations, and numerical modelling by bringing together national and international experts on relevant fields, in close collaboration with the emerging kelp cultivation industry in Norway. KELPPRO results will provide robust scientific knowledge to support decision making and management of coastal environments prone to large-scale industrial production of kelp.
Link to Home page for project: www.kelppro.net
Provider: Norges Forskningsråd (NRF)
Total amount of grant: 503.000,00 (NOK 616.500,00)
Period: 1/1 17 - 31/12 20