Norway’s aquaculture industry produces large quantities of farmed fish, but fish farming can also affect the environment beneath and around farms. Organic waste, including uneaten feed and fish waste, can accumulate on the seabed and alter the animals and microorganisms that live there. Monitoring these changes is therefore an important part of ensuring that aquaculture develops sustainably.
Current Norwegian regulations require fish farms to regularly monitor their effects on the seabed. However, existing monitoring methods have several limitations. Some rely on collecting sediment and manually identifying the small animals living within it, a process that requires considerable time and specialist expertise. Monitoring also focuses on a relatively limited range of environmental indicators and is primarily designed for areas with soft, sediment-covered seabeds. This makes it more difficult to assess impacts at farms located over rocky or other hard-bottom habitats.
The BenthicInnovation project aims to improve how these environmental impacts are measured by developing a new generation of monitoring tools. One promising approach is environmental DNA, or eDNA. All organisms leave traces of genetic material in their surroundings. By collecting a sediment sample and analysing the DNA it contains, researchers can identify many of the organisms living on or near the seabed without having to find and identify each organism individually. The project will investigate whether groups such as bacteria and tiny worms called nematodes can act as sensitive indicators of environmental change. It will also test new DNA sequencing technologies that could make this type of monitoring faster and more efficient.
The project is also looking beyond biological monitoring. New European regulations are expected to increase requirements for monitoring pollutants such as pharmaceuticals, antibiotics, pesticides and microplastics. BenthicInnovation will investigate sensitive chemical methods and portable sensors that could allow some pollutants to be measured directly in the field. Ecotoxicity tests will complement these measurements by examining how mixtures of pollutants affect marine organisms, providing information not only about which substances are present, but also about their potential biological effects.
Monitoring hard-bottom habitats presents another challenge because traditional sediment sampling methods cannot easily be used. To address this, the project will test advanced underwater imaging, including hyperspectral cameras mounted on remotely operated underwater vehicles (ROVs). Combined with machine learning, these technologies could allow researchers to efficiently survey and document environmental conditions across areas of the seabed that are difficult to assess using conventional methods.
By bringing together eDNA, biological indicators, chemical sensors, ecotoxicity testing and advanced underwater imaging, BenthicInnovation aims to create a more comprehensive toolkit for monitoring the seabed around aquaculture facilities. Ultimately, these tools could make environmental monitoring faster, more informative and applicable to a wider range of marine habitats, giving the aquaculture industry, researchers and environmental authorities better information for protecting marine ecosystems while supporting sustainable aquaculture.
