One of my favourite activities during my Professional Practice, was assisting Annelies with the UNITED-project. It is a research project co-financed by the European Union and consists out of 5 European countries (Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark and Greece). The idea of the project is to enhance technologies related to large-scale installation of ocean multi-use activities, with the involvement of industrial actors and also integrating knowledge, technologies and facilities. Furthermore business models will be proposed to reduce operation costs.

The Focus in Belgium is the creation of sustainable aquaculture activities by installing longlines in the offshore wind farms. The main goal is to cultivate flat oysters and seaweed and determine which set up is ocean-proof, the most efficient one and cost-effective. Furthermore a synergy between aquaculture and restoration of flat oysters is expected by dropped oysters, which create a natural reef in the proximity of the longlines. I assisted by creating different constructions to attach young oysters. In these early steps, we are trying to find out the optimal substrate (rope, wood, bamboo, etc.) and glue (different types of glue and cement) and we check which of the constructions survive the harsh conditions at sea.

I also had the opportunity to go on sea and participate in two expeditions. We went to the ‘Westdiep IMTA’, a nearshore experimental zone for aquaculture practices, a couple of kilometres of the coast of Nieuwpoort. During these missions we deployed the constructions we made. This could be metal frames with bamboo sticks (young oysters glued to these sticks), frames with baskets attached or ropes with young oysters attached. We also checked previous deployed constructions to check if they can endure the conditions on sea, the biofouling and also see if oysters dropped off. I really liked the energy and vibe, while working on the ship.