1s4: Modelling seaweed cultivation on the dutch continental shelf

Abstract

While Saccharina latissima seaweed is currently cultivated in the Netherlands at a small scale, there is a major drive towards increasing sustainable offshore cultivation. Future windfarm areas are seen as potential development locations. Harvesting seaweed leads to nutrient removal from the ecosystem, which can subsequently affect phytoplankton primary production, the basis of the marine food web. In this study, we investigate the spatial variability in ecosystem responses to seaweed cultivation in the Dutch North Sea. We focus on the interaction of seaweed and phytoplankton productivity with respect to nutrients and the effect of size, location and distribution of farms. Therefore, we integrated a module simulating seaweed nutrient uptake and growth dynamics into a fully coupled 3D hydrodynamic-water quality model of the North Sea.