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Mediterranean Sea

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Partner

ALGABRAVA S.L. (ALGAB)

Country

Spain

Characteristics

  • Sea surface at 12-27ºC
  • High irradiance
  • Stable salinity of 37-38 PSU
  • Oligotrophic nutrient conditions
  • Shallow lagoons and open-sea circulation

Overview

In the Ebro Delta, ALGAB coordinates a geographically connected but operationally distinct cluster of three systems. This site utilises integrated coastal and open-sea frameworks to spearhead restorative aquaculture, leveraging high-irradiance Mediterranean conditions to drive local biodiversity, biomass production, and marine habitat restoration.

Infrastructure and technical innovations

The cluster bridges the gap from hatchery to open-water harvest across three distinct operations:

  • Operates a 1,000m² facility with independent recirculating aquaculture systems (~30,000 L operative volume) and bioreactors using filtered artesian well water for strain selection, propagation, and rope seeding.
  • Deploys a hybrid system integrated into existing traditional bivalve rafts (bateas) at a depth of 2–3 m in the Fangar and Alfacs bays. It utilises 7,000 m of seeded, 2-level ropes (370 m per raft) wrapped around mussel and oyster production lines.
  • Features a 50 x 30 m open-sea long-line structure (3,000 m of seeded rope capacity) placed at a depth of 7–8 m and integrated between 28 active sea bass and sea bream cages to test open-sea resilience.
  • To boost biodiversity, the system integrates 1,000 stone substrates 0.005 ha per site) within the lines to propagate Cystoseira sensu lato (Ericaria mediterranea) under official conservation permits.

Cultivated species and production goals

The site focuses on the concurrent polyculture and domestication of native macroalgae alongside regional low-trophic and fish species:

  • Ulva intestinalis / Ulva ohnoi: Cultivated across the cluster targets a fresh weight yield of 5.0 t/y.
  • Gracilaria gracilis: Cultivated across the cluster targets a fresh weight yield of 3.8 t/y.
  • Codium vermilara: Cultivated across the cluster targets a fresh weight yield of 2.5 t/y.
  • Porphyra spp.: Cultivated across the cluster targets a fresh weight yield of 1.3 t/y.

 

Total targeted seaweed production scales to 7.8 t/y in the near-shore bivalve framework and 4.7 t/y on the open-sea long-line arrays.
Other species tested or supported on-site include Asparagopsis, Cladophora, Erythrotrichia, and conservation-targeted Cystoseira. Co-cultivated seafood biomass includes Mytilus galloprovincialis, Crassostrea gigas, Ostrea edulis, Sparus aurata, and Dicentrarchus labrax.