North-East Atlantic

Partner

Mungo Murphy’s Seaweed Co. (MUNGO)

Country

Ireland

Characteristics

  •  Sea surface at 8-18ºC
  • Moderate seasonal daylight variation
  • Salinity of 32-35 PSU
  • Nutrient-rich waters with strong mixing
  • Moderate-to-high wave exposure

Overview

At the Irish demonstration site, MUNGO operates a land-based Recirculating Aquaculture System (RAS) farm in Ros Mhíl, Co. Galway. Under the SALINA framework, this site is leading advanced land-based cultivation trials, pushing the boundaries of circularity and technology-driven marine aquaculture.

Infrastructure and technical innovations

The facility is retrofitting its current systems to pioneer an Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture (IMTA) system:

  • Installation of a 5m3 IoT-assisted Photobioreactor (PBR) integrated directly into the farm’s existing land-based tanks.
  • The system runs on conditioned seawater enriched by mixing it with nutrient-dense effluents sourced directly from the site’s abalone and sea cucumber tanks.
  • The co-cultivation layout is engineered to achieve a >90% nutrient conversion efficiency.

Cultivated species and production goals

The site focuses on a precise, sequential cultivation schedule to optimise tank space and yield high-value macroalgae biomass across the year:

  • Ulva spp.: Grown sequentially from November 2027 to December 2028, 
with a target production capacity of 1.35 t/y.
  • Palmaria palmata: Grown sequentially from January 2029 to February 2030, 
with a target production capacity of 0.65 t/y.
  • Other species tested on-site include Laminaria digitata and Dictyota.