Shelby L. Schumacher1, Libby Swanepoel1, Nick Paul1 & Alex Campbell1
1Seaweed Research Group, University of the Sunshine Coast, 90 Sippy Downs Dr, Sippy Downs QLD 4556.
Restoration of declining underwater forests is essential for a sustainable future, but efforts can often be limited in scale. As aquaculture expands globally, and seaweed farming emerges in Australia, it presents an opportunity to employ restorative practices for positive environmental and social outcomes. Restorative aquaculture can help support ocean ecosystem function and recovery while simultaneously providing sustainable sources of nutrition for community and income for farmers. In this way, it is potentially more scalable than traditional restoration-focused efforts under current economic climates. Using a case study of establishing a seaweed farm on an existing oyster lease in Queensland’s Moreton Bay (Quandamooka Sea Country), we explore the environmental and social aspects of integrating seaweed onto a small family-owned oyster farm as a ‘low hanging fruit’ pathway to demonstrate restorative aquaculture. To measure the benefits of seaweed on local marine environments, we needed to create a baseline for biodiversity which was monitored over a year using traditional (photo-quadrats and RUV footage) and novel (environmental DNA) methods prior to, during and following seaweed deployment. The seasonal abundance of seaweed and co-occurring organisms will be presented. To gauge the local community’s understanding of and attitudes towards seaweed farming in Moreton Bay we conducted qualitative and quantitative social research with communities, oyster farmers, and the local water utility. The results of these surveys, including links to the environmental data, will be discussed in the context of how at scale restorative aquaculture could provide functional equivalence to natural populations of underwater forests.