Innovation at sea: meet the ‘mussel shaker’
Last week, 2 bio-facilitating anchors were installed off the Belgian coast to which special buoys are attached. These buoys will serve as a breeding structure for mussels. They even came up with a new name for this new structure: the ‘mussel shaker’.
Concept
So, what exactly is this ‘mussel shaker’? A clear example is given in the image above. It concerns the yellow cylinder and the steel structure around it. The whole thing is connected to the seabed via an anchor.
The idea is that mussels will start growing on this construction. When these mussels are mature, they will fall of the structure and end up on the seabed. A biogenic reef will thus be created on the seabed around the anchors..
Background information
Coastbusters 2.0 is a Blue Cluster project with partners Dredging International, Jan De Nul, Sioen Industries, ILVO and VLIZ. Moreover, the initiative receives financial support from Flanders Innovation & Entrepreneurship (VLAIO).
This project builds on the original Coastbusters project, which initiated many new research questions. Check out the original project’s main results.
