AQUABENEFIT is an interdisciplinary research project that evaluates the ecological benefits of bivalve aquaculture, with a particular focus on the role of aquaculture gear as habitat for marine and estuarine biodiversity. While bivalve farming is widely recognized for its economic and food-production value, its potential to enhance ecosystem functions—such as providing substrate, refuge, nursery, and foraging habitat for wild organisms—remains insufficiently quantified.
Using an off-bottom oyster farm in the Lima estuary (NW Portugal) as a case study, AQUABENEFIT integrates ecological monitoring, innovative molecular tools (eDNA), stable isotope analysis, remote underwater video, and artificial intelligence–based image analysis to assess how aquaculture infrastructure supports biodiversity and food-web interactions throughout the farming cycle. By combining traditional and emerging methods, the project aims to provide a standardized, transferable framework for assessing habitat value across farming systems and regions.
By working closely with oyster farmers, managers, and regulatory authorities, AQUABENEFIT ensures that its results are directly relevant to real-world decision making. The project will provide practical tools and evidence to support more informed, ecosystem-based management of aquaculture activities. By improving how the ecological benefits of bivalve farming are measured and communicated, AQUABENEFIT helps clarify the role of shellfish aquaculture as a contributor to healthy coastal ecosystems, alongside its economic and social importance for coastal communities.