Page 34 - Aquauclature Research and Studies (01)

AQUAUCLATURE
Research and Studies 1 (1): 15-01, 2026 page of 193
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biomass production, and a 47% higher return on equity
Received: 9/9/2025 (ROE) compared to traditional Agriculture methods. How-
Accepted: 8/11/2025
Publish ever, widespread adoption faces barriers such as high up-
online:15/01/2026 front costs, technical skill gaps, and market volatility. This
manuscript provides actionable policy recommendations
to scaling IMTA-Aquaponics with DSS across the Medi-
terranean.
Key words: HortMED, Greenhouse technologies, DSS,
Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture (IMTA)-Aquapon-
ics systems.
1. Introduction
Integrated Multitrophic Aquaculture (IMTA) represents a paradigm shift
in sustainable food production, fundamentally grounded in an ecosystem-
based management framework (Barrington et al., 2009). Instead of cultivat-
ing a single species in isolation, IMTA co-cultures a diverse community of
aquatic organisms from different trophic levels, each with complementary
ecological roles. A typical system might combine fed species (such as finfish
or shrimp) with extractive species, which are categorized into two groups:
those that recapture suspended particulate matter (e.g., shellfish like mussels
and oysters) and those that absorb dissolved nutrients (e.g., seaweeds like
kelp) (Chopin et al., 2012). This strategic assembly creates a synergistic web
where the uneaten feed, metabolic waste, and nutrient byproducts (in both
particulate and dissolved forms) from the higher trophic level species are no
longer considered pollutants. Instead, they are recaptured and efficiently con-
verted into valuable biomass, serving as a natural fertilizer, feed, and energy
source for the co-cultured species (Neori et al., 2004). This mimics natural
nutrient cycles, turning waste streams into productive resources.
The sustainability of this system is further amplified by its integration
with hydroponics, creating a synergistic union often referred to as Aquapon-
ics. This integration systematically addresses the core inefficiencies and un-
sustainable features of operating aquaculture and hydroponic systems inde-
pendently (Goddek et al., 2015). In a conventional setup, aquaculture effluent
requires expensive treatment before discharge, while hydroponics relies on
the continual addition of manufactured mineral fertilizers. The IMTA-