On July 16th, 2021, 1-2 PM UTC, Thierry Chopin, Professor of Marine Biology at the University of New Brunswick (UNB) in Saint John, Canada, and founder of Chopin Coastal Health Solutions Inc., marvelled us all with his insights on Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture (IMTA): responsibly farming our waters by taking advantage of ecosystem services within a circular economy approach. The Moderator was Isabel Sousa Pinto (CIIMAR).

Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture (IMTA) combines the cultivation of species at two or more different trophic levels, based on their complementary ecosystem functions. Taking advantage of synergistic interactions between species, and of the ecosystem services they provide, the aim is to ecologically design and implement aquaculture systems and practices for increased environmental sustainability, economic diversification and societal acceptability, through enabling regulations and within a circular economy approach. The scope of the IMTA concept is extremely broad, flexible and evolving. It can be applied worldwide to open-water or land-based systems, marine or freshwater (e.g. aquaponics) environments, and temperate or tropical climates. To calculate IMTA’s full value, extractive species need to be valued not only for their biomass and food trading values, but also for the ecosystem services they provide (in particular through nutrient trading credits), along with the increase in consumer trust and societal/political license to operate that they give to the aquaculture industry.

Dr. Thierry Chopin was born and educated in France. He moved to Canada in 1989 and is Professor of Marine Biology at the University of New Brunswick in Saint John.
His research focuses on the ecophysiology, biochemistry and cultivation of seaweeds of commercial value and the development of responsible and efficient Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture (IMTA) systems for increased environmental sustainability, economic diversification and societal acceptability. From 2010 to 2017, he was Scientific Director of the Canadian Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture Network (CIMTAN), an interdisciplinary strategic network of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). He created his own company, Chopin Coastal Health Solutions Inc., in 2016. Dr. Chopin promotes a greener Blue Economy, the Turquoise Economy, in which ecosystem services, provided in particular by extractive aquaculture (seaweeds and invertebrates), are recognized, valued and used as financial and regulatory incentives, through nutrient trading credits, within a circular economy approach.

The publications of Dr. Chopin are available on ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Thierry-Chopin-2

More information on the session: https://www.aircentre.org/netfridays-thierry-chopin/