The overall aim of this study was to demonstrate efficient production methods of farming under different conditions in the eastern and western Baltic Sea. Focus was on technical development of the demonstration farms, including optimization of mussel production by comparing growth and recruitment at different types of substrates being trawl nets with different mesh size, Smartfarm nets, Fuzzy rope, and Swedish bands.
From the growth and recruitment study, and from the substrate test study it is demonstrated, that the production potential in different areas of the Baltic Sea, does not only follow variation in salinity and food availability. It very much depends on the site-specific growth environment where e.g. predation on mussel farms can be an obstacle for any mussel growth at all. A thorough screening of a potential mussel farming area with respect to food availability, predation, weather conditions and competing species is therefore heavily emphasized before a possible mussel production is initiated in the Baltic Sea region. Alternatively, new mussel farms should start in a small scale, using some years to test and area, and develop a site-adapted husbandry optimizing the production before scaling up.
