Diagnosis
We read the site: seabed, light, currents, nutrient load, species, uses and what arrives from the catchment, before touching anything.
True Regenerative · sea systems
Sea · scientific collaborationRegenerative aquaculture: from seabed to surface
At sea and in rivers we apply the same approach as on land: observe first, then decide. Together we study whether a seabed, a mussel raft or a seaweed line fits the site, the species and the management, and which specialists and permits are needed.
Video: Underwater Gardens International (UGI).
Four phases
How we work in water
The same four phases as on land, from the first visit to autonomy. Measurement supports every phase, to help decide and adjust.
Design and planning
Together we choose which route is worth studying —a seabed, a mussel raft, a seaweed line… or no intervention—, with specialists, permits and budget.
Implementation and start-up
We start alongside you and small, with your team and whichever specialists are needed, and adjust based on what we see.
Training and support
We follow colonisation and cultivation in stages, with supporting sampling, until your team can manage it on its own.
From catchment to sea
What happens on the farm reaches the river, the delta and the sea. That is why we look at the whole water system, not just the seabed. Its potential for water quality, marine life and fishing depends on the site, the species, the management and the permits; sometimes the sensible choice is not to intervene. Not all aquaculture is regenerative.
How to read the diagram
- Documented documented experience
- Designed and presented not carried out
- In progress under study or in preparation, not yet carried out
- Possible to be assessed case by case
Supporting measurement: observing and sampling over time to learn what works and what does not.
Catchment and farm
More rain soaking in and less soil and nutrients washed downstream.
Rivers
The river carries what leaves the farms down to the delta, without cutting off the water that downstream ecosystems need.
- PossibleAny work in the riverbed only with specialists and the permits each case requires.
Deltas and coast
In the delta, rice paddies, fresh water and the sea meet.
- DocumentedRice with ducks and bokashi at EcoCastells (Ebro Delta).
- PossibleRice paddies with fish, as described by the FAO.
Sea: water column and seabed
On the seabed, organic matter, microbiology and minerals decide what life colonises it: microbiology and algae arrive first, then invertebrates and fish.
- DocumentedScience published with the UGI team, an independent organisation, on seabed colonisation of new materials (2024).
- Designed and presentedProposal for Balfegó (2017–2018): macroalgae pilot on nets next to a cage; design presented, not carried out.
- In progressProposal for Balfegó (in preparation): macroalgae pilot next to tuna cages, under review by UGI and the UAB; not carried out.
- In progressMicroalgae project under study (biostimulants, aquaculture hatcheries and ingredients), with trials in stages; no production yet.
- PossibleMussel rafts or macroalgae on floating lines: bivalves filter and algae remove nutrients when harvested, depending on the site’s load.
Mussels
The ropes, at dawn
Ropes hanging from the raft, reflected in the water. This is a mussel farm, not a reef: mussels filter the water and feed on what the sea already produces, with no feed added.
Underwater Gardens International (UGI)
UGI is an independent Barcelona organisation that designs structures to restore seabeds. It is not a True Regenerative project: we collaborate with its team on science and publications.
Recognised by WIPO
WIPO chose UGI as a global success story (“invention of the century”). According to El Periódico, more than 100 species were recorded at Port Olímpic within 12 months.
OCEAN CITIZEN, in the Porsanger fjord
30 artificial reef units designed and produced by UGI with the scientific team of Hans Kristian Strand (Institute of Marine Research), as a refuge for juvenile cod and a base for kelp. As told by Celia González, architect on the design team.
Our contribution: published science
Xavier Vélez Parera is a co-author, with the UGI team, of Bracho-Villavicencio et al., Benthic Colonization on New Materials for Marine Ecosystem Restoration in Porto Cesareo, Italy, J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2024, 12(1), 169 (MDPI).
Proposal for Balfegó (in preparation)
Macroalgae pilot next to tuna cages
Proposal for Balfegó, in preparation: a pilot for growing macroalgae next to tuna cages. UGI and the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) are reviewing it before it is presented. It has not been carried out, so there are no results to show.
In progress
Uses and staged trials
A project under study to produce and valorise microalgae. No production yet. We do not claim unmeasured yields or benefits.
Biostimulants
Biological fertilisation to validate on real farms, in trials against a control.
Aquaculture hatcheries
Live feed or concentrate for larval rearing, with a case-by-case specification.
Ingredients
Food and colourants (spirulina and others), under the rules for each end use.
Trials in stages
Study
Segments, specifications and regulatory frame.
Validation without producing
Application trials with biomass bought from others.
Seasonal pilot
Small-scale culture, only if the previous stage justifies it.
Pre-commercial module
Only if the continue criteria are met.
Scale-up
Module growth or a partnership, later on.
Selected among 15 projects for the Orizont StartDay (9/6/2016).
Design track record
Proposal for Balfegó (L’Ametlla de Mar, 2017–2018): macroalgae-on-nets pilot beside a trial cage, designed by Xavier; it was not carried out. The updated proposal, in preparation, is under Macroalgae. The separate work with UGI is published.
Learn more
Next step
Let’s talk about water
Tell us about your project, at sea, on a river or on land: we look with you at whether it fits the species, the site and the management, and which specialists and permits are needed.