Oyster DJ's, Fishing for Innovation, and Canal Therapy

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To those reading for the first time, At Water's Edge is a monthly newsletter delivering stories related to water in an entertaining and informative way. I welcome suggestions on future content - you will help make this newsletter more valuable to readers and subscribers.

Now on to the good stuff...

Humans aren't the only ones that enjoy concerts.

Researchers at the University of Adelaide are using underwater speakers to restore oyster reefs - attracting baby oysters with their melodies.

In other news, Peruvians are combining innovation and investment to transform their fishing industry, creating new sources of income and producing aqua-based delicacies for the world.

Lastly, new research shows that time spent in blue-green spaces (i.e., water & trees) have a greater positive impact on mental health than just green space.

This month:?

1. Oyster concerts are restoring reefs in Australia
2. Peruvian fisherwomen are creating world-class fishing innovations?
3. Canals are nature's best therapists

Bonus picture of the month: part of ancient Roman water system found in Stabiae, near Pompeii, Italy

First: How underwater speakers are creating 'highways of sound' to restore oyster reefs

Researchers from the University of Adelaide are using underwater music to speed up the restoration of native oyster reefs.

“In the ocean, sounds orchestrated by the snaps of snapping shrimp provide navigational cues used by baby oysters to find healthy habitats to settle and grow in,” says Brittany Williams, a PhD candidate at the University of Adelaide.

Broadcasting snapping shrimp snaps in the ocean to create ‘highways of sound’ that attract baby oysters to oyster reefs targeted for restoration.

Commercial fishing equipment are killing the orchestra

Australia once had vast coastlines of native oyster reefs filled with this orchestration of snaps. But these have now been trawled and dredged to functional extinction.

This has left bare sand of muted-scapes for more than 150 years, with no natural capacity to recover.

“Marine soundscapes are silenced following large-scale habitat loss. In the lab and field, we discovered that we can re-create these lost soundscapes and entice oyster babies to swim to and settle on our new reefs,” she says.

“This is a timely and affordable solution to plug the gaps in current restoration work.”

These speakers also could be great for more places than down under

Coastal communities around the world are scrambling to rebuild lost reefs which have been proven to play a vital role in maintaining water quality and healthy ecosystems but in many cases they have struggled to recruit sufficient babies.

Australia once had vast coastlines of native oyster reefs filled with this orchestration of snaps. But these have now been trawled and dredged to functional extinction.

“Our research highlights the importance of the marine soundscape for animals, and how we can use technology to replace it in cases where it has been lost. This work has urgent practical applications,” Brittany says.

Next: How Peruvian fisherwomen are creating a sustainable model for improving fisheries and the economy

When Peruvian fisher Karin Abensur caught nearly 800kg of fish early one morning five years ago, she calculated roughly how much she would earn.

“I thought, worst case scenario, they would give me 6 soles per kg,” she says.

But when she returned to the port of Pucusana in central Peru, after four hours on the high seas, she was disappointed to be offered just 1 sol per kg – roughly USD 0.30.

"They said ‘take it, because no one will give you more.’ I had hoped for a four-digit number, but I left with less than 700 soles," she says.

The market value of captured species like spiny dogfish and angelshark, abundant along the Peruvian coast, is generally low.

Necessity is the mother of fishy innovations

Karin noticed a trend - that Peruvian restaurants and consumers are increasingly interested in locally-sourced, sustainable fish. She started her company ‘Karin Ecofish’ in 2017. The company trains female workers in the port on innovative cutting techniques.?

In addition to cleaning and gutting the fish, these women are now skilled in making intricate Japanese-style cuts, which fetch a higher price in the market.?

"I am taking a chance on Asian-style cuts with bonito,” she says, referring to a locally-caught fish similar to tuna or mackerel but less expensive.?

“There are people who want to go out for sushi but don't have enough money, so I sell them a cut of fish that is ready to use," she says.??

She wants more people to eat fish, so she’s expanding her product range, training cutters to make fish nuggets and fish fingers for children and grill-friendly cuts for family gatherings.

Let's be PNIPA pals

Karin's is one of about 800 projects supported by the Government of Peru's Fisheries and Aquaculture Innovation Program (PNIPA).

PNIPA first took shape in 2015 when the Government of Peru requested assistance to help address technical gaps in its fisheries and aquaculture sector and halt the depletion of the environment, hastened by a changing climate.?

PNIPA promotes innovative initiatives with the dual goal of improving the livelihoods of workers in the sector while ensuring a more responsible and sustainable use of natural resources.

According to Marianne Fay, World Bank Director for Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador and Peru, this ambitious program “wants to change the way in which we combine job creation, improved nutrition, economic growth and natural resource management.”

“And innovation is fundamental to this, especially if we want economic growth to be sustainable, dynamic and equitable,” she adds.

Pirarucu on a plate near you?

One initiative aims to improve the quality of South America’s largest freshwater fish –?pirarucu, also known as the king of the Amazon river – and to promote its entry into the international gourmet market. The fish is extremely nutritious and its skin can be used to make textiles.

Peru is also one of the biggest exporters of raw?pota?or jumbo squid.?Another project seeks to make the fishing of?pota?more efficient and cost effective and to process it for greater market value, like extracting the ink.

Some communities have switched from fishing to collecting and marketing marine macroalgae, which includes sargassum, a brown seaweed that used to rot along the sea shores.

Sargassum can be used to make products ranging from organic fertilizers, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals to nutritional supplements. It can also be used to make disposable plates, reducing the use of plastics. Selling the seaweed has given these communities a reliable, safe and sustainable way to earn a living. They no longer have to depend solely on the day’s catch.

A model the world should be looking at

PNIPA is building on the fishing communities’ ancestral knowledge. It is helping?them manage and safeguard their fishery resources more efficiently and tap into new markets.

The program is expected to support almost 2,000 initiatives during the first phase, which will end in 2022.?Rosmary Cornejo, PNIPA’s Executive Director, anticipates a second phase to advance the sector’s development:

“This is a process of collective learning, with an entire sector instructing itself on how to better manage projects. If we want to create opportunities for more sustainable, fair and innovative fishing and aquaculture in Peru, we are on the right track.”

And finally: canals - your new therapist?

Researchers report that the combination of blue and green space with wildlife has a greater impact on wellbeing than spending time in an environment that is characterized by only green space.

The researchers used Urban Mind, a smartphone-based app, to collect thousands of real time audits about participants’ location and mental wellbeing.

Results from this first of its kind study showed positive associations between visits to canals and rivers and mental wellbeing, as well as a positive experience for feelings of safety and social inclusion relative to all other types of environments (such as indoors, outside in an urban environment, or near green spaces).

Just go with the flow

The study is part funded by National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre and the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation. Professor Andrea Mechelli, Professor of Early Intervention in Mental Health at King’s IoPPN and the study's senior author.

Canals and rivers contain not only water but also an abundance of trees and plants, which means their capacity to improve mental wellbeing is likely to be due to the multiple benefits associated with both green and blue spaces. Canals and rivers also provide homes to a range of wildlife, and we know from other research that there is a positive association between encountering wildlife and mental wellbeing. Taken collectively, these findings provide an evidence base for what we thought about water and wellbeing and support the proposal that visits to canals and rivers could become part of social prescribing schemes, playing a role in supporting mental health.

The study found that visiting canals and rivers was associated with a greater improvement in mental wellbeing, and this relationship was still present when accounting for individual variation due to age, gender, education, ethnicity, and a diagnosis of a mental health condition. People also reported continued improvements in their mental wellbeing for up to 24 hours after the visit had taken place.

From the industrial revolution to mental health solution

Richard Parry, chief executive of the Canal & River Trust, says:

“Once the arteries of the Industrial Revolution, canals are today playing an equally important role in society as green corridors that bring nature into cities, improving community wellbeing and tackling health inequalities, as well as supporting jobs and local economies... repurposed canals are actually amongst our most important places of health and wellbeing in our towns and cities."

And Dr Amir Khan, Canal & River Trust Ambassador states:

“An astonishing nine million people live within 1km of a canal and whether you’re looking for a free alternative to the gym, a car-free commute to work or the shops, or perhaps just somewhere to hang out with family or friends, I really do urge everyone to find their #HappyPlaceByWater this summer.”

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-Adam