Biofouling, the growth of unwanted organisms on submerged surfaces, is a big issue in the aquaculture sector with large direct costs of cleaning and indirect costs of reduced animal welfare and infrastructure damage.

My project will aim to introduce novel ways for the Tasmanian salmon industry to better monitor and assess the biofouling pressures at certain times of year and at specific sites. These monitoring systems can draw inspiration from other industries to provide a more holistic view on the issues of marine biofouling. Initially, biofouling communities will be characterized on a micro- and macro-scale, across a gradient in time and exposure to wave actions and human interactions.

Their settlement, colonisation and succession on certain substrates will be followed and analysed by frequent sampling. These ecological datasets will reveal how certain environmental parameters and seasonality influence community assemblages at Tassal‘s farms in South-eastern Tasmania. Afterwards, initial steps to anticipate large biofouling events on sites will be taken through a preliminary predictive framework.  The value that this research will then bring to Tassal and the salmon industry as a whole is an improved timing and better understanding of what biofouling management option would be optimal in a specific situation. As an extension to the predictive model, ways to utilize and valorise captured biofouling biomass will be explored to better integrate the salmon industry within a circular economy.