St Anna archipelago, Sweden

The St Anna mussel farm is the rst full-scale mussel farm with a long-line system on the Swedish East Coast. It is located in the shel- tered archipelago of Östergötland just east of the island Inre Kärrö (58° 21,22 N 16° 56,14 ́ E).

Like many rural areas, it is di cult to establish permanent jobs, and in the archipelago region, it is even more di cult given stringent environmental policy in the area. The primary goal of the project is to demonstrate the potential for an industry with a positive impact on the environment and the creation of jobs in the region.

This location was chosen based on several physical, chemical and social conditions. It is part of a protected natural area and is therefore not a ected by con icts over land/water-ownership. The site has sufficient depth (~20 m), salinity and acceptable current and wind conditions. In addition, the area is not normally a ected by ice movements during freezing or spring break-up.

Based on a prior study, the expected harvest of this pilot farm in 2017 will be approximately 21 tonnes. A harvest of that size will remove 231 kg of nitrogen (N) and 23 kg of phosphorous (P).

The farm is owned and run by East Sweden Aquaculture Centre (ERAC), a non-profit organisation aiming to facilitate the transfer of information between research and industry, and to educate and advise interested parties on aquaculture in East Sweden.