CLIP - Closed-Loop Intertidal Polyculture

**Closed-Loop Intertidal Polyculture (CLIP)** is a hybrid system combining a sea farm with a food waste recycling process. It is a regenerative aquaculture model growing different marine species that clean the water by breathing. Oysters, mussels and seaweeds filter seawater as they grow; and sea cucumbers pull nutrients from the ocean soil to make their own food for others.

They all improve the biodiversity of marine habitats and increase the amount of oxygen in the water. When these species thrive so does the ocean. Additionally, these ingredients are highly nutritious, local to Scottish waters, and do not require chemicals, fertilisers or insecticides to grow.

Continuing four years of work on transitions to cleaner forms of aquaculture on the Isle of Skye, Scotland, CLIP will be located in a sea loch on the island. Waste shells will be collected from the farm, as well as from local food businesses, to transform them into a bespoke tile produced locally. These new tiles made out of food waste will also reduce pressure on the landfill and waterways.

The facility itself will become a site providing food experiences for visitors to learn about the coastal environment. This novel material brings together the food, construction and tourism sectors in a common vision to care for the marine ecology of Skye.

This project marks the first steps in realising this ambition, allowing us to conduct prototyping of the bespoke waste shell tile and testing and analysing material trials for the farm structure, alongside establishing the most viable seaweeds and salt marsh greens to cultivate on site.

CLIP is part of CLIMAVORE_,_ a Community Interest Company that explores how to eat as humans change the climate. It will improve the availability of ecological and responsible produce in Skye supporting the urgent move to more local food production in the wake of COVID and in the face of Brexit. It helps residents and visitors understand the importance of these species in keeping the ocean and ourselves healthy.

CLIP also supports businesses to become more sustainable in the face of the climate emergency and creates skills training and long-term employment and apprenticeship opportunities for residents of the island. That is why we call it a "closed-loop:" it is a circular economy that starts from seafood, collects its waste, makes it into a useful material that improves the ocean, provides novel ways of caring about coastal heritage, which in turn ends up enhancing the presence of nourishing seafood.

And the closed-loop cycle of intertidal polyculture starts all over again. This is how CLIP regenerates the water and promotes a healthy ecology.