Green Artificial Reef PROARRRepopulation of Coastal Ecosystems and Waste Recycler of the Maritime Industries

Resumen

The extractive work of shellfish harvesting and fishing in the autonomous community of Galicia is a strategic economic activity. In this sense, the action of artificial reefs is of great interest as they act as instruments of arrangement and protection of the marine resources and ecosystems. The PROARR research project has led to the design of independent modules of production and protection reefs, aimed at the construction of polygons of artificial reefs. One of the aims of the research work has looked for the reutilization of inert waste materials from industrial processes linked to the maritime area: naval construction, fishing, and shellfish harvesting, incorporating them into the production process of the reef. In this way, existence of dumps is reduced and the value chain of those processes is increased. The actual sustainability within the activity of maritime industries must promote the absorption of this inert waste by the sea, thus closing the activity cycle. In the case of the utilization of shells in the manufacture of artificial reefs (as an additive to the mortar used in its construction) it represents the double advantage of the elimination of a residue, with the subsequent increase in the value chain of these aquaculture processes and, on the other hand, returning to its origin a product which is part of a structure that can achieve the development of resources and favour the conservation of the ecosystems.