Blue economy and aquatic resources research group
TalTech priority area
Research classification (Frascati)
Other natural sciences 1.7
Head of the research group
Research group member
Doctoral students
Keyword
environment and social economy
the innovation of water’s biological resources
consumers and products of blue economy
safety and quality of water’s biological resources
Overview
Estonia is a seaside country, but our skills havingto do with resources found in sea and in freshwater, such as fish, seaweed, and mussels, aremodest. Fish, seaweed, and mussels, that growin sea and in freshwater, have high nutritionalvalue, but technologies of growing, collectingand processing them need developing. The aimof the research is to develop new value-addedproducts from less popular fish species, whichwould suit the needs and preferences of youngconsumers in particular. Different less popularfish species are caught from inland bodies ofwater and in coastal fishing. Now these lesspopular fish species are not possible to marketor are marketed at a very low price-point. Developing products form less popular fish species,seaweed, and mussels which are not yet used isimportant for enterprises, environment and forcoastal municipalities. Composition and properties of less popular fish species, seaweed andmussels are not yet known. Every product startswith raw materials and the quality of these rawmaterials is extremely important. When it comesto fish, seaweed and mussels, the right storagetemperature and processing methods are themost important factors which help to ensure theproducts’ safety and quality.
Important results
Consumer studies were conducted on prototypesof new developed products in order to evaluateif products meet the needs of young consumers.All the prototypes of new products evaluated inthe consumer survey received high grades and,according to the consumers’ opinions are tastyand well-suited for school lunches. Research forreducing salt content of the fish products andfinding applications for seaweed and mussels isbeing continued.Decades of policy initiatives to reduce external(land-based and atmospheric) nutrient loadshave so far failed to control Baltic Sea eutrophication, which is compounded by significantinternal release of legacy phosphorus (P) and biological nitrogen (N) fixation. Adjunct Professor J.Kotta demonstrated that farming and harvesting of the native mussel species (Mytilus edulis/trossulus) is a promising internal measure foreutrophication control in the brackish Baltic Sea.
Related projects
Related department
Publications related to the research group
- Heckwolf, M.J., Peterson, A., Jänes, H., Horne, P., Künne, J., Liversage, K., Sajeva, M., Reusch, T.B.H., Kotta, J. From ecosystems to socio-economic benefits : a systematic review of coastal ecosystem services in the Baltic Sea // The science of the total environment (2021) vol. 755, 2, art. 142565, 11 p. : ill.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.142565 - Depellegrin, D., Hansen, H. S., Schrøder, L., Bergström, L., Romagnoni, G., Steenbeek, J., Goncalves, M., Carneiro, C., Kotta, J., Fetissov, M. et al. Current status, advancements and development needs of geospatial decision support tools for marine spatial planning in European seas // Ocean & coastal management (2021) vol. 209, art. 105644.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2021.105644 - Kivima, E., Tanilas, K., Martverk, K., Rosenvald, S., Timberg, L., Laos, K. The composition, physicochemical properties, antioxidant activity, and sensory properties of Estonian honeys // Foods (2021) vol. 10, 3, art. 511, 14 p.
https://doi.org/10.3390/foods10030511 - Galparsoro, I., Pınarbası, K., Gissi, E., Culhane, F., Gacutan, J., Kotta, J., Cabana, D., Wanke, S., Fetissov, M. et al. Operationalisation of ecosystem services in support of ecosystem-based marine spatial planning : insights into needs and recommendations // Marine Policy (2021) vol. 131, art. 104609.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2021.104609 - Fetissov, M., Aps, R., Goerlandt, F., Jänes, H., Kotta, J., Kujala, P., Szava-Kovats, R. Next-generation smart response web (NG-SRW) : an operational spatial decision support system for maritime oil spill emergency response in the Gulf of Finland (Baltic Sea) // Sustainability (2021) vol. 13, 12, art. 6585.
https://doi.org/10.3390/su13126585 - Mack, L., Fernandez de la Hoz, C., Penk, M., Piggott, J., Crowe, T., Hering, D., Kaijser, W., Aroviita, J., Baer, J., Kotta, J. [et al.] Perceived multiple stressor effects depend on sample size and stressor gradient length // Water research (2022) vol. 226, art. 119260.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2022.119260 - Kotta, J., Raudsepp, U., Szava-Kovats, R., Aps, R., Armoskaite, A., Barda, I., Bergström, P., Futter, M., Maljutenko, I. et al. Assessing the potential for sea-based macroalgae cultivation and its application for nutrient removal in the Baltic Sea // Science of the total environment (2022) vol. 839, art. 156230 ; 14 p. : ill.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.156230 - Liversage, K., Kotta, J., Kuprijanov, I., Rätsep, M., Nõomaa, K. A trophic cascade facilitates native habitat providers within assemblages of multiple invasive marine species // Ecosphere (2021) vol. 12, 6, p. 1-13 : ill.
https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.3621 - Sajeva, M., Maidell, M., Kotta, J., Peterson, A. An Eco-GAME meta-evaluation of existing methods for the appreciation of ecosystem services // Sustainability (2020) vol. 12, 8, art. 7805, 47 p. : ill.
https://doi.org/10.3390/su12187805 - Skov, H., Rasmussen, E.K., Kotta, J. et al. Food web responses to eutrophication control in a coastal area of the Baltic Sea // Ecological modelling (2020) vol. 435, art. 109249, 13 p. : ill.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2020.109249 - Adler, I., Kotta, J., Tuvikene, R., Kaldre, K. Optimizing the processing of shellfish (Mytilus edulis and M. trossulus Hybrid) biomass cultivated in the Low Salinity Region of the Baltic Sea for the extraction of meat and proteins // Applied sciences (2022) vol. 12, 10, art. 5163, 11 p. : ill.
https://doi.org/10.3390/app12105163 - Liversage, K., Kotta, J., Pajusalu, L. Effectiveness of common benthic macrofaunal sampling methodology in boulder and cobble reefs // Journal of experimental marine biology and ecology (2020) vol. 530−531, art. 151413, 7 p.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jembe.2020.151413 - Sajeva, M., Maidell, M., Kotta, J. A participatory geospatial toolkit for science integration and knowledge transfer informing SDGs based Governance and decision making // Sustainability (2020) vol. 12, 19, art. 8088, 19 p. : ill.
https://doi.org/10.3390/su12198088 - Kotta, J., Herkül, K., Jaagus, J., Kaasik, A., Raudsepp, U., Alari, V., Laanemets, J., Maljutenko, I., Männik, A., Reihan, A. et al. Linking atmospheric, terrestrial and aquatic environments : Regime shifts in the Estonian climate over the past 50 years // PLoS ONE (2018) vol. 13, 12, e0209568, 20 p. : ill.
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0209568