A pilot check of buoys produced from fungal root networks confirmed promise as an efficient and fewer wasteful various to plastic. Now,  a cadre of Maine ocean farmers is hoping to develop prototype testing subsequent 12 months.

This 12 months a handful of oyster farms alongside the Maine coast grew buoys manufactured from mycelium, the thread-like root techniques that sprout mushrooms, and deployed them on a small scale this oyster season. The trial was finished to see if the environmentally pleasant buoys could possibly be an alternative to among the hundreds of plastic foam buoys used throughout the Gulf of Maine.

For essentially the most half, the mushroom buoys labored wonderful, based on the 2 major farmers who participated,  although extra testing is required and so they wish to finetune the styles and sizes of the buoys in 2023.

“They stayed buoyant, which was an enormous piece of it,” mentioned Abigail Barrows, an oyster farmer primarily based on Deer Isle. “However there’s positively some tweaks we will do.”

The thought to strive non-plastic options for buoys has risen from an environmental motion in Maine’s rising oyster trade. Oysters and different seafood can absorb plastics which can be discovered within the ocean and a Bowdoin School research from earlier this 12 months discovered oysters at 9 farms in Casco Bay all contained microplastics.

The so-called “myco buoys” are grown by placing mycelium in a mould and feeding it with hempstock or different forms of plant waste. The mycelium then grows right into a floating materials that’s biodegradable.

Smithereen Farm, which grows oysters in Pembroke, hosted mycelium knowledgeable Sue Van Hook earlier this spring and she or he confirmed native aquaculturists the ropes with the mushroom buoys.

The farmers have since been testing out the buoys and attempting out completely different coatings for them, mentioned Smithereen farmer Severine Fleming. The hope is to discover a absolutely biodegradable sealant that may face up to months within the water. Regular buoys are often produced from styrofoam and have plastic, waterproof coatings.

Discovering non-toxic sealant has proved elusive, however Fleming’s preliminary findings might point out it’s not truly wanted.

“After 5 months within the water, I used to be stunned the uncoated myco buoy was floating wonderful,” Fleming mentioned.

How lengthy an uncoated buoy would final isn’t clear although, based on Fleming, as among the oyster cages with the buoys went lacking on the finish of the 12 months.

Myco buoys do appear to draw birds greater than another sort of buoy although, and it’s unclear if that had any impact on the oysters rising beneath the floor.

Fleming plans to additionally check out the buoys on her seaweed farm this winter and expects to develop about 400 extra buoys for sea trials in April.

She hoped the choice buoys could possibly be proven off on the Maine Fishermen’s Discussion board subsequent 12 months, presumably attracting extra farmers to the experiment. If that occurs, it might give Fleming and Barrows a greater sense of if the floats are possible on a big scale and at quite a lot of farms.

“Every of us is approaching the appliance of this materials with completely different styles and sizes,” she mentioned. “It’d be so nice if we had extra individuals and engineers concerned.”

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