With the ocean facing challenges such as fish stock collapse and the need for sustainable seafood, science alone isn’t always enough, Mascorda-Cabre stressed during her Tuesday keynote lecture. Factors like policy cycles being out of sync with research mean that the science-policy gap remains hard to cross; science often ends up on the shelf.
Mascorda-Cabre wanted her work to have real-world impact and shape marine policy. She envisioned bivalve aquaculture as part of conservation and management as well as being a nature-based solution for sustainable food.
A shellfish farm with wide benefits
Building on her PhD efforts as part of the University of Plymouth team monitoring the UK’s first offshore long-line mussel farm in Lyme Bay, Mascorda-Cabre sensed an opportunity. A Fisheries Industry Science Partnership (FISP) project, Ropes to Reefs, was launched, merging industry, farmers, fishers, scientists, and regulators. Through a multitrophic approach and with novel technology, the team found that farm area had, over time, seen an increase in species biodiversity and seabed recovery. Species had moved between the biogenic reef created underneath the mussel lines and a nearby marine protected area (MPA), with some using the reef as a nursery site.
The findings show how low-trophic aquaculture can aid nature restoration and that farms can act as de facto MPAs. With clear management implications, the results can inform marine spatial planning and align with global biodiversity and sustainability goals.
Building community, broadly communicating
Ropes to Reefs was co-designed all the way, even during the application stage. An ecosystem services analysis was produced, stating, amongst other things, the services provided by the farm and linking ecology to human wellbeing; an industry liaison was appointed, and communications outputs were planned for beyond the project’s conclusion.
Mascorda-Cabre used every opportunity to communicate her work. Uptake of science isn’t automatic, she said; creativity, persistence and gearing the message to the audience is key. Such an attitude had previously taken her everywhere from international conferences to a British cooking TV show; for Ropes to Reefs, however, this meant management-ready outputs: tailored infographics, videos and animations, and presentations. The team collaborated with different bodies to work their findings into management plans.
She also created a policy brief for UK policymakers, summarizing eight years of research in a few key questions and points. She then took the brief to Evidence Week 2025 to talk to Members of Parliament in Westminster. Getting the politicians engaged included calling them ahead of time – doing everything to ensure the science could meet the needs of those who set the policies.
Science that speaks
Mascorda-Cabre finished her talk with a call to action to her fellow early-career scientists to make their work speak clearly, saying “science unread is science undone”. She encouraged researchers to be bold, co-create and co-develop, sustain relationships, and embrace inevitable challenges, continuing to build bridges from science and policy to ocean recovery and sustainability.
