News

17 August 2026. Understanding how climate change will reshape coastal aquaculture requires more than good models; these models need good evidence to drive them. As part of WAVES, the Newcastle University team is undertaking a systematic scientific literature review to identify, organise and evaluate environmental and biological data needed to support the WAVES clam and oyster farming suitability modelling work. Good models depend on robust, high‑quality evidence, and our LLM-assisted approaches help us to examine large cohorts of evidence, sifting to the most useful information, and identifying specific data to incorporate into models. 

Our approach systematically maps available research on environmental drivers relevant to coastal aquaculture, including climate hazards, water quality parameters, pathogen behaviour, and the ecological conditions that support or constrain shellfish production. Examining evidence across all farmed and wild bivalve species around the world, described in N=9387 pieces of research, we are extracting and categorising evidence from about 4,200 articles across key dimensions such as:

This structured approach allows us to identify where evidence is strong, where it is sparse, and where expert judgement or other approaches may be required. It also helps us understand how environmental conditions vary across regions and production systems; essential for building models that are both realistic and adaptable. The review pipeline can also be updated to provide a ‘living’ review approach, which means that models can be run on the best available evidence.

The outputs of this review will directly feed into the WAVES modelling pipeline. By providing a curated, quality‑assessed evidence-base, we can ensure that the models predicting aquaculture suitability under future climate scenarios are grounded in the best available science. This will support more accurate risk assessments, better forecasting of climate impacts, and stronger decision‑making for communities and industries that depend on coastal aquaculture.

28 July 2026. The Work Package 3 team at the University of Southampton has been undertaking Bayesian modelling of clam farming suitability along the Mekong Delta coastline, with models being updated as further data becomes available, such as location of existing farms, sediment and times to market. The image below shows an example output, where the model has identified suitable farming locations (shown in green), using sediment, salinity, sea surface temperature and travel time to market data. Existing clam farm locations are shown in black.

Modelling of oyster farming within the Malaysian study area will begin shortly, with data such as salinity and sea surface temperature currently being extracted from climate models. This model will also include consideration of harmful algal blooms, with the provision of historical data on harmful blooming instances kindly provided by colleagues at Universiti Sains Malaysia.

13 July 2026. The team at the University of Southampton, with one of our Vietnamese collaborators Prof Tri (Can Tho DRAGON Institute), hosted a delegation from the Ho Chi Minh Academy of Politics Region IV – discussing the WAVES project within the political context of the Mekong Delta. Discussions considered how the findings of WAVES might best be integrated into the local political agenda on the Mekong, and concluded with a commitment to host a small WAVES delegation by the end of 2026.

29 June 2026. The WAVES Project was featured in the Spring 2026 edition of FishMail, the Malaysian Fisheries Society’s newsletter. Written by Laura Khor and Chan Chin Yee of WorldFish Malaysia, the article focused on the importance of Malaysia’s bivalve industry and the events they have hosted to engage with key stakeholders in the sector. You can read their article here.

19 June 2026. The Can Tho team visited Ca Mau province to meet with farmers in Dong Tien Cooperative, which manages approximately 900 hectares of clam farming across three management zones. Although annual production previously reached 11,000–20,000 tonnes, yields have declined in recent years due to environmental variability, deteriorating water quality, and reduced availability of natural clam seed. To improve seed security, the cooperative has invested in a 24-hectare hatchery and nursery that includes nursery tanks, grow-out ponds, and water treatment infrastructure, while continuing to recognise the superior resilience and adaptability of natural seed. The cooperative identified water quality as its greatest production challenge, attributing impacts partly to wastewater from upstream intensive shrimp farming, and highlighted the need for more comprehensive seasonal monitoring of water and sediment quality. Production is also affected by seasonal salinity declines during the rainy season, periodic heatwaves, and erosion of tidal flats, all of which reduce growth, extend production cycles, and increase mortality risk. Farming management therefore relies heavily on site selection based on sediment stability, routine environmental monitoring, and stocking density adjustments, as chemical or antibiotic treatments cannot be used in the natural farming environment.

28 April 2026. Four members of the WAVES leadership team (Prof. Craig Hutton, Dr Mathew Hennessey, Dr Oliver Hensengerth and Dr Andrew Desbois) presented key aspects of the WAVES project to aquaculture and marine science students and staff at the Serang Campus of the Jakarta Technical University of Fisheries.

24 April 2026. To conclude the WAVES Annual Meeting, our hosts (Marine & Fisheries Polytechnic of Jembrana) invited the network on a field trip to visit Oyster farms in western Lombok.

23 April 2026. The first WAVES Annual Meeting took place in Lombok, Indonesia between 22nd-24th April 2026. We were also delighted to be joined by members of our Advisory Board. We would like to thank the Marine & Fisheries Polytechnic of Jembrana for hosting the event.

21 April 2026. The Work Package 3 team held a workshop in Lombok, Indonesia on 20th & 21st April 2026 with representatives from across the network. The main topics of discussion were Sediment Modelling and to finalise the project’s approach to modelling aquaculture communities across our study sites in Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam.

2 April 2026. We are delighted to announce that the 2026 WAVES Annual Project Meeting will take place in Lombok, Indonesia on 22nd & 23rd April. Hosted by the Marine and Fisheries Polytechnic of Jembrana, this meeting will bring together members from across the network to discuss progress so far and plans for upcoming activities. There will be presentations from our Early Career Researchers and we will also welcome members of our Advisory Board for their direct feedback on the project’s strategic objectives.

4 March 2026. Prof. Aileen Tan will be one of the inspirational leaders taking part in an event to mark International Women’s Day on 18th March 2026, as part of the UKRI-funded AquaSoS project that has a Work Package devoted to developing female aquaculture scientists in SE Asia. Event details and registration (including for online attendance) available via the QR Code.

13 November 2025. The WorldFish team have prepared an article entitled “Charting a Sustainable Future for Mollusc Production in Southeast Asia” on how mollusc farmers are adapting to climate change.

3 November 2025. A key output from the WAVES project is to forecast future demand for molluscs: a WorldFish-led workshop in Malaysia in September was used to collect key baseline data.

15 October 2025. As part of the September 2025 workshop, the WAVES team visited the facilities at the Autore Pearl Farm in Lombok, Indonesia to gain a deeper understanding for their operations and the sector more widely.

8 October 2025. Twelve members of the WAVES team participated in the Sustainable & Resilient Aquaculture Systems in Southeast Asia meeting in London hosted by UKRI, which connected the projects funded by the call.

30 September 2025. A 2-day stakeholder workshop with representation from the mussels and pearl oyster sectors was hosted by the WAVES team in Lombok, Indonesia to map industry activities and governance.

26 September 2025. The WAVES team spent time at a small-scale oyster farm to see and hear first hand some of the challenges facing such producers in Malaysia.

24 September 2025. Project partner WorldFish (Penang, Malaysia) hosted a workshop on modelling led by University of Southampton to guide the selection of suitable case studies of mollusc production in southeast Asia.

15 August 2025. Project co-lead Dr Andrew Desbois presented the WAVES project at the 22nd International Conference on Diseases of Fish and Shellfish in Heraklion, Greece.

12 July 2025. In September, The WAVES WP2 team will conduct a sector-mapping systems-thinking workshop in Penang, Malaysia with over 20 participants from across the national mollusc industry.

24 June 2025. The WAVES Consortium hosted a stakeholder workshop for more than 30 stakeholders of the clam sector in Vietnam at Research Institute for Aquaculture No. 1, Bac Ninh, Vietnam from 16-17 June 2025.

4 June 2025. The WAVES Consortium kick-off meeting took place at College of Aquaculture & Fisheries, Can Tho University, Vietnam from 11-14 June 2025.

10 March 2025. The launch of the WAVES project received press coverage in many outlets, including Fish Farming Expert, Vet Times and Oceanographic Magazine.

7 March 2025. The WAVES Consortium was announced by UKRI. Full details here: https://www.ukri.org/news/revolutionising-aquaculture-bold-new-projects-in-south-east-asia/

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