Marion VIAL

Development of a normalized consortium of biofouling in the marine environment.

With the greater importance of the oceans, the blue economy development, and the skyrocketing use of marine resources, marine materials are more and more produced and used all around the world. In the marine environment, materials are colonized by organisms, and this phenomenon, called biofouling, has a huge impact on the financial costs of these materials. Biofouling covers marine materials such as ships hulls and is responsible for overconsumption of fuel, leading to important financial costs. On top of that, biofouling damages material which costs money to the industry. The US Navy already pointed out that at the beginning of the 21st century. From an environmental perspective, biofouling is also an issue, because of the navy trade. Biofouling is transported all around the world, and invasives species as well. The other aspect is the pollution created by the release of antifouling and biocides into the marine environment. These antifouling paints can have serious impacts on the development, reproduction, and life cycle of marine species.

 In this context, my Ph.D. project is to develop a normalized consortium of biofouling in the marine environment. This project comes with a bigger project called BIOSTEM, led by the company CORRODYS. The goal of my Ph.D. is economical and industrial but also environmental. Indeed, the principal purpose of this project is to develop a consortium of biofouling to be able to test antifouling paints before immersion to check out their efficacy and toxicity. This consortium will be thought to represent bio colonizing species that are found in different water masses, so the consortium is representative of what happens in the marine environment. This project will be organized into three steps:

1. Describing different environments and identification of biofouling species found on immersed materials that are used in the navy industry, in different harbours in the Channel,
2. Isolation and culture of organisms that are representatives of biofouling species to create the consortium in the laboratory,
3. Select the consortium and test antifouling paints and materials. 

The final objective of the Ph.D. is to present to industrial companies a mesocosm to test antifouling materials with biofouling species from micro to macro-organisms, that can simulate the impact of the marine environment on the material and conversely.

 Key words: Marine biofouling, standardised consortium ; antifouling coatings