Hopkins and Forrest examined the evolving regulatory landscape governing anti-fouling products in marine aquaculture, tracing the policy trajectory from the global ban on tributyltin (TBT) under the IMO AFS Convention through the tightening of copper compound regulations under the EU Biocidal Products Regulation. The analysis drew on regulatory documents, environmental monitoring data, and industry consultation to assess how successive policy changes have constrained the range of permissible anti-fouling strategies available to aquaculture operators.
The authors demonstrated that regulation has been the primary driver of technological change in aquaculture anti-fouling, pushing the industry through three successive phases: from TBT-based paints (banned due to endocrine disruption in marine organisms) to copper-based alternatives (now facing restrictions due to sediment accumulation in enclosed farming areas) and toward non-biocidal technologies such as silicone foul-release coatings and mechanical cleaning. They argued that proactive adoption of non-toxic methods positions farms to avoid costly forced transitions when anticipated regulatory tightening takes effect.
For current regulatory developments, see EU restrictions on anti-fouling chemicals. The solutions comparison tool flags the regulatory status of each anti-fouling method, and the article on copper-free anti-fouling profiles the technologies best positioned under emerging regulations.