Discussion of main findings. A time consuming and complicated application process was identified as an impediment to the development of LTS aquaculture in all cases and regions. Lengthy application processes may be difficult to avoid in practice, i.e. due to regulatory complexity, requirements to involve several administrative or expert agencies or uncertainties or lack of knowledge in cases involving new species or production methods. The workshops pointed to several measures considered to have a potential to improve this aspect. These include dedicated efforts to simplify the regulatory framework (Sweden, section 4.1), guidance in the form of a regulatory scout (Germany, section 3.1), guidance in the form of web resources (Norway, section 3.2), and industry networks facilitating knowledge sharing (Norway, section 3.2). For the case of IMTA in South Africa, it was proposed that more direct dialogues between the industry applicants, administrators and scientists could help to reduce the application time for licences for new species in research. Workshop participants in South Africa did not note major policy constraints for IMTA but pointed to specific deficiencies with the regulatory framework for this type of production. In turn, the overall perception from stakeholders in the workshop on IMTA in Brazil is that the Brazilian policies fail to support or help the development and adoption of IMTA. Timing of regulations is seen as a key factor, with macroalgae practitioners in Norway and Scotland being Regulatory deficiencies specific for novel LTS aquaculture systems Workshop participants expressed that the development of IMTA in South Africa and in Brazil is impeded by regulatory deficiencies specific to IMTA as a novel type of aquaculture. In the case of South Africa, mentioned deficiencies concern a lack of regulatory provision for testing and monitoring, whereas regulatory deficiencies addressed in Brazil seem to be of a more general scope. Regulatory deficiencies were also identified as a barrier for the development of offshore aquaculture, as regulatory uncertainty will be seen to involve significant investment risks. Food safety In most cases addressed, workshop participants were concerned that novel LTS aquaculture production forms may be hampered by inadequacies in food safety procedures for the respective production forms and resulting products. Food safety concerns were brought up in relation to macroalgae cultivation in Norway, concerning harmful product components (iodine, ...
