Cobia in an Aquapod - Photograph Steve Page

Globally, aquaculture is growing rapidly, but production needs to exceed current growth rates if it is to meet the projected shortfall in seafood (about 38 million tonnes per year by 2030 according to the FAO).  Marine finfish can supply a major part of the projected shortfall, but to deliver, the sector will need significant additional investment.  That investment, in most countries, will only be realised if investors can see clear and equitable processes are in place for licences and other approvals to be issued and some secure tenure provided for marine sites.  To ensure sustainability, it will essential for appropriate regulatory measures to be put in place that foster development while ensuring environmental sustainability.

This website has been set up in response to the need for an interactive space to upload and share information about environmental monitoring, planning, policy, and regulation with reference to marine aquaculture development.  Hopefully, it will reduce duplication of effort when researching and designing appropriate environmental regulatory regimes for marine aquaculture and assist in implementation of best practise principles worldwide.

Fish Cages - Image Courtesy Department of Fisheries

The aquaculture industry generally acknowledges the importance of production remaining within the assimilative or environmental carrying capacity of the environment; however, the definition of carrying capacity can be difficult and often leads to conflict between the industry, regulators and non-government organisations. Consensus is often difficult because of, among other reasons, a lack of accurate information, fixed points of view and inaccurate assumptions.

In part, the problem is the difficulty of knowing what the impacts will actually be.  As a result, the legal and regulatory systems used to manage marine ecosystems have often been reactive rather than proactive and unnecessarily complicated.

The progressive globalisation of the world’s economy has resulted in an increasingly complex business environment and capital market flows. In this environment, higher levels of certainty in approvals and secure tenure will be an essential prerequisite for aquaculture if the industry is to grow and attract significant capital investment. A key element of those processes relating to environmental approvals is not a series of figures and tables that can only be understood by a trained scientist but a clear description in plain language of the facts relevant to and that will be taken into account for planning and permitting or licensing decisions. Complex models are certainly useful to predict the impacts of aquaculture; however, they are of little use unless their results are acceptable to the relevant approving agency and can expressed in terms that stakeholders understand and accept. Models that can achieve those objectives can be used as part of a management and decision support system that can provide the level certainty required by investors, industry, regulators and stakeholders.

AIMS has recently been involved in two projects relating to the environmental effects of sea cage aquaculture in tropical environments.  Project Two involved the investigation of environmental impacts from a sea cage aquaculture operation in the Hinchinbrook Channel, Queensland.  The operation is located within both a Wet Tropics World Heriatge Area and the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area – indicating that aquaculture operations and protected marine areas are not incompatible.

Dr David McKinnon led this investigation and the final report for the project is available to download from the AIMS website.  From undertaking the study, AIMS have identified a range of possible indicators that may be suitable for future environmental monitoring programs.

The overall results of the study indicate there has been no significant impact from the farm’s operation on the adjacent marine environment, despite it being in operation for over 20 years – good news for the environment and for aquaculture!

Environmental management systems are also starting to evolve for some forms of aquaculture, as well as more formal environmental management systems (EMS). EMS is a complex approach with little direct application to small- and medium-sized farms, however, EMS principles provide useful guidance for improving environmental management of aquaculture production systems.

EMS assemble management policies, programmes and practices designed to identify links between industry, urban and developmental activities, and consequent pressures on the environment. An effective EMS for aquaculture should establish indicators of changes in the environment, including land, water and aquatic resources. Policies and practices responding to the changes are implemented with continuous feedback to reduce/mitigate any environmental impacts. These indicators should make clear links between environmental impacts and aquaculture activities. The indicators should also reflect positive and negative impacts of environmental influences on aquaculture, as well as visa versa.

EMS provide a possible systematic approach to motivate aquaculture to better organize priorities and projects to identify problems and potential impacts before they occur, as well as meet environmental and business goals. This process also assists compliance with national environmental laws and regulations. A successful EMS provides the means by which aquaculture can identify causes of environmental problems and prevent them, thus saving money to repair or mitigate after the damage has been done.

This excerpt is taken from the Technical Proceedings of the Conference on Aquaculture in the Third Millennium, Bangkok, Thailand.  The full article can be viewed here.