July 17th, 2009 by Steve
Fish Cages - Image Courtesy Department of Fisheries
The economic and social benefits arising from aquaculture in marine waters must be balanced against the need to limit long-term damage to the ecosystem. Sustainable development implies that negative impact on the ecosystem, the wild capture fishery and the farmed fish will be insignificant and within the carrying capacity of the ecosystem.
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.
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Tags: aquaculture industry, aquaculture models
Categories: Design and Criteria, Environmental Monitoring
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July 16th, 2009 by Fiona
One of the barriers to the development of large-scale aquaculture in Western Australia has been the legislative regime for environmental approvals. Due to the lack of any explicit direction detailing information requirements crucial for assessment purposes, applications often experience significant delays in gaining approval to commence operations or to up-scale to more commercial volumes.
The Department of Fisheries (DoF), Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC), industry representatives and licensees recognised that a duplication and overlap in the environmental assessment of aquaculture existed. This prompted a review of environmental legislation by DEC in 2005. Aquaculture activities in general are low risk and regulations are now being amended to totally preclude aquaculture activities from the requirement to be separately environmentally licensed by DEC.
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Tags: Aquaculture Management, Environmental Assessment, Legislation
Categories: Policy & Management
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July 15th, 2009 by Michelle
The Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS), undertakes research in tropical marine science.
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!
Categories: Environmental Impacts, Environmental Monitoring
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