Acronym PREVENT ESCAPE
Category
Aquaculture
Title Assessing the causes and developing measures to prevent the escape of fish from sea-cage aquaculture Programme FP7
Instrument (FP6)
Contact Type (FP7)
Strand (Interreg)
FP7 - Small or Medium-Scale Focused Research Project
Theme (FP7)
Activity Area (FP6)
Regional Area (Interreg)
Action (COST)
KBBE – Food, Agriculture and Fisheries, and Biotechnology
Specific Programme (FP7)
Cooperation
Funding source European Coordinator Timothy Dempster Coordinator email dempster@unimelb.edu.au
Coordinator institution
SINTEF-SFH - SINTEF Fisheries and Aquaculture (Norway)
Institutions involved
MI - Marine Institute (Ireland) ,
NA - National Research Council - Institute of Marine Engineering (Italy) ,
NINA - Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (Norway) ,
NOFIMA - Norwegian Institute of Food, Fisheries and Aquaculture Research (Norway) ,
SAMS - Scottish Association for Marine Science (United Kingdom) ,
Tecnalia - Tecnalia Technological Corporation AIE (Spain) ,
UA - University of Alicante (Spain) ,
UoC - University of Crete (Greece) ,
ULPGC - University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (Spain) ,
UM - University of Malta (Malta) ,
Start year 2009 End year 2012 Funding (€) € 3,868,871 Website https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/226885 Summary The escape of fish from sea-cage aquaculture is perceived as a serious threat to natural biodiversity in Europe's marine waters. Escaped fish may cause undesirable genetic effects in native populations through interbreeding, and ecological effects through predation, competition and the transfer of diseases to wild fish. Technical and operational failures of fish farming technology cause escapes. Cages break down in storms, wear and tear of the netting causes holes, and operational accidents lead to spills of fish. Sea-cage equipment is marketed and used across Europe, thus knowledge relevant to the culture of numerous species in diverse environments is required to produce robust equipment and implement risk adverse operations. The Prevent Escape project will conduct and integrate biological and technological research on a pan-European scale to improve recommendations and guidelines for aquaculture technologies and operational strategies that reduce escape events. Through research focused on sea-cages and their immediate surrounds, we will assess technical and operational causes of escape incidents, assess the extent of escapes of reproductive gametes and fish, determine the inherent behaviours that pre-dispose certain species of fish towards a higher probability of escaping, and document the dispersal of escapees to develop and test recapture strategies. Information from these components of the project will feed into research specifically aimed at benchmarking the performance of equipment under farming conditions and thereby improving operations and equipment production, and advancing national and international standards for the design, construction and use of aquaculture equipment. These key pieces of information, when added to existing knowledge, will allow determination of practical, implementable measures to prevent escapes and mitigate the effects of escapees. If prevention and mitigation are more successful, genetic and ecological impacts should diminish.
(1) Assessing the extent, the most significant technical and operational causes, and the cost of escapes of fish from sea-cage fish farms throughout Europe (MAP Escape WP); (2) Determining the inherent biological motivations for 'escape willingness' of a variety of species in aquaculture (PRE Escape WP); (3) Assessing measures to rapidly identify escapees in natural populations (POST Escape WP); (4) Mitigating escapes through assessing the effectiveness of recapture methods (POST Escape WP); (5) Assessing the extent and ecological importance of escape through spawning in sea-cages and developing possible mitigation actions (EGG Escape WP); (6) Preventing escapes through research to underpin technological and operational improvements for sea-cage farming and recapture technologies (PREVENT Escape WP).
Keywords
Escapes;
Engineering;
Open sea aquaculture;
Fish;
Cage aquaculture;
Guidelines;
Marine Region
2
Canarias and Madeira Islands (34.1.2)
53
Northern Spain (GSA 6)
41
Norwegian Sea (27.IIa)
57
Southern Alboran Sea (GSA 3)
54
Balearic Island (GSA 5)
56
Alboran Island (GSA 2)
61
Eastern Ionian Sea (GSA 20)
52
Northern Alboran Sea (GSA 1)
70
Malta Island (GSA 15)
66
Cyprus Island (GSA 25)
50
Sardinia (east) (GSA 11.2)
58
Southern Ionian Sea (GSA 21)
45
Southern Adriatic Sea (GSA 18)
74
Northern Adriatic (GSA 17)
48
South Tyrrhenian Sea (GSA 10)
64
Crete Island (GSA 23)
47
Ligurian and North Tyrrhenian Sea (GSA 9)
49
Gulf of Lions (GSA 7)
51
Sardinia (west) (GSA 11.1)
62
Aegean Sea (GSA 22)
71
South of Sicily (GSA 16)
46
Corsica Island (GSA 8)
60
Western Ionian Sea (GSA 19)
23
Marine Region Map
