Acronym COASTACE
Category
Aquaculture
Title Artificially created ecosystems (ACEs) in coastal waters: developing methods to assess their effects on wild fish in cold-waterenvironments Programme National Programme
Instrument (FP6)
Contact Type (FP7)
Strand (Interreg)
NA
Theme (FP7)
Activity Area (FP6)
Regional Area (Interreg)
Action (COST)
NA
Specific Programme (FP7)
NA
Funding source National Coordinator Timothy Dempster Coordinator email dempster@unimelb.edu.au
Coordinator institution
SINTEF-SFH - SINTEF Fisheries and Aquaculture (Norway)
Institutions involved
NA
Start year 2006 End year 2008 Funding (€) € 253,898 Website NA Summary Artificial structures, such as marinas, harbours, sea-cage fish farms, mussel rafts and oil platforms, are widespread throughout Norway's coastal zone. Such structures may constitute 'Artificially Created Ecosystems' (ACEs) by providing substantial artificial habitat and modifying ecosystem processes in their vicinity. Sea-cage fish farms are one such example of widespread artificial structure in Norway's coastal zone and farms are increasing in both number and size. Over 1000 farms operate and release > 800 000 tons of fish food into coastal waters each year. Little is known of the effect of the artificial environment farms create on wild fish that aggregate in their immediate vicinity, principally due to a lack of appropriate techniques to census fish i n the unique 3-dimensional environment they create. We intend to adapt and test a variety of fish census techniques to suit the unique environment around sea-cage fish farms in Norwegian coastal waters, which are typically placed in deep, cold-waters with varying environmental conditions (e.g. visibility, current). Once developed, these techniques will be used to assess wild fish species diversity, abundance and biomass around 9 representative salmon farms along the Norwegian coast and 9 control locations to gauge the magnitude of aggregation at fish farms. We will also collect farm-associated wild fish and wild fish from control locations for analysis of biological parameters (size, sex, diet, condition, parasite loading) to determine the possible ecological effects of aggregation to wild fish stocks. Combined, the information from censuses and biological sampling will provide baseline data that will assist managers to devise strategies to enhance the positive and minimise the negative environmental effects of artificial structures in coastal waters.
To develop techniques suitable to describe fish aggregations around artificially created ecosystems and to verify the reliability of these techniques by gathering baseline data on the scale and ecological importance of fish aggregations at marine fish farms.
Keywords
Open sea aquaculture;
Fish biology;
Fish;
Wild animals;
Environmental impact;
Cage aquaculture;
Marine Region
13
Northern North Sea (27.IVa)
14
Skagerrak, Kattegat (27.IIIa)
41
Norwegian Sea (27.IIa)
3
Marine Region Map
