Acronym V4-1071
Category
Fisheries
Title Exploring the biological and ecological characteristics and seasonal dynamics of some economically important fish species in Portoroz fishing reserve 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 Irena Fonda Coordinator email info@zzrs.si
Coordinator institution
FRIS - Fisheries Research Institute of Slovenia (Slovenia)
Institutions involved
NIB - National institute of Biology (Slovenia) ,
Start year 2010 End year 2013 Funding (€) € 90,000 Website http://sicris.izum.si/search/prj.aspx?lang=eng&id=6826&opt=1 Summary "The goals of the proposed research project are: (1) To investigate the state of the fish community in the area of the Portorož fishing reserve; (2) To study the importance of the Portorož fishing reserve for the reproduction and recruitment of economically important fish species; (3) To explore migratory dynamics and the impact of water temperature and other parameters on migrations; (4) To determine the impact of aquaculture on the species composition, abundance, biomass, sexual structure, and diet of the free-living fish community in the Portorož fishing reserve; (5) To assess the influence of aquaculture on the reproduction and recruitment of economically important fish species; (6) To evaluate whether this free-living community within the reserve can serve as donor populations (''seed stock'') for target species in Slovenian marine fisheries; (7) To design and present a data collection model that could serve as a basis for implementing biological monitoring, providing more information for sustainable reserve management.
The sampling was repeated three times in each season, on one impact and one control station during the years of 2011 and 2012. Although the differences between both sampling sites were somewhat masked by the seasonal changes in the fish assemblage structure, a detailed analysis by season revealed deviations in a number of compared parameters. The control station fish assemblage seems to be closely following the natural production cycle, whereas the additional nutrient load from the fish farm enables its fish assemblage to extend the summer high production further into the autumn/winter. On that note, the more stable fish assemblage of the fish farm is also evident in the analysis of diversity, permanence and ecological category structure. The fish farm impact on the fish diet composition is most pronounced in golden grey mullet with a marked proportion of fish pellets and sediment in its diet. This study laid the foundations on which an integrated and sustainable fish monitoring programme of the Slovenian coastal seas with all its features can be developed."
Keywords
MPA;
Environmental impact;
Population dynamic;
Open sea aquaculture;
Fish;
Diets;
Wild animals;
Cage aquaculture;
Marine Region
74
Northern Adriatic (GSA 17)
1
Marine Region Map
