Sustainability and acceptable impact Water discharges from marine

fish farming

Giovanna Marino ISPRA Italian Institute for Environmental

Protection and Research, Roma, Italy

III^ Workshop in “Good practices in administrative simplification for the promotion of sustainable aquaculture”, Brussels 27 October 2016

Marine fish farming • sea use activity • introduction of alien species • escapees of farmed species • discharges of chemical and drugs • discharges of nutrients

Mediterranean and Black Sea

• Resolution GFCM/36/2012/ Regional strategy for the establishment of “Allocated Zone for Aquaculture”

• Mandate of GFCM to CAQ (Marrakech, 2012) to develop “Specific guidelines for Environmental Monitoring Programme”

• GFCM at its 38th Session held in Rome at FAO – HQ (May, 2014)

www.gfcm.org

EMP for marine cage farming

- A functional tool at the disposal of the authorities and the aquaculture industry to ensure the sustainability of the sector itself

- A record-keeping system for documenting series of information and values of environmental parameters relevant to aquaculture activities, which are used to perform periodic environmental assessment and monitoring.

Guidelines for Environmental Monitoring Programme

TOOLS

• AZA: area, polygon or specific zone, resulting from a zoning process of physical planning in which specific areas are assigned to aquaculture activities

• EQSs: value, generally defined by regulation, which specifies the maximum permissible concentration of a potentially hazardous chemical

• AZE: area of sea-bed or volume of the receiving water body in which competent authority allow the use of specific EQS for aquaculture, without irreversibly compromising the environmental services provided by the ecosystem

• Indicators of environmental changes

• Safe and critical limits

• Harmonization: to ensure equal terms of competition of aquaculture across the Mediterranean and increase the knowledge base for future development

AZE

GFCM, 38th Session, FAO HQ (May, 2014)

Allowable Zone of Effects

AZA – a complex aquaculture & environmental ecosystem

Guidelines for establishment of Allocated Zones for Aquaculture (AZA), in the Mediterranean countries.

EMP out AZE farm

EMP in

Surveillance by Authority

AZA

AZE farm

EQS

EQO

EQS

EQO EIA

Surveillance by company

AZA= Allocated Zone for Aquaculture EQS= Environmental Quality Standard EMP= Environmental Monitoring Program EQO= Environmental Quality Objective AZE= Allowable Zone of Effects

EIA

Uneaten feed Faeces strong

dispersion

mineralization Organic matter Ammonia

phosphate

SEA CURRENTS

settling

weak

Sulphide methane

anaerobic degradation

Ipoxia

incomplete mineralization

WATER

2/26

v v v v v fouling

DISCHARGES IN WATER AND SEDIMENT

SEDIMENT

D=d*V/v D: horizontal distance dispersed d: water depth V: current speed v: settling velocity of the waste (Gowen & Bradbury 1987)

d

V

v D

FAO-GFCM “Training Workshop on site selection, allocated zones for aquaculture and site management for coastal marine aquaculture (WGSC-SHoCMed)” M’Diq (Morocco) - 4-7 February 2013

FAO-GFCM “Training Workshop on site selection, allocated zones for aquaculture and site management for coastal marine aquaculture (WGSC-SHoCMed)” M’Diq (Morocco) - 4-7 February 2013

Do

min

ant sea cu

rrent

SITE SPECIFIC SURVEY DEPOSITION MODEL

AZE

Implementation and validation of waste predictive model

Brigolin et al., Environmental Aquaculture Interactions 2014

C flux anomalies (g C m-2 d-1) induced by a change in feed, the new feed with a lower sedimentation velocity

FAO-GFCM “Training Workshop on site selection, allocated zones for aquaculture and site management for coastal marine aquaculture (WGSC-SHoCMed)” M’Diq (Morocco) - 4-7 February 2013

SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE DATA ON ZONE OF EFFECTS

AREA AFFECTED IS WITHIN FEW TENS OF METERS

COUNTRY AREA OF INFLUENCEE FROM

Tasmania (Australia) 35 m

Washington State (USA) 30 m

Scotland (UK) 25 m

Croatia 15 m

Average 26.25 m

Examples of spatial impact of fish farming from AZE to the area of influence. *Sanchez-Jerez and Karakassis, 2011

LEGAL AZE ESTABLISHMENT *

EMP and experts involved 3

1 scien

tists from

20

cou

ntries

Karakassis, European Sustainable Aquaculture Project - Good Practice Workshop, Athens May 2014

Env. Variable Useful Expert

Thresh

old Safe Critical Cost EQS Inform

Total organic matter (%): 79% 22 7 4,0% 10,0% L High High

Redox potential (mV) 74% 20 10 0 -100 L High High

Dissolved oxygen (mg/L) 82% 23 13 5 4 L High High

Gas bubbles 79% 22 L Q High

Litter in Surrounding area 89% 24 L Q High

Total nitrogen (%) 68% 19 7 0.1 % 0,25% L High Mod

Total organic carbon (%L) 79% 22 9 2% 3% M High High

% of silt - clay 86% 24 6 70% 85% L Mod High

Litter 54% 15 L Q Mod

Total phosphorus (%) 61% 17 6 0,05% 0,18% L Mod Mod

Capitellid polychaetes (%) 71% 20 7 28% 50% M High Mod

Chlorophyll a (mg/L) 57% 16 3 2,4 5 L Mod Mod

Turbidity (m) 61% 17 4 5 2,25 L Mod Mod

Sulphide (%) 57% 16 L None Mod

Grain size sediment structure (μm) 71% 20 L None Mod

Total macrofaunal biomass (g/m2) 71% 20 3 10 5 M Mod Mod

Total sulphur (mg/L) 43% 12 L None L

Total carbon (%) 32% 9 L None L

Number of species 71% 20 6 10 3 H Mod Mod

Diversity (Shannon index) 71% 20 4 2,25 1,5 H Mod Mod

AMBI (AZTI Marine Biotic Index) 71% 20 6 3,3 5 H Mod Mod

Beggiatoa (CFU/L) 63% 17 diverse L Q Mod

ENVIRONMENTAL INDICATORS from Delphi exercise

mod. from Karakassis, European Sustainable Aquaculture Project - Good Practice Workshop, Athens May 2014

EMP contents and reporting system

- The most appropriate environmental data collection on a particular area, to describe the environmental conditions of water and sediment

- Data registered in logbooks (physical, chemical and biological information) collected within the monitored areas

Record-keeping system Logbook 1 (Lb1) refers to AZA

• Maps with locations of the fish farm, fish cages and monitoring stations

• Water depth (min, max, mean)

• Mean sea current speed

• Sediment grain size

• Information on the benthic community

• Information on sensitive habitats, if any

• Information on the finfish farm/farms:

cages system; cultured species, production cycle; estimated (FCR); potential maximum biomass per year; potential maximum feed quantity per year

Guidelines for establishment of Allocated Zones for Aquaculture (AZA), in the Mediterranean countries.

• Logbook 2 (Lb2) refers to monitoring activities

• Monitoring is based on a typology classification (production category (t) and the mean sea current speed).

• Annual, period of maximum biomass in cages

• Sampling stations (4 stations, 12 samplings)

- 2 control stations (1 under the cages 1 up-current located 50 m from the cages)

- 1 down-current located 25 m from the cages

- 1 down-current located 50 m from the cages

At each station, samples are collected at three layers (surface, intermediate, and deep)

Record-keeping system (2)

Guidelines for establishment of Allocated Zones for Aquaculture (AZA), in the Mediterranean countries.

WATER SEDIMENT

Temperature (°C) Macrobenthic community

Salinity (psu) Visual inspection

Turbidity (Secchi depth) Redox potential (Eh, mV)

Dissolved oxygen (% saturation; mg/l) Sulphide (µM)

Chlorophyll a (mg/l) Organic matter (LOI, %)

pH (unit) pH (unit)

Ammonium (N-NO4, µM) Total Organic Carbon (TOC, %)

Nitrite (N-NO2, µM) Total Nitrogen (µM)

Nitrate (N-NO3, µM) Total Phophorous (µM)

Phosphate (P-PO4, µM) Gas bubbles (Outgassing) (Y/N)

TSM - Total Suspended Matter (mg/l) Litter near farm

POM - Particulate Organic Matter (mg/l)

MONITORING VARIABLES

Guidelines for establishment of Allocated Zones for Aquaculture (AZA), in the Mediterranean countries.

EMP Responsibility

• Within the AZE: The farmers will be accountable for the environmental quality under the cages systems and around them, at local (AZE).

• Outside the AZE: data recording should be responsibility of the authorities in charge of granting maritime site and/or of environmental/nature protection agencies.

• Data Analysis within and outside the AZE is in charge of the same Authorities.

• Data Keeping EMP data are recorded and stored to be easily accessible for transparency and to strengthen the image of aquaculture with the society at large.

Guidelines for establishment of Allocated Zones for Aquaculture (AZA), in the Mediterranean countries.

Environmental Monitoring Plan should be simple, efficient, cost effective and based on commonly agreed environmental quality standards (EQS) and indicators of environmental change related to aquaculture. EMP should be adaptive to good practices and changes on production, and always must be economical viable for enterprises.

Guidelines for establishment of Allocated Zones for Aquaculture (AZA), in the Mediterranean countries.

• José Carlos Macias, Pablo Ávila Zaragozá, Ioannis Karakassis, Pablo Sánchez Jerez, Fabio Massa, Davide Fezzardi, Güzel Yücel Gier, Vlasta Franičević, Joseph A. Borg, Rosa María Chapela Pérez, Paolo Tomassetti, Dror L. Angel, Giovanna Marino

SHoCMed – WGSC "Developing Site Selection and Carrying Capacity Guidelines for Mediterranean aquaculture within aquaculture appropriate areas” cofunded by EU