Site selection and carrying capacity in Mediterranean marine aquaculture : key issues (WGSC-SHoCMed)

Abstract

This document is a draft version of the report for the first year of the SHoCMed Project “Developing site selection and carrying capacity guidelines for Mediterranean aquaculture within aquaculture appropriate areas”, which is funded by the EU’s DG Mare, and implemented within the GFCM CAQ Working Group on Site Selection and Carrying Capacity. The report has two components: the first, covered by Chapter 1, deals with the SHoCMed Project rationale and outlines the activities carried out during the first year. Various experts have contributed to and/or attended the various meetings held as part of the SHoCMed Project. A list of participants of the meetings is presented in Appendix 1. The second component of the present report, covered by Chapters 2 - 8, comprises a series of reviews by Mediterranean experts that are aimed at providing a regional inventory of information and a source of reference which are useful for participants of the SHoCMed Project and for professionals involved in aquaculture in general. Chapter 2 covers various aspects of interactions between aquaculture and the environment, and also includes a list of international initiatives and projects on aquacultureenvironment topics, and site selection and carrying capacity issues, and a bibliographical list (as an appendix) of published works that are relevant to the theme. Chapter 3 comprises a review of aspects of environmental monitoring of aquaculture activities and includes a guide on useful variables and parameters that can be used to monitor aquaculture activities. Chapter 4 covers thresholds for environmental change that may be applied in monitoring of aquaculture activities. Various aspects of environmental criteria and other important considerations, including bottlenecks, in relation to site selection for aquaculture, are reviewed in Chapter 5. Aspects of interactions between aquaculture and other uses of the coastal zone, and economic bottlenecks are respectively covered in Chapters 6 and 7. Finally, Chapter 7 comprises a review of procedures for site selection, regulatory schemes and EIA procedures that are used in the various Mediterranean countries. This last chapter also presents the results of surveys, carried out as part of the SHoCMed project, that were aimed at establishing the guidelines, laws and other relevant procedures (including the EIA) and administrative procedures that are used by various countries in the Mediterranean.