Posts Tagged ‘Environment’


Aquaculture’s future: what is the right way?

November 9th, 2008 by Andrew

Recently there has been a meeting of the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council in Mobile, Ala. The discussion has focused on some health and environmental issues of aquaculture, revealing a strong opposition between the parts.

The aquaculture fishery management plan, developed by the Gulf Council, has been judged as a “piecemeal, fragmented approach” to an industry “without proper environmental and health standards” by the Ocean Conservancy. The plan has encountered several objections, because it wouldn’t protect against pollution and fish quality, pointing only to the profit. Nick Rahall, chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources, said the council simply doesn’t have the authority to regulate offshore aquaculture.

Joe Hendrix, a Gulf Council member and owner of Sea Fish Mariculture, has tried to explain the Council’s reasons, arguing that there isn’t profit from pollution increase or massive use of medicine, because consumers would not tolerate similar choices. The debate will continue to the next meeting in January, if you want to read more about click here.


FAO Communicating Environmental Risk

November 3rd, 2008 by Andrew

The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation commissioned a Group of Experts on the Scientific Aspects of Marine Environmental Protection (GESAMP) to develop a framework for the assessment and communication of environmental risks which may be associated with coastal aquaculture. Their report was recently released and is well worth a look.

The rationale behind the report is simple – to demonstrate that a consideration of the social, economic and environmental dimensions of coastal aquaculture must be developed, presented and communicated in a way that acknowledges the extent and limits of our ability to predict the consequence of development.

The report includes six case studies that describe how the GESAMP framework has been deployed in coastal aquaculture projects around the world, involving species ranging from finfish to molluscs and shrimp. The type of effects studied includes effects on carrying capacity, phytoplankton, kelp, benthic fauna, the genome of wild fishes and salinisation of soils.

The full report is available here and .pdfs of each chapter are available here


Contra Rotating Tidal Turbine for Aquaculture

October 31st, 2008 by Andrew

The Energy Systems Research Team at the University of Strathclyde is developing a contra-rotating marine current turbine with integral power take off. Using patented new rotor technology this design enables more energy to be delivered from the flowing stream while reducing mechanical complexity.

Compared to existing turbines of similar dimensions contra-rotating rotors are more efficient, yield a higher power output, and reduce the environmental impact associated with the downstream disturbance of the seabed and aquaculture.
Some of its features which might make it attractive for the aquaculture industry are its
reduced environmental impacts, low maintenance and that there is no expensive piled seabed structure requirement.

Click here for the source of this information


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