A SCIENTIFIC REVIEW
OF THE POTENTIAL ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS OF AQUACULTURE IN AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS
FOREWORD
Context
The Government of Canada is committed to ensuring the responsible and
sustainable development of the aquaculture industry in Canada. The Minister
of Fisheries and Oceans’ announcement of the $75 M Program for Sustainable
Aquaculture (PSA), in August 2000, is a clear expression of this commitment.
The objective of the PSA is to support the sustainable development of
the aquaculture sector, with a focus on enhancing public confidence in
the sector and on improving the industry’s global competitiveness. Ensuring
the sector operates under environmentally sustainable conditions is a
key federal role.
As the lead federal agency for aquaculture, Fisheries and Oceans Canada
(DFO) is committed to well-informed and scientifically-based decisions
pertaining to the aquaculture industry. DFO has an ongoing program of
scientific research to improve its knowledge of the environmental effects
of aquaculture. The department is also engaged with stakeholders, provinces
and the industry in coordinating research and fostering partnerships.
As a contribution to the Federal government’s Program for Sustainable
Aquaculture, DFO is conducting a scientific review of the potential environmental
effects of aquaculture in marine and freshwater ecosystems.
Goal and Scope
Known as the State-of-Knowledge (SOK) Initiative, this scientific review
provides the current status of scientific knowledge and recommends future
research studies. The review covers marine finfish and shellfish, and
freshwater finfish aquaculture. The review focuses primarily on scientific
knowledge relevant to Canada. Scientific knowledge on potential environmental
effects is addressed under three main themes: impacts of wastes (including
nutrient and organic matter); chemicals used by the industry (including
pesticides, drugs and antifoulants); and interactions between farmed fish
and wild species (including disease transfer, and genetic and ecological
interactions).
This review presents potential environmental effects of aquaculture
as reported in the scientific literature. The environmental effects of
aquaculture activities are site-specific and are influenced by environmental
conditions and production characteristics at each farm site. While the
review summarizes available scientific knowledge, it does not constitute
a site-specific assessment of aquaculture operations. In addition, the
review does not cover the effects of the environment on aquaculture production.
The papers target a scientific and well-informed audience, particularly
individuals and organizations involved in the management of research on
the environmental interactions of aquaculture. The papers are aimed at
supporting decision-making on research priorities, information sharing,
and interacting with various organizations on research priorities and
possible research partnerships.
Each paper was written by or under the direction of DFO scientists
and was peer-reviewed by three experts. The peer reviewers and DFO scientists
help ensure that the papers are up-to-date at the time of publication.
Recommendations on cost-effective, targeted research areas will be developed
after publication of the full series of SOK review papers.
State-of-Knowledge Series
DFO plans to publish 12 review papers as part of the SOK Initiative,
with each paper reviewing one aspect of the environmental effects of aquaculture.
This Volume contains three papers: Far-field environmental effects of
marine finfish aquaculture; Ecosystem level effects of marine bivalve
aquaculture; Chemical use in marine finfish aquaculture in Canada: a review
of current practices and possible environmental effects.
Further Information
For further information on a paper, please contact the senior author.
For further information on the SOK Initiative, please contact the following:
Environmental Science
Fisheries, Environment and Biodiversity Science
Science Sector
Fisheries and Oceans Canada
200 Kent Street
Ottawa, ON K1A 0E6
Aquaculture Science
Ocean and Aquaculture Science
Science Sector
Fisheries and Oceans Canada
200 Kent Street
Ottawa, ON K1A 0E6
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