Ecological Interactions – Aquaculture Operations and the Aquatic Environment
Aquaculture operators place great importance on maintaining healthy fish stocks. Advances in aquaculture research, federal and provincial regulations and programs, farming techniques, and aquatic animal health management have all contributed to reducing the risk to wild fish and marine and freshwater ecosystems from aquaculture operations.
Fish and shellfish farms can have complex interactions with the environment. To understand these interactions, scientists must examine them in the context of the ecosystem in which they occur. Interactions between wild and cultured fish or shellfish are inevitable – they can occur with small invertebrates or large predators both in the ocean and in freshwater.
Science for a sustainable aquaculture industry is a priority for Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO). Research conducted to date provides us with a level of assurance that ecological interactions can be controlled to ensure aquaculture operations work within acceptable levels.
Management Tools
There are a number of legislative, regulatory and licensing measures in place to minimize effects on the marine and freshwater environment. Aquaculture operators are also bound by industry codes of practice, both at the national and provincial level.
Fisheries Act
Canadian Environmental Assessment Act
Interim Guide to the Application of Section 35 of the Fisheries Act to Salmonid Cage Aquaculture Developments
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PDF (119 KB)
Interim Guide to Consideration of Cumulative Environmental Effects under CEAA Relative to Aquaculture Projects
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PDF (38 KB)
Interim Guide to Consideration of Effects of Environmental Change on Socio-Economic Conditions under CEAA Relative to Aquaculture Projects
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PDF (28 KB)
BC Salmon Farmer’s Association Code of Practice
New Brunswick Salmon Growers Association’s Environmental Policy and Codes of Practice
National Code on Introductions and Transfers of Aquatic Organisms
Monitoring
DFO and other federal, provincial and territorial government departments monitor aquaculture operations. This may be done by reviewing monitoring data gathered by aquaculture operators as part of the requirements of their licence, lease or other approval, or by conducting periodic on-site audits of operations. For example, DFO habitat officers routinely examine monitoring information to ensure that the farms are operating in accordance with the requirements set out during the review process, and that the mitigation measures being applied by the operator are effective in minimizing fish habitat effects.
Ongoing monitoring is usually a requirement of provincial licences or approvals. Provinces often require that aquaculture operators report on the performance of their sites by measuring certain indicators in the environment that tell regulators what kinds of environmental effects might be occurring at the site. Provincial and federal officials may also visit farm sites to evaluate firsthand how well the farm is operating. Provinces also share monitoring information with federal agencies.
DFO and provincial agencies put significant effort into the development of harmonized requirements, standards and processes for aquaculture that will improve the protection of fish and fish habitat, as well as other environmental components. This includes development of mutually agreed upon monitoring requirements, standards, and methods for assessing the effects of aquaculture operations.
Environment Canada remains responsible for regulating the deposits of deleterious substances into fish bearing waters. DFO supports Environment Canada in identifying options for regulating the deposit of deleterious substances by aquaculture operations, and in the development of industry best management practices designed to avoid deposits due to aquaculture activities.
Scientific Research
Below are links to DFO’s research studies of the effects on the marine and freshwater environment from aquaculture operations. Research is on-going and will continue to inform decisions related to matters of public policy and management of the aquaculture industry. For studies undertaken at the provincial or international level, please visit specific websites listed in the Links section on this website.
State of Knowledge Series
The State-of-Knowledge Initiative is a scientific review that 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.
Read more …
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
Near-field organic enrichment from marine finfish aquaculture
Environmental fate and effect of chemicals associated with Canadian
freshwater aquaculture
Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat (CSAS)
CSAS coordinates the peer review of scientific issues for Fisheries and Oceans Canada. CSAS works with scientists across the department to develop integrated overviews of issues in fish stock dynamics, ocean ecology and use of living aquatic resources, like aquaculture, and to identify emergent issues quickly.
Read more …
Aquaculture-Environment Interactions: Shellfish Aquaculture in the Marine Environment
Aquaculture - Environment Interactions: Scientific Advice for Finfish Cage Aquaculture in the Marine Environment
To search for additional CSAS studies that are related to ecological interactions and aquaculture operations across Canada, please visit the
CSAS search engine.
Aquaculture Collaborative Research and Development Program (ACRDP)
The ACRDP is a DFO initiative to increase the level of collaborative research and development activity between the aquaculture industry and the department, and in some instances with other funding partners.
Read more …
Ecosystem experiment to assess environmental impacts of freshwater cage
aquaculture
Effects of cage aquaculture on native (freshwater) fish populations
Environmental carrying capacity of clam culture: Evaluation of biodeposition
of macro and micro particles and their effects on the environment
Aquaculture-environment interactions: productivity and critical threshold,
coordination, dissemination and networking
Development of monitoring and assessment tools for adaptive management of
salmon aquaculture relative to sensitive marine invertebrate habitat
Aquaculture information review - An evaluation of known effects and
mitigations on fish and fish habitat in Newfoundland and Labrador
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