The Irish Aquaculture Industry and CZM

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The Irish Aquaculture Industry and CZM

• Oisín Naughton
• Aquaculture Catchment Management Services

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Overview

• What services do the Marine Institute offer
• Aquaculture production figures
• Monitoring services to the aquaculture industry
• CZM initiatives
• Issues raised at the workshop in BMW Region

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Where are we located?

• Western fringes of Europe
• Ireland is 90 undiscovered, undeveloped and
  underwater

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What is the Marine Institute

• Aquaculture Catchment Management
• Fisheries Science
• Ocean Science Services
• Marine Environment Food Safety
• Maritime Office
• Strategic Planning Development

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Shellfish production
Finfish production
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• Total production 44,678 t
• Of which 90 Mytilus edulis
• Mytilus edulis accounted for 29.2m 72 of output

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• Salmon production from 23,300 t in 2002 to 17,700
  in 2003
• Salmon production valued at 54.2m in 2003

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• 1,593 employed in aquaculture industry in 2003
• 70 in the shellfish industry

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Monitoring carried out by Marine Institute

• Phytoplankton monitoring
• Biotoxins monitoring
• Benthic monitoring
• Fish health and Residues
• Sea Lice monitoring

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Phytoplankton Sampling

• 114 Sites Sampled
• 1,826 Phytoplankton Samples
• 29 (531) Discrete/Surface Samples
• 55 (1002) Integrated/LT Samples
• 1 (21) Plankton Net Hauls
• 15 (272) Unknown
• 13 (238) of all Samples were Rejected

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Biotoxin Program 2003
Shellfish Production
Bioassay Lab EN-Force DSP BLE DSP
Dublin MI DSP
Toxin Chemistry Lab MI Dublin MI Galway
Phytoplankton Lab MI Galway MI Bantry

Marine Institute Biotoxin Unit
Research Vessel
Marine Data Buoy Network
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Harmful Algal Blooms (HABS) Website
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Benthic monitoring

• Seafloor suitable indicator of stress
• Qualitative divers
• Quantitative Grabs, cores
• ROVs
• In situ - SPI

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Fish health monitoring

• All stocks of farmed fish moved within the
  country
• Allows for free trade within EU while providing
  protection for countries with good disease status
  
• License condition (certifying disease free stock)
• List 1 disease (exotic) ISA
• List 2 disease (some areas) VHS and IHN
• Basis for statutory monitoring
• All marine f.w. sites at least 1 / year

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Sea Lice Monitoring

• Ectoparasites
• Mechanical damage through feeding
• Salmon farms thought to act as reservoir for
  infection of wild fish
• 2 species - Lepeophtheirus salmonis and Caligus
  elongatus

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Sea Lice Monitoring

• 30 fish
• Standard and random cage
• Every year class of fish
• 14 times per year
• Permitted lice levels are lower for spring
• Due to increasing temperatures and wild smolt
  movements
• Farms in breach of levels issued with a notice to
  treat
• Statutory requirement from farms

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Single Bay Management

• Forum for info exchange between finfish producers
  in a particular bay
• Facilitated by MI
• Initiated in all finfish producing bays in the
  country
• Draws up codes of practice, covering sea lice
  treatments, waste disposal, harvesting practice,
  disease control, etc
• Draws up production plans/fallow plans for each
  site and looks at synchronous fallows where
  possible
• Synchronous sea lice treatments

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Co-ordinated Local Aquaculture Management Systems
(CLAMS)

• All producers in bay
• Codes of practice for producers
• Forum for info exchange between producers, policy
  makers, relevant stakeholders
• Detailed description of bay GIS, navigation,
  contact numbers
• Works within framework of current legislation

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Trends in Sea Lice levels
Figure 3 Mean (SE) ovigerous Lepeophtheirus
salmonis on one sea-winter salmon in May of each
year with trendline.
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Other CZM initiatives in Ireland

• Bantry Bay Charter
• EU demonstration project
• Mayo Co. Co. INTERREG IIIb Coastatlantic
• ICZM framework for Clew Bay - BMW Region, Ireland
• AquaReg CZM project
• handbook of best practice
• University College Cork CoCoNet
• Community Networking
• Coastal Fisheries Management
• To implement Local Area Committees

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Workshop with relevant stakeholders in BMW region

• Over 80 in attendance
• Representatives from industry, administration,
  local groups.
• 6 thematic areas aquaculture fisheries
  heritage culture environment community groups
  islands and tourism leisure
• Objective was to highlight issues concerns
  among stakeholders in the BMW Region

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Aquaculture thematic area

• Location of finfish farms
• Navigational hazards - responsibility of
  Commissioner of Lights
• Proliferation of finfish farms environmental
  impacts
• license applications are on an individual basis,
  no designated areas
• Independent consultant study showed no lasting
  environmental impacts from finfish farms
• Other surveys on effects of sea lice on shellfish
  spat preliminary results show no significant
  effects
• Task force Pancreas Disease vaccine/strain
  trials

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Aquaculture continued

• Sea Lice and Escapees from finfish farms
• Breaches sanctions
• Notices to treat possible license revoking
• NASCO Salmon Growers Guidelines on containment
• Local Aquaculture Policy
• Currently policy regulation from central govt.
• Need for more local influence through local
  authorities County Development Plans
• Economic value carrying capacity should be
  established for each Bay
• Impact of designation directives
• Effects of SACs on aquaculture, can license
  renewals be objected to on these grounds

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Fisheries

• Fisheries management
• Local planning required because of different
  local contexts must have legislative backing
• Nomadic fleets must comply but need to be part of
  consultative process
• Restricted access or effort limitation necessary
• Zoned restriction by gear type
• How to include fishermen in representative
  structure mandatory membership of local
  organisation as license condition?
• Public hearings publication of proposed
  regulations planning

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Fisheries (continued)

• Policing of regulations
• Could regional fisheries boards take this on to
  help with resource issues in the Dept. of Marine?
• Restocking
• Lobsters how to do it validate it?
• Native oysters not feasible due to bonamia
• Salmon habitat enhancement better option due to
  genetic issues
• Stocktake (quantity distribution) useful
  baseline for management
• Fishfarming
• Policy for the inner bay, enforcement of license
  conditions
• Keep finfish cages to the outer bay

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Fisheries (continued)

• Draft net fishing
• General positive image exploit single species
  stocks. Need greater incorporation into CZM
• Safety Support
• Different level of support for commercial
  passenger license
• Dual license can be held but time nomination
  needed. How is this determined?
• Have to come up to angling license standard.
  Grant aid of 40 available.
• Greater need for mapping of navigational hazards
• Leachate issues from local landfill effects on
  oyster beds
• Conflict between recreational commercial
  fishermen should recreational license be
  required. CAP required on recreational landings
• Marine Protected Areas
• Implications for future commercial activities

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Thank you very much

• Further information on proceedings of BMW
  Workshop available on CD
• Email
• onaughton_at_marine.ie