Alien species in aquaculture: considerations for responsible use

Fisheries Management and Ecology, 2014

Developed for carrying out risk assessments under the European Commission (EC) Council Regulation No 708/2007 concerning the use of alien and locally absent species in aquaculture (ASR), the European Non-native Species in Aquaculture Risk Assessment Scheme (ENSARS) is briefly summarised, and the 'Organism' module is applied to the 24 species listed in ASR's Annex IV. Four other ENSARS modules (Infectious Agent, Facility, Pathway, and Socioeconomic) were used to assess two case study species (European catfish Silurus glanis L. and red swamp crayfish Procambarus clarkii Girard). No Annex IV species was categorised as low risk, 10 as moderately low risk, 12 as medium risk, two as moderately high risk and none as high risk. The results are discussed and recommendations are made on further development of the scheme as well as the need to have multiple assessors of multidisciplinary expertise from the Member States concerned carry out the assessments using an approach similar to that carried out by EU Reference Laboratory proficiency tests.

DoF), was held from 22 to 25 September 2010. It sought to bring together a wide-ranging group of experts and important stakeholders to review aquaculture progress and the further potential of this sector, as a basis for improving the positioning of the sector and its mandate within the global community.

The fisheries sector in the course of the last three decades have been transformed from a developed country to a developing country dominance. Aquaculture, the farming of waters, though a millennia old tradition during this period has become a significant contributor to food fish production, currently accounting for nearly 50 % of global food fish consumption; in effect transforming our dependence from a hunted to a farmed supply as for all our staple food types. Aquaculture and indeed the fisheries sector as a whole is predominated in the developing countries, and accordingly the development strategies adopted by the sector are influenced by this. Aquaculture also being a newly emerged food production sector has being subjected to an increased level of public scrutiny, and one of the most contentious aspects has been its impacts on biodiversity. In this synthesis an attempt is made to assess the impacts of aquaculture on biodiversity. Instances of major impacts on biodiversity conservation arising from aquaculture, such as land use, effluent discharge, effects on wild populations, alien species among others are highlighted and critically examined. The influence of paradigm changes in development strategies and modern day market forces have begun to impact on aquaculture developments. Consequently, improvements in practices and adoption of more environmentally friendly approaches that have a decreasing negative influence on biodiversity conservation are highlighted. An attempt is also made to demonstrate direct and or indirect benefits of aquaculture, such as through being a substitute to meet human needs for food, particularly over-exploited and vulnerable fish stocks, and for other purposes (e.g. medicinal ingredients), on biodiversity conservation, often a neglected entity.

Aquaculture Research, 2016

The aim of this review is to clarify the relation between Italian aquaculture and the introduction on alien species in Italy. In Italy the most common aquatic alien species are rainbow trout and Manila clam and they represent main economic product of Italian aquaculture. Wels catfish and red clawed crayfish have been voluntarily or involuntarily introduced for aquaculture scope and they are now the most invasive alien aquatic species. Other alien naturalized species, as some salmonid species, are important economic resources in North Italy for inland professional fishery and are considered worthwhile of conservation. Thus, aquaculture is directly or indirectly responsible of the introduction of several alien species in Italy, but its effect on alien species diffusion is peculiar, as few successfully farmed species have become rapidly common. Until now conventional aquaculture has played main role in the diffusion of alien species in Italy, while ornamental aquaculture will be the main source of alien introductions in the future.

… of the Royal …, 2010

Aquaculture contributed 43 per cent of aquatic animal food for human consumption in 2007 (e.g. fish, crustaceans and molluscs, but excluding mammals, reptiles and aquatic plants) and is expected to grow further to meet the future demand. It is very diverse and, contrary to many perceptions, dominated by shellfish and herbivorous and omnivorous pond fish either entirely or partly utilizing natural productivity. The rapid growth in the production of carnivorous species such as salmon, shrimp and catfish has been driven by globalizing trade and favourable economics of larger scale intensive farming. Most aquaculture systems rely on low/uncosted environmental goods and services, so a critical issue for the future is whether these are brought into company accounts and the consequent effects this would have on production economics. Failing that, increased competition for natural resources will force governments to allocate strategically or leave the market to determine their use depending on activities that can extract the highest value. Further uncertainties include the impact of climate change, future fisheries supplies (for competition and feed supply), practical limits in terms of scale and in the economics of integration and the development and acceptability of new bio-engineering technologies.

2014