Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-fbnjt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T02:46:48.235Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Mesoscale effects of aquaculture installations on benthic andepibenthic communities in four Scottish sea lochs

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 December 2010

Eleni Mente ,
Joanna C. Martin ,
Ian Tuck ,
Konstantinos A. Kormas ,
M. Begoña Santos ,
Nick Bailey  and
Graham J. Pierce
Eleni Mente*
Affiliation:
School of Biological Sciences (Zoology), University of Aberdeen, Tillydrone Av., Aberdeen, AB24 2TZ, UK School of Agricultural Sciences, Dep. Ichthyology and Aquatic Environment, Fytoko Str., GR-38446 N. Ionia Magnisias, Greece
Joanna C. Martin
Affiliation:
FRS Marine Laboratory, PO Box 101, Victoria Rd., Torry, Aberdeen AB11 9DB, Scotland, UK
Ian Tuck
Affiliation:
FRS Marine Laboratory, PO Box 101, Victoria Rd., Torry, Aberdeen AB11 9DB, Scotland, UK
Konstantinos A. Kormas
Affiliation:
School of Agricultural Sciences, Dep. Ichthyology and Aquatic Environment, Fytoko Str., GR-38446 N. Ionia Magnisias, Greece
M. Begoña Santos
Affiliation:
Instituto Español de Oceanografía, Centro Oceanográfico de Vigo, PO Box 1552, 36200 Vigo, Spain
Nick Bailey
Affiliation:
FRS Marine Laboratory, PO Box 101, Victoria Rd., Torry, Aberdeen AB11 9DB, Scotland, UK
Graham J. Pierce
Affiliation:
School of Biological Sciences (Zoology), University of Aberdeen, Tillydrone Av., Aberdeen, AB24 2TZ, UK
*
a Corresponding author:[email protected]
Get access

Abstract

The broad-scale effects of salmon farming on benthic and epibenthic macrofaunalcommunities of four Scottish sea lochs (Kishorn, Duich, Hourn and Nevis) with differentaquaculture loadings were investigated based on the first benthic surveys to be undertakenin these lochs. Significant variation in the benthic communities was identified betweenlochs, mainly related to differences in the abundance of echinoderms and polychaetes (thedominant components of the benthic communities). Variance partitioning using partialredundancy analysis suggested that approximately 9.6% of this variation could be relatedto aquaculture activity in the lochs (as expressed through “production” and previouslymodelled “impact” levels), as compared to 20.6% attributable to measured environmentalfactors. Epibenthic communities were dominated by echinoderms and arthropods and there wasno significant between-loch variation in epibenthic community composition. No significantdifferences were apparent in the benthic or epibenthic community assemblages betweensamples taken within 2000 m of a fish farm and those taken beyond this distance. Ingeneral, our results support previous studies suggesting a spatially limited impact ofsalmon culture installations on the benthos, although impacts on the aquatic food web on awide spatial scale cannot be ruled out and the link between benthic community variationand aquaculture variables identified through variance partitioning requires furtherinvestigation.

Keywords

Fish farmingEnvironmental impactBenthosCommunity structureDisturbanceSea lochs
Type
Research Article
Information
Aquatic Living Resources , Volume 23 , Issue 3 , July 2010 , pp. 267 - 276
Copyright
© EDP Sciences, IFREMER, IRD 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Références

Aronson, R. B., 1990, Onshore-offshore patterns of human fishing activity. Palaios 5, 88-93. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Black K.D., 2001, Environmental impacts of aquaculture. Sheffield Academic Press, Sheffield, UK.
Borga, A., Franco, J., Perez, V., 2000, A marine biotic index to establish the ecological quality of soft-bottom benthos within European estuarine and coastal environments. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 40, 1100-1114. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Borja, Á. Rodríguez, J.G., Black, K., Bodoy, A., Emblow, C., Fernandes, T.F., Forte, J., Karakassis, I., Muxika, I., Nickell, T.D., Papageorgiou, N., Pranovi, F., Sevastou, K., Tomassetti, P., Angel, D., 2009, Assessing the suitability of a range of benthic indices in the evaluation of environmental impact of fin and shellfish aquaculture located in sites across Europe. Aquaculture 293, 231-240. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Borja, A. Miles, A., Occhipinti-Ambrogi, A., Berg, T., 2009, Current status of macroinvertebrate methods used for assessing the quality of European marine waters: implementing the Water Framework Directive. Hydrobiologia 633, 181-196. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brigolin, D., Pastres, R., Nickell, T.D., Cromey, C.J., Aguilera, D.R., Regnier, P., 2009. Modelling the impact of aquaculture on early diagenetic processes in sea loch sediments. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 388, 63-80. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brocard, D., Legendre, P., Drapeau, P., 1992, Partialling out the spatial component of ecological variation. Ecology 73, 1045-1055. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, R.J., Gowen, R.J., McLusky, D.S., 1987, The effect of salmon farming on the benthos of a Scottish sea loch. J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol. 109, 39-51. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chareonpanich, C., Montani, S., Tsutsumi, H., Nakamura, H., 1994, Estimation of oxygen comsumption of a deposit–feeding polychaete, Capitella sp. Fish. Sci. 60, 249-251. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clarke K.R., Warwick R.M., 1994a, Changes in marine communities: an approach to statistical analysis and interpretation. National Environment Research Council, UK.
Clarke, K.R., Warwick, R.M., 1994b, Similarity-based testing for community pattern: the 2-way layout with no replication. Mar. Biol. 118, 167-176. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Connor D.W., 1989, Survey of Loch Duich, Loch Long and Loch Alsh. Nature Conservancy Council, CSD Rep. No.977 (Marine Nature Conservation Review Report MNCR/SR/010).
Connor D.W., 1991, Benthic marine ecosystems in Great Britain. A review of current knowledge. Clyde sea, West Scotland, Outer Hebrides and North West Scotland. (MNCR Coastal sectors 12 to15). Nature Conservancy Council, CSD Report. No 1175 (Marine Nature Conservation Review Report MNCR/SR/011).
D’Amours, O., Archambault, P., McKindsey, C.W., Johnson, L.E., 2008, Local enhancement of epibenthic macrofauna by aquaculture activities. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 371, 73-84. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davies I.M., Rae G., 2003, Study for research into aquaculture fish carrying capacity of GB coastal waters. FRS, Aberdeen.
Edwards A., Griffiths C., 1996, Fish farms and the physical environment in West Scotland. In: Black K.D. (ed.) Aquaculture and sea lochs. The Scottish Association for Marine Science, Oban, pp. 40-50.
Edwards A., Sharples F., 1986, Scottish sea lochs: a catalogue. Edinburgh, Scotland: Nature Conservancy Council.
Findlay, R.H., Watling, L., Mayer, L.M., 1995, Environmental impact of salmon net-pen culture on marine benthic communities in Maine: a case study. Estuaries 18, 145-179. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Giles, H., 2008, Using Bayesian networks to examine consistent trends in fish farm benthic impact studies. Aquaculture 274, 181-195. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gillibrand P.A., Gubbins M.J., Greathead C., Davies I.M., 2002, Scottish executive locational guidelines for fish farming: predicted levels of nutrient enhancement and benthic impact. Scottish Fisheries Research Report. No. 63.
Gowen, R.J., Bradbury, N.B., 1987, The ecological impact of salmonid farming in coastal waters: a review. Oceanogr. Mar. Biol. Ann. Rev. 25, 563-575. Google Scholar
Gowen R.J., Brown J.R., Bradbury N.B., McLusky D.S., 1988, Investigations into benthic enrichment, hypernutrification and eutrophication associated with mariculture in Scottish coastal waters (1984-1988). Dept. Biological Science, The University of Stirling.
Gowen R.J., Ezzi I.A., 1992, Assessment and prediction of the potential for hypernitrification and eutrophication associated with cage culture of salmonids in Scottish coastal waters. Dunstaffnage Marine Lab. Oban Scotland and NERC.
Greenstreet, S.P.R., Tuck, I.D., Grewar, G.N., Armstrong, E., Reid, D.G., Wright, P.J., 1997, An assessment of the acoustic survey technique, RoxAnn, as a means of mapping seabed habitat. ICES J. Mar. Sci. 54, 939-959. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johannessen, P., Botnen, H.,Tvedten, O., 1994, Macrobenthos: before, during and after a fish farm. Aquac. Fish. Manage. 25, 55-66. Google Scholar
Karakassis, I., Tsapakis, M., Hatziyanni, E., Papadopoulou, K.N., Plaiti, W., 2000, Impact of cage farming of fish on the seabed in three Mediterranean coastal areas. ICES J. Mar. Sci. 57, 1462-1471. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kalantzi, I., Karakassis, I., 2006, Benthic impacts of fish farming: Meta-analysis of community and geochemical data. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 52, 484-493. CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Karakassis, I., Machias, A., Pitta, P., Papadopoulou, K.N. Smith, C.J., Apostolaki, E.T., Giannoulaki, M., Koutsoubas, D., Somarakis, S., 2006, Cross-community congruence of patterns in a marine ecosystem: Do the parts reflect the whole? Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 310, 47-54. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kutti, T., Hansen, P.K., Ervik, A.,Høisæter, T., Johannessen, P., 2007, Effects of organic effluents from a salmon farm on a fjord system.II. Temporal and spatial patterns in infauna community composition. Aquaculture 262, 355-366. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lambshead, P.J.D., Platt, H.M., Shaw, K.M., 1983, The detection of differences among assemblages of marine benthic species based on an assessment of dominance and diversity. J. Nat. History 17, 859-874. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mayor, D.J., Zuur, A.F., Solan, M., Paton, G.I., Killham, K., 2010, Factors affecting benthic impacts at Scottish fish farms. Environm. Sci. Technol. 44, 2079-2084. CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mente, E., Pierce, G.J., Spencer, N., Martin, J.C., Karapanagiotidis, I.T., Santos, M.B., Wang, J., Neofitou, C., 2008, Diet of demersal fish species in relation to aquaculture development in Scottish sea lochs. Aquaculture, 277, 263-274. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Muxika, I., Borja, A.,Bonne, W., 2005, The suitability of the marine biotic index (AMBI) to new impact sources along European coasts. Ecol. Indic. 5, 19-31. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nickell, L.A., Black, K.D., Hughes, D.J., Overnell, J., Brand, T., Nickell, T.D., Breuer, E., Harvey, E.M., 2003, Bioturbation, sediment fluxes and benthic community structure around a salmon cage farm in Loch Creran, Scotland. J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol. 285-286, 221-233. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nickell, T.D., Cromey, C.J., Borja, A., Black, K.D., 2009, The benthic impacts of a large cod farm - Are there indicators for environmental sustainability? Aquaculture 295, 226-237. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pearson T.H., Black K.D., 2001, The environmental impacts of marine fish cage culture. In: Black K.D. (ed.) Environmental impacts of aquaculture. Academic Press and CRC Press, Sheffield UK, pp. 1-32.
Sanderson, J.C., Cromey, C.J., Dring, M.J., Kelly, M.S., 2008, Distribution of nutrients fro seaweed cultivation around salmon cages at farm sites in north-west Scotland. Aquaculture 278, 60-68. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
SEPA, 1998, Regulation and monitoring of marine cage fish farm farming in Scotland. A procedure manual. Version 1. Scottish Environmental monitoring Protection Agency, Stirling.
Sutherland, T.F., Levings, C.D., Petersen, S.D., Poon, P., Piercey, B., 2007, The use of meiofauna as an indicator of benthic organic enrichment associated with salmonid aquaculture. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 54, 1249-1261. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tsutsumi, H., Kikutchi, T., 1983, Benthic ecology of a small cove with seasonal oxygen depletion caused by organic pollution. Publications of the Amakusa marine Biological Lab. 7, 17-40. Google Scholar
Tuck, I.D., Hall, S.J., Robertson, M.R., Armstrong, E., Basford, D.J., 1998, Effects of physical trawling disturbance in a previously unfished sheltered Scottish sea loch. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 162, 227-242. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Warwick, R.M., Clarke, K.R., Gee, J.K., 1990, The effects of disturbance by soldier crabs, Mictyris platycheles H. Milne Edwards, on meiobenthic community structure. J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol. 135, 19-33. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wentworth, C.K., 1922, A scale of grade and class terms for classic sediments. J. Geol. 30, 377-392. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weston, D.P., 1990, Quantitative examination of macrobenthic community changes along an organic gradient. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 61, 233-244. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yokoyama, H,Abo, K., Ishihi, Y., 2006, Quantifying aquaculture-derived organic matter in the sediment in and around a coastal fish farm using stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios. Aquaculture 254, 411-425. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zuur A.F., Ieno E.N., Smith G.M., 2007, Analysing ecological data. Springer.