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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]
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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

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