304
While agroecosystems are subject to rather
important research regarding their health, their
resilience, and their stability (Xu and Mage
2001 ; Malézieux 2012 ), we found little research
results about the resilience of marine farming
ecosystems.
The resilience after coastal disasters has been
analyzed by Adger et al. ( 2005 ) in an approach
linking explicitly ecosystems and human societies in a social-ecological system. Perry et al.
( 2010 ) propose a social-ecological approach
which recognizes the interdependence between
biophysical and human social components. They
point the variety of drivers for changes in marine
systems, both for biophysical aspects and for
fi shing-dependent human communities and their
interactions. They demonstrate the need to
develop, notably for policies, approaches which
maintain the capacities of fi sh and fi shing communities to adapt to the impacts of globalization
and environmental changes, but they do not discuss
the resilience of the social-ecological system.
The concept of social-ecological system is
very pertinent for coastal ecosystems including
oyster farming but to our knowledge has not been
used for analyzing their resilience and adaptability. The practice of shellfi sh aquaculture viewed
as an ecological disturbance has indeed been
studied and the resilience of the ecosystem been
questioned by Dumbauld and Ruesink ( 2008 ) in
the case of Chesapeake estuaries and more widely
in the case of West Coast estuaries (USA) by
Dumbauld et al. ( 2009 ) in an extended review on
the ecological role of bivalve shellfi sh culture in
the estuarine environment, but without using the
concept of SES. The SPICOSA program uses
modelling applied to coastal SES zones including
shellfi sh farming, for research in ICZM, not centered on oyster farming nor its resilience (BalléBéganton et al. 2010 ).
The concepts developed by Perry et al. ( 2010 )
for marine systems, with strong interdependence between biophysical and human societies, could be applied to oyster farming in coastal
ecosystems. We identifi ed (cf. Table 1 ) the main
drivers for changes in the biophysical system
and the human societies and the main responses
by human communities. We can consider, as
underlined by the authors, that the human
communities’ responses to marine ecosystem
variability can ameliorate or exacerbate these
changes.
For French oyster farming, we propose a
design of socio-ecosystem (Fig. 2 ) and its evolution along time, characterized by the succession of several species in the ecosystem, the
replacement of one species being done when the
conditions for the life of the previous, or a profitable farming, are not suffi cient any more. This
SES has two main components: (1) the ecosystem, home for the farmed species, in the adequate conditions, with limits for each species
and (2) the social and technical system, in which
the main stakeholders are the farmers but also
the researchers and public authorities acting
through public policies. All contribute to
changes and adaptations. The farming itself
takes place in the intersection of the two,
through the farming system (including farming
practices) associated successively to the three
farmed species, while some important evolution
in the spat origin takes place, from natural spat
collection to hatchery-produced spat of increasing importance today. Also it must be underlined that farming practices establish the
framework of the relationships between the
farmed oysters and the ecosystem and thus play
a central role to set the conditions for the results
of the farming as an economic production. The
farming practices themselves show changes
over time. Within the period of time where each
species is farmed, it has generally been observed
that the effi ciency of farming fi rst increased and
reached a peak before decreasing.
Perry et al. ( 2010 ) insist on the importance
of different scale approaches for marine socialecological system, using mainly the example
of fi sheries. For oyster farming, while the local
“natural scale” (bay, watershed, etc.) is indispensible for management, it is also necessary
to consider wider scales for governance of
some aspects: animal health, contaminants,
and sustainability for social and economic
aspects.
C. Mariojouls and J. Prou
While agroecosystems are subject to rather
important research regarding their health, their
resilience, and their stability (Xu and Mage
2001 ; Malézieux 2012 ), we found little research
results about the resilience of marine farming
ecosystems.
The resilience after coastal disasters has been
analyzed by Adger et al. ( 2005 ) in an approach
linking explicitly ecosystems and human societies in a social-ecological system. Perry et al.
( 2010 ) propose a social-ecological approach
which recognizes the interdependence between
biophysical and human social components. They
point the variety of drivers for changes in marine
systems, both for biophysical aspects and for
fi shing-dependent human communities and their
interactions. They demonstrate the need to
develop, notably for policies, approaches which
maintain the capacities of fi sh and fi shing communities to adapt to the impacts of globalization
and environmental changes, but they do not discuss
the resilience of the social-ecological system.
The concept of social-ecological system is
very pertinent for coastal ecosystems including
oyster farming but to our knowledge has not been
used for analyzing their resilience and adaptability. The practice of shellfi sh aquaculture viewed
as an ecological disturbance has indeed been
studied and the resilience of the ecosystem been
questioned by Dumbauld and Ruesink ( 2008 ) in
the case of Chesapeake estuaries and more widely
in the case of West Coast estuaries (USA) by
Dumbauld et al. ( 2009 ) in an extended review on
the ecological role of bivalve shellfi sh culture in
the estuarine environment, but without using the
concept of SES. The SPICOSA program uses
modelling applied to coastal SES zones including
shellfi sh farming, for research in ICZM, not centered on oyster farming nor its resilience (BalléBéganton et al. 2010 ).
The concepts developed by Perry et al. ( 2010 )
for marine systems, with strong interdependence between biophysical and human societies, could be applied to oyster farming in coastal
ecosystems. We identifi ed (cf. Table 1 ) the main
drivers for changes in the biophysical system
and the human societies and the main responses
by human communities. We can consider, as
underlined by the authors, that the human
communities’ responses to marine ecosystem
variability can ameliorate or exacerbate these
changes.
For French oyster farming, we propose a
design of socio-ecosystem (Fig. 2 ) and its evolution along time, characterized by the succession of several species in the ecosystem, the
replacement of one species being done when the
conditions for the life of the previous, or a profitable farming, are not suffi cient any more. This
SES has two main components: (1) the ecosystem, home for the farmed species, in the adequate conditions, with limits for each species
and (2) the social and technical system, in which
the main stakeholders are the farmers but also
the researchers and public authorities acting
through public policies. All contribute to
changes and adaptations. The farming itself
takes place in the intersection of the two,
through the farming system (including farming
practices) associated successively to the three
farmed species, while some important evolution
in the spat origin takes place, from natural spat
collection to hatchery-produced spat of increasing importance today. Also it must be underlined that farming practices establish the
framework of the relationships between the
farmed oysters and the ecosystem and thus play
a central role to set the conditions for the results
of the farming as an economic production. The
farming practices themselves show changes
over time. Within the period of time where each
species is farmed, it has generally been observed
that the effi ciency of farming fi rst increased and
reached a peak before decreasing.
Perry et al. ( 2010 ) insist on the importance
of different scale approaches for marine socialecological system, using mainly the example
of fi sheries. For oyster farming, while the local
“natural scale” (bay, watershed, etc.) is indispensible for management, it is also necessary
to consider wider scales for governance of
some aspects: animal health, contaminants,
and sustainability for social and economic
aspects.
C. Mariojouls and J. Prou