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K. Bostick
desired effect. Monitoring is especially important because BMP efficacy can vary
significantly across farms. One concern with BMP schemes is that they are typically industry developed and implemented, and thus can be seen as the industry
policing itself, especially where there are no clear monitoring measures in place.
Some BMPs are simple to implement, and they begin at the planning stages for
a farm. Proper siting is a key factor in preventing and mitigating many environmental and social impacts across aquaculture. It has been suggested that for shrimp
aquaculture, 90% of all impacts result from initial siting decisions (World Bank
et al. 2002). As important as identifying appropriate production sites is recognizing
where not to site farms. NGOs typically agree that highly sensitive ecological areas
exist where aquaculture, and other activities, should not be allowed.
Many better management practices that minimize impacts are related to the efficiency of production, and therefore are economically beneficial to producers. A
prime example of this is feeding practices. Feed conversion ratios for salmon farming have improved significantly over the last 20 years (Tacon 2005) and the same
pattern holds for many species as producers experiment and the industry matures.
On farm feed management, improved feeding techniques, and changes in feed formulations, allow producers to use less feed than they previously required to produce
species such as salmon. This corresponds with less feed going uneaten and passing
through the net-pens where it would impact the environment.
Social BMPs can have great impact and can also prove beneficial to companies
financially. Costs of security guards for a shrimp farm can be high, and in Honduras
over 25% of the costs of one farm were related to security (World Bank et al. 2002).
Improved relations with local community would reduce this cost by reducing the
need to protect against trespassing, vandalism, and theft.
BMPs are developed as producers experiment and identify better, more efficient
ways of farming. This means that BMPs are most effective when farming established species, and that as producers move into different species they will need to
develop different BMPs. For example, salmon net-pen technology is being used to
farm cod, which have different behavioral patterns than salmon. Better management practices for preventing and mitigating escapes, as well as for feeding, will be
need to be adjusted to take into account the physiological and behavioral differences between cod and salmon. Research has demonstrated that a cod is significantly more likely to escape from a net-pen than a salmon because they stay close
to the nets and have been found to chew through the nets (Esmark et al. 2005). Yet
NGOs such as WWF-Norway are concerned that adapting the technology will take
too long, especially given evidence that escaped cod from farms in Norway could
significantly impact already declining wild coastal cod stocks (Esmark et al. 2005).
As another example, vaccines for new species may not be developed until the
production of that species has proven viable and the industry is already well underway. For some species, producers are likely to use high levels of antibiotics until
vaccines and better management practices to minimize stress on the fish are developed. Identifying these types of differences and developing solutions takes time,
and NGOs are concerned that unacceptably high levels of impact will result from
production of new species before better practices and technologies are developed.
K. Bostick
desired effect. Monitoring is especially important because BMP efficacy can vary
significantly across farms. One concern with BMP schemes is that they are typically industry developed and implemented, and thus can be seen as the industry
policing itself, especially where there are no clear monitoring measures in place.
Some BMPs are simple to implement, and they begin at the planning stages for
a farm. Proper siting is a key factor in preventing and mitigating many environmental and social impacts across aquaculture. It has been suggested that for shrimp
aquaculture, 90% of all impacts result from initial siting decisions (World Bank
et al. 2002). As important as identifying appropriate production sites is recognizing
where not to site farms. NGOs typically agree that highly sensitive ecological areas
exist where aquaculture, and other activities, should not be allowed.
Many better management practices that minimize impacts are related to the efficiency of production, and therefore are economically beneficial to producers. A
prime example of this is feeding practices. Feed conversion ratios for salmon farming have improved significantly over the last 20 years (Tacon 2005) and the same
pattern holds for many species as producers experiment and the industry matures.
On farm feed management, improved feeding techniques, and changes in feed formulations, allow producers to use less feed than they previously required to produce
species such as salmon. This corresponds with less feed going uneaten and passing
through the net-pens where it would impact the environment.
Social BMPs can have great impact and can also prove beneficial to companies
financially. Costs of security guards for a shrimp farm can be high, and in Honduras
over 25% of the costs of one farm were related to security (World Bank et al. 2002).
Improved relations with local community would reduce this cost by reducing the
need to protect against trespassing, vandalism, and theft.
BMPs are developed as producers experiment and identify better, more efficient
ways of farming. This means that BMPs are most effective when farming established species, and that as producers move into different species they will need to
develop different BMPs. For example, salmon net-pen technology is being used to
farm cod, which have different behavioral patterns than salmon. Better management practices for preventing and mitigating escapes, as well as for feeding, will be
need to be adjusted to take into account the physiological and behavioral differences between cod and salmon. Research has demonstrated that a cod is significantly more likely to escape from a net-pen than a salmon because they stay close
to the nets and have been found to chew through the nets (Esmark et al. 2005). Yet
NGOs such as WWF-Norway are concerned that adapting the technology will take
too long, especially given evidence that escaped cod from farms in Norway could
significantly impact already declining wild coastal cod stocks (Esmark et al. 2005).
As another example, vaccines for new species may not be developed until the
production of that species has proven viable and the industry is already well underway. For some species, producers are likely to use high levels of antibiotics until
vaccines and better management practices to minimize stress on the fish are developed. Identifying these types of differences and developing solutions takes time,
and NGOs are concerned that unacceptably high levels of impact will result from
production of new species before better practices and technologies are developed.