1 Fish Farm Wastes in the Ecosystem
19
the potential to cause deterioration of reef habitats and communities. This would be
through the effects of pollution and/or nutrient enrichment, which may cause subsequent
changes in community structure [of the reef].
Some of this advice has to be taken into account when permission for fish farms or
other new developments is given by the planning departments of local government:
it would certainly prevent farms being sited over reefs, or where their particulate
wastes might accumulate on the reefs. An Environmental Statement, submitted as
required by the Environmental Impact Assessment (Fish Farming in Marine
Waters) Regulations 1999, should bring to light potential impacts of this sort. SEPA
has a role to play, both at this stage and during the operation of the farm, as it is
(Graham 2002):
a ‘relevant authority’ for European marine sites in Scotland, which are any SACs or SPAs
that extend below the mean low water mark of spring tides. SEPA must, as a relevant
authority, participate with other relevant authorities in drawing up a single management
scheme for any European marine site where any relevant authority considers that one is
necessary.
Shellfish farming is much less strictly regulated, because it is not seen as producing
a point source discharge. Instead, the industry is protected by the Shellfish Waters
Directive of 1979, and much of loch Creran has been designated as a Shellfish
Growing Water (SEPA 2004) under this Directive and the Surface Waters (Shellfish)
(Classification) (Scotland) Regulations 1997. It is thus subject to monitoring by
SEPA to ensure compliance with the standards set for metals and organohalogens
in the water column and shellfish, faecal coliform bacteria in the shellfish, and dissolved oxygen. The aim is to protect the shellfish from environmental pressures and
not to protect the rest of the ecosystem from the shellfish.
In summary, although some of the legislation discussed in this section takes
account of links between pressures and impacts, the legal emphasis has been on
polluting substances and their effects on particular commercial organisms or rare
habitats; there is little of the general concern with the state of aquatic ecosystems
that lies at the heart of the ecosystem approach, the topic of the next section.
1.9 The Ecosystem Approach
The ecosystem approach can be seen, empirically, as a strategy for joined up management of the natural world, and scientifically, as arising from a modern understanding of community ecology and the interconnected processes within ecosystems.
A web page of the UK Joint Nature Conservancy Council (JNCC 2004) provides a
summary of the empirical view.
The phrase ‘ecosystem approach’ was first coined in the early 80s, but found formal
acceptance at the Earth Summit in Rio in 1992 where it became an underpinning concept
of the Convention on Biological Diversity, and was later described as: ‘a strategy for the
integrated management of land, water and living resources that promotes conservation and
sustainable use in an equitable way.’
19
the potential to cause deterioration of reef habitats and communities. This would be
through the effects of pollution and/or nutrient enrichment, which may cause subsequent
changes in community structure [of the reef].
Some of this advice has to be taken into account when permission for fish farms or
other new developments is given by the planning departments of local government:
it would certainly prevent farms being sited over reefs, or where their particulate
wastes might accumulate on the reefs. An Environmental Statement, submitted as
required by the Environmental Impact Assessment (Fish Farming in Marine
Waters) Regulations 1999, should bring to light potential impacts of this sort. SEPA
has a role to play, both at this stage and during the operation of the farm, as it is
(Graham 2002):
a ‘relevant authority’ for European marine sites in Scotland, which are any SACs or SPAs
that extend below the mean low water mark of spring tides. SEPA must, as a relevant
authority, participate with other relevant authorities in drawing up a single management
scheme for any European marine site where any relevant authority considers that one is
necessary.
Shellfish farming is much less strictly regulated, because it is not seen as producing
a point source discharge. Instead, the industry is protected by the Shellfish Waters
Directive of 1979, and much of loch Creran has been designated as a Shellfish
Growing Water (SEPA 2004) under this Directive and the Surface Waters (Shellfish)
(Classification) (Scotland) Regulations 1997. It is thus subject to monitoring by
SEPA to ensure compliance with the standards set for metals and organohalogens
in the water column and shellfish, faecal coliform bacteria in the shellfish, and dissolved oxygen. The aim is to protect the shellfish from environmental pressures and
not to protect the rest of the ecosystem from the shellfish.
In summary, although some of the legislation discussed in this section takes
account of links between pressures and impacts, the legal emphasis has been on
polluting substances and their effects on particular commercial organisms or rare
habitats; there is little of the general concern with the state of aquatic ecosystems
that lies at the heart of the ecosystem approach, the topic of the next section.
1.9 The Ecosystem Approach
The ecosystem approach can be seen, empirically, as a strategy for joined up management of the natural world, and scientifically, as arising from a modern understanding of community ecology and the interconnected processes within ecosystems.
A web page of the UK Joint Nature Conservancy Council (JNCC 2004) provides a
summary of the empirical view.
The phrase ‘ecosystem approach’ was first coined in the early 80s, but found formal
acceptance at the Earth Summit in Rio in 1992 where it became an underpinning concept
of the Convention on Biological Diversity, and was later described as: ‘a strategy for the
integrated management of land, water and living resources that promotes conservation and
sustainable use in an equitable way.’