Site selection and carrying capacity in Mediterranean ... - FAO Sipam

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Guidelines
A preliminary study exploring each sector’s needs in a given area should be implemented.
Aquaculture must be seen as one of several activities that use the same marine ecosystem, the
development of which requires a search for new sites.
A thorough understanding of existing and potential interactions that affect the different
activities and resources in the area and how they are likely to develop over time is needed
in order to integrate aquaculture with the others. Management efforts can no longer be
carried out individually by different sectors using the same marine ecosystem. It is necessary to
encourage benefits from complementary interactions and to find ways of limiting antagonistic
ones.
The costs and benefits of all activities, including aquaculture, should be identified in order
to take into account their beneficial as well as harmful effects on other activities. It is
important from an economic point of view to be aware of the direct and/or indirect impacts that
may result from such coexistence. Integrated Coastal Zone Management is an adaptive, neverending
process.
Relevant ICZM elements in the legal framework should be identified and improved.
Traditionally, pieces of legislation may be produced for individual sectors. To integrate the
various sectors using the same marine ecosystem as aquaculture, it is necessary to give the
existing legal framework a broader outlook to allow them to coexist on a legal basis.
National experiences with such an experimental process as ICZM applied to aquaculture
site selection and site management should be shared globally. This information may be
helpful on the one hand to countries whose ICZM capabilities are just emerging and on the
other to countries which already apply ICZM yet require further information about the process.
ICZM activities should be well financed in order to uphold and allow further sustainable
development of sectors such as aquaculture. Effective coastal zone management requires
regular financing in order to support its ongoing ICZM process, the objective of which is to take
all the stakeholders into account, including the aquaculture sector.
N. The Site Selection Process
This guide provides a method for site selection, taking into account all the aspects needed to achieve
the sustainable development of Mediterranean aquaculture. Key aspects, concepts and terminology are
explained and special attention is given to the sequence of the process itself. The guide includes a
basic list of parameters to be studied and mapped as well as a practical example from southern Spain.
Principle
A clear and sequential site selection process should be put in place in order to ensure sustainable
aquaculture.
Guidelines
Site selection should depend on the aquaculture activity planned and the existing
environmental conditions. In designing a process, all limiting factors or priorities that could
interfere with the proposed objective of selecting sites for the sustainable development of
aquaculture must be taken into account.
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