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

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This guide outlines the environmental impact assessment as an essential tool to be implemented before
a site is approved for aquaculture. It ensures that proper decision-making processes are in place,
supported by accurate data on the impacts of the activity, and it takes into account the socioenvironmental
acceptability of the project. It should be consistent with both sustainability criteria and
best practice.
Principle
For appropriate aquaculture site selection and installation, the environmental impact
assessment (EIA) procedures should be mandatory and implemented.
Guidelines
An environmental impact assessment should be mandatory for all projects, including
aquaculture site selection, and incorporated in legislation. The sea is an area in the public
domain and specific laws have to be implemented in order to ensure the appropriate and
sustainable use of the ecosystem, thereby promoting the sustainable development of aquaculture.
The responsibility for bearing the costs of the EIA should be discussed.
To facilitate the process of aquaculture site selection, the current environmental impact
assessment protocols, standards and models should be simplified and harmonized
throughout the Mediterranean and a regular review of the statements should be carried
out. Proper indicators for environmental quality standards (EQS) and impacts must be
developed in the Mediterranean for the various types of production (shellfish and finfish).
The environmental impact assessment should be based on the best and most appropriate
scientific knowledge, covering technical, socioeconomic and environmental aspects, as well
as on the precautionary principle. Scientific facts, assumptions and expert judgements, and
the consequences of the range of error for the assessment have to be discussed. In this context,
the precautionary principle or approach is an important element for an EIA.
The decision-making authorities must keep abreast of innovations affecting environmental
impact assessments by means of regular training, while the private sector must also be
given easy access to such information. Stakeholders are not always aware of recent
developments or reasons for changes. Therefore, regular updating is required to facilitate proper
aquaculture site selection.
Research on current issues, such as cumulative effects or mitigation measures, as well as
future topics should be promoted and developed in order to achieve the sustainable
development of aquaculture. Innovative techniques, such as those involving distance between
cages or limits on diseases, as in examples of prevention from Norway, or any activities that
take advantage of the nutrient enrichment of the environment caused by aquaculture have to be
more extensively studied and exploited.
Stronger socioeconomic compensation measures should be introduced in the
environmental impact assessment. This would allow for aquaculture projects to be more
effectively integrated into the local environment and for synergies to be observed and
developed.
R. Environmental Monitoring Programme (EMP)
This guide deals with the environmental monitoring programme (EMP), which has to be consistent
with sustainability criteria. This tool, used after the environmental impact assessment (EIA), uses
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