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

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• Environment
• Home owners
• Recreational users
• Other enterprises directly using the coast or marine body (marinas, ports, shipping, wind
farms)
• Other enterprises indirectly using the coast or marine body (urban and industrial
consumers of water, polluters, etc)
• Food and health authorities
• Scientific community
• Relevant authorities with jurisdiction over aquaculture (eg: ministries of agriculture,
natural resources and environment, local planning authorities etc.)
In defining and engaging stakeholders, it is also useful to identify the extent to which they are central
to the decision-making process. Simard (2003) uses a classification based on level of involvement
beginning with the farm enterprise and other users in its immediate proximity as the primary
stakeholders. The list of stakeholders varies from country to country. For example, in Algeria,
aquaculture producers and SCUBA divers are the primary stakeholders and several environmental
groups are secondary stakeholders. In Egypt, producers and hatcheries are the primary stakeholders,
while there are no secondary stakeholders; and, as in Algeria, the main tertiary stakeholders are
official groups and fisheries associations, universities, public organizations and conservation NGOs
(Simard, 2003)
6.2 Stakeholder interaction scales and locations
The interaction among stakeholders varies over space and time. In terms of space, the present work
considers both zones of influence of the various stakeholders, as well as geographical regions within
the Mediterranean basin.
The UK's (1994) Comprehensive Studies Task Team (CSTT) defined three zones or scales for
evaluating environmental impacts of point source discharges from fish farms. The same idea is
adapted here for assessing stakeholder interactions (CSTT 1994; Tett 2007).
• zone A – the area immediately around the farm; the main stakeholder interactions here are
those related to direct competition for space. This would include competition between
adjacent farms, and between farms and capture fisheries, shipping lanes and recreational
uses of the site.
• zone B - the scale of small water bodies, the main stakeholder interactions of concern are
those stemming from spillovers among different uses (but not necessarily direct
competition for space). Areas corresponding to zone B include those in which nutrient
enrichment stemming from fish farm effluent could lead to a reduction in water quality
that affects recreational users. Similarly, industrial pollution or accidental spills in the
same zone could have negative spillovers that impact local fish farms.
• zone C - regional scale; at this scale, effects are potentially long term and stem from
complex ecosystem processes which change ‘background’ conditions. Spillovers in zone C
include changes in wild fish stocks and capture fishery landings.
The key stakeholders will vary from zone to zone, as will the nature of the interactions. In some cases,
it is possible that interactions between identical stakeholders will be synergistic in one zone and
competitive in another. For example, in zone A, fish farms and capture fisheries may compete for
space but in zone C, capture fisheries may benefit from increased landings associated with
aquaculture (Machias et al. 2005; Dempster & Sanchez, 2008; Dempster & Kingsford, 2003 Dempster
et al. 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006). The example of the Murcia coast in Spain (elaborated below)
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