Fait partie de [OMC55]

2001 - 416 p.

Ecological effects of fish farming in the Mediterranean

Karakassis I.

The rapid increase of fish farming production in the Mediterranean during the last 15 years has caused conflict with other users of the coastal zone and raised significant public concern over environmental issues. Some environmental peculiarities of Mediterranean marine ecosystems interfere with fish farming production, with dispersal mechanisms and transformation processes of the wastes discharged. A review of the published information from the Mediterranean regarding environmental interactions with fish farming is presented. The documented impacts are relatively low in the water column despite the lack of significant tidal currents. Impacts on benthos are more easily detectable at silty sediment sites. Nevertheless, they are highly localized, not exceeding a distance of 25 m from the edge of the cages. Full recovery of the system after the cessation of fish farming has been shown to be delayed due to secondary effects resulting from the accumulated organic material on the seabed.

Mots-clés    

BENTHOS, IMPACT SUR L'ENVIRONNEMENT, PISCICULTURE, PLANCTON

Citer cet article    

Karakassis I. Ecological effects of fish farming in the Mediterranean. In : Uriarte A. (ed.), Basurco B. (ed.). Environmental impact assessment of Mediterranean aquaculture farms. Zaragoza : CIHEAM, 2001. p. 15-22. (Cahiers Options Méditerranéennes; n. 55). TECAM Seminar on Environmental Impact Assessment of Mediterranean Aquaculture Farms, 2000/01/17-21, Zaragoza (Spain). http://om.ciheam.org/om/pdf/c55/01600217.pdf