Dr. Kenny Black - Scottish Association for Marine Science, Dunstaffnage Marine Laboratory

Wednesday 16 August 2006

Over the past 40 years, global aquaculture production has increased rapidly compared with that from capture fisheries and it is likely that parity of production will be reached before 2030. In Scotland, farmed salmon represents approximately 40% of all Scottish food exports. However, the dramatic expansion of aquaculture has raised several concerns relating to sustainable marine resource usage. These include:

• The biogeochemistry of enriched sediments
• The ecotoxicology of chemical contaminants
• The effects of escapes on wild population from current and new aquaculture species
• The transfer of diseases between (and within) farmed and wild populations
• The effects of dissolved nutrients on natural ecosystems
• The sustainability of intensive culture feed supplies
• The consequences of aquaculture development for marine spatial planning, coastal zone management, aesthetics and natural heritage
• The environment’s carrying capacity for aquaculture and the ability of aquaculture practices to meet national and international environmental regulation

In his talk, Dr Black will use examples from his own work and that of others to illustrate some of the challenges faced by marine fish farming in terms of sustainability.