Marine aquaculture of bivalve molluscs is an important economic activity in Santa Catarina State, Brazil, with more than 5000 persons directly and indirectly involved and an annual revenue of US$ 18 million in 2013. In the first decade of this activity, a lack of proper regulation imposed multiple obstacles to the sustainable management of local shellfish farming. The occupation of marine space occurred in a disorderly manner, and the unplanned development led to unfavourable conditions that threatened the sustainability of the industry. This study describes how better planning and management tools have improved governance of marine aquaculture in Santa Catarina State. The process included development of a legal framework for aquaculture planning, elaboration of local development plans with a participatory and multidisciplinary approach, development of a geographic information system to identify favourable areas and creation of a Webbased aquaculture management system. The combined application of these actions, along with continuing extension services, is expected to contribute to the regulation of 837 shellfish farming areas, the expansion of farming activity, the mitigation of the environmental and visual impacts caused by coastal aquaculture and an increase in the public health of shellfish consumers. In this manuscript, we report an example of how the application of better planning and management of the aquaculture sector can prepare the industry for a sustainable growing cycle.
Thermotolerant coliform (TC) loadings were quantified for 49 catchments draining into the North and South Bays of Santa Catarina (SC, southeastern Brazil), an area known for its tourism and aquaculture. TC loadings were calculated based on flow measurements taken in 26 rivers. TC concentrations ere quantified based on surface water samples collected at 49 catchment outlets in 2012 and 2013. Median TC loads ranged from 3.7 × 10 to 6.8 × 10 MPN s. TC loadings in the catchments increased in proportion to increases in resident human population, population density and percentage of urbanised area. Catchments with more than 60% of area covered by wastewater collection and treatment systems had higher TC loads per person than catchments with less than 25%. Based on the study catchments, these results indicate that current sewerage infrastructure is ineffective in reducing contamination of faecal origin to surface waters. These findings have important implications for the management of microbiological health hazards in bathing, recreational and shellfish aquaculture waters in the North and South Bays of Santa Catarina Island.
This study presents a review of the microbiological standards and associated monitoring practices for classification of commercial shellfish production areas in force in Brazil, European Union and United States of America. The classification systems are not immediately comparable principally because some regulations are based on the monitoring of water and others of shellfish flesh. To create a common baseline to compare these regulations, regression models were developed based on monitoring data and used to correlate levels of faecal indicator bacteria in water and in shellfish. The classification system used in the European Union was found to provide the highest level of shellfish safety for classification categories that do not require post‐harvest treatments prior to marketing, while the United States system provides higher level of shellfish safety for classification categories that require these treatments. The Brazilian legislation prescribes depuration as the post‐harvest treatment for shellfish with much higher levels of coliforms than the United States and European Union systems. Evidence was found that the microbiological limits for sea water set out in the Brazilian Resolution 357 – CONAMA are more stringent than the regulations used in the European Union and United States. The results also suggest that the Brazilian Shellfish Sanitation Programme and the European Union legislation are the least stringent concerning maximum faecal contamination tolerated. This assessment provides information on margins of safety for shellfish products traded internationally.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.