From paper to practice: an initial approach to implementation of the environmental monitoring plan for fish farming proposed by JACUMAR

Abstract

Summary:The Spanish National Advisory Board of Mariculture (JACUMAR) developed an initiative to unify methodologies between the regions of Spain, in which they proposed the implementation of site-specific "Environmental Monitoring Plans" (EMPs). In this study, we tested the feasibility of an EMP on a fish farm in the Mediterranean Sea. The methods and tools proposed in the EMP are highly useful for environmental monitoring of aquaculture. However, spatial heterogeneity figured prominently in a univariate analysis with environmental variables and a multivariate analysis of polychaete assemblages. This variability may be due to habitat patchiness, and may therefore be solved by an improved experimental design, e.g. by adding replications for increasing statistical power. Multivariate analysis of polychaete assemblages provided accurate information about the quality of the sediment. This information could also be improved using ecological data about key polychaete families in order to avoid misleading results. Thus, the JACUMAR EMP has proved useful in providing precise information about the ecological status of marine benthic habitats, meeting the requirements of current European Directives. However, we suggest that some modifications may be required in order to account for possible misleading thresholds for environmental quality standards, spatial heterogeneity and increasing power analyses.Keywords: aquaculture; environmental management; spatial variations; abiotic parameters; polychaete assemblages; environmental monitoring plan.Del papel a la práctica: una primera aproximación a la implementación del plan de seguimiento ambiental para acuicultura propuesto por JACUMAR Resumen: La Junta Nacional Asesora de Cultivos Marinos (JACUMAR) desarrolló una iniciativa para unificar metodologías entre las regiones de España, en la que propusieron la implementación de "Planes de Seguimiento Ambiental" (EMP) específicos de cada caso. En este estudio se ha evaluado la viabilidad del EMP en una granja de peces del Mediterráneo. Los métodos y herramientas propuestos en el EMP son de gran utilidad para el seguimiento ambiental de la acuicultura. Sin embargo, la heterogeneidad espacial ha jugado un papel destacado en los análisis uni-variante con variables ambientales y multi-variante de las comunidades de poliquetos. Esta variabilidad puede ser debida a la heterogeneidad de los hábitats y, por tanto, debe resolverse mejorando el diseño experimental, p. ej. añadiendo réplicas en el muestreo para aumentar la potencia estadística. El análisis multi-variante de las comunidades de poliquetos ha proporcionado información precisa sobre la calidad del sedimento. Esta información también podría mejorarse utilizando datos ecológicos sobre las principales familias de poliquetos, con el fin de evitar resultados que pudieran inducir a errores. Por todo lo anterior, el EMP propuesto por JA-CUMAR ha demostrado ser útil para proporcionar información precisa sobre el estado ecológico de los hábitats bentónicos marinos, cumpliendo con los requis...

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