The market features of imported non-indigenous polychaetes in Portugal and consequent ecological concerns

Abstract

The importance of the market for polychaetes dramatically increased after the discovery of their potential as food in aquaculture. In Portugal, the gathering of polychaetes solely from natural populations is not sufficient to meet market demand, both as bait for sea anglers and as a food item in aquaculture. The requests for worms to polychaete dealers by Portuguese and Spanish seafarms have increased during recent years. Due to the lack of intensive culture of these worms in Portugal and the proximity of southern Spanish farms, a large component of imported polychaetes that arrive in Portugal at Lisbon Airport go directly to Spain by road. In 2002 and 2003 a total of 12,728,379 and 16,866,839 polychaetes respectively were imported to Europe via Lisbon Airport from China and the USA. In 2003 the imports from China and the USA realised 716,180 and 291,845 US dollars respectively. Two species were reported to have been imported in these years, namely the Korean blue ragworm Perinereis aibuhitensis and the American bloodworm Glycera dibranchiata. Imports of non-indigenous species, which are traded and sold alive, may increase the risk of accidental introduction into the wild. This is of special concern as Perinereis aibuhitensis has been successfully reared in captivity within the range of environmental conditions existing in the Ria Formosa coastal lagoon. Other risks associated with introduced species are the transport of foreign pathogens and other associated non-native organisms, which may act as carriers of disease.

Effects of diet and density on growth, survival and gametogenesis of Hediste diversicolor (O.F. Müller, 1776) (Nereididae, Polychaeta)

“…As for H. diversicolor, it is known its wide use as sea angling baits in Italy (Ansaloni et al, 1986;Gambi et al, 1994), in France (Scaps, 2002) and along the Portugal coasts (Fidalgo e Costa et al, 2006). The largest individuals may reach 20 cm length, although their commercial size is around 10 cm, which corresponds to a mean fresh weigh of about 0.5 g (Gambi et al, 1994).…”

“…The massive collection of polychaete worms from natural environments for commercial purposes is considered non-sustainable for the environment, as it contributes to the potential depletion of natural resources (Gambi et al, 1994;Olive, 1999;Pires et al, 2012) as well as to morphological and ecological alterations of habitats (Anderson and Meyer, 1986;Beukema, 1995;Olive, 1999). Since the last 15 years, the supply of native polychaete worms have seemed not sufficient to meet the market demand of bites for European recreational fishing, as most living baits sold in several European countries have been imported from Eastern Asia (Fidalgo e Costa et al, 2006;Gambi et al, 1994;Olive, 1994). On the other hand, the total expenditure for the recreational fishing activity in Europe has been evaluated to exceed the significant value of € 25 billion per year (Dillon, 2004).…”

Insight into aquaculture's potential of marine annelid worms and ecological concerns: a review

“…Some of those species are mainly supplied by Korea, China, Vietnam and the USA, the major international market suppliers nowadays (Fidalgo e Costa et al . ; Arias et al . ; Sá et al .…”

“…), France (Scaps ) and along the coast of Portugal (Fidalgo e Costa et al . ; Carvalho et al . ; Sá et al .…”

“…Although economically viable, the current production cannot supply the market demand (Fidalgo e Costa et al . ; Sá et al . ).…”