New EU project addresses fish farm escapes

Scandinavian research station SINTEF Fisheries and Aquaculture has been awarded a major European Union 7th Research Framework project to tackle the problem of fish escaping from farms.

The new pan-European project, Prevent Escape, aims to improve both fish farming technology and how the technology is used to better prevent fish escapes.

Escapees from sea-cage aquaculture, which include Atlantic salmon, Arctic char and halibut, are seen as a threat to the natural biodiversity in Europe's marine waters. They can have detrimental genetic and ecological effects on wild fish populations, according to scientists.

"Technical and operational failures of fish farming technology cause escapes. Cages break down in storms, wear and tear of the netting causes holes, and operational accidents lead to spills of fish," said SINTEF.

The research station added that sea-cage equipment is marketed and used across Europe. As a result, knowledge relevant to the culture of numerous species in diverse environments is required "to produce robust equipment and implement risk-adverse operations."

European fish farms produce about 1.2 million tons a year, valued at EUR 2.8 billion (USD 3.4 billion), according to the European Commission. In terms of tonnage, France, producing 258,480 metric tons, weighed in as the biggest aquaculture producer in the EU-27 bloc in 2005, followed by Spain, Italy and the United Kingdom.

A small player by world standards when compared to the more than 43 million tons of farmed seafood produced by China, the European Commission has recognized that aquaculture offers attractive development opportunities, especially in regions affected by the decline in sea fishing.

The three-year research project, which runs from April 2009 to April 2012, will involve 11 partners linking up from six countries: Norway, Greece, Spain, Malta, Scotland and Ireland.

Divided into "work packages," the project aims to address key aspects of the escape problem.

MAP Escape will assess technical and operational causes of escape incidents. PRE Escape will determine the inherent behaviors that pre-dispose certain species of fish toward a higher probability of escaping. EGG Escape will investigate the extent of escapes of fertilized eggs from sea-cages.

Finally, POST Escape will assess the extent of escapes of adult fish from sea-cages and further document the dispersal of escapees to develop and test recapture strategies.

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