Tim Dempster

The impact and control of biofouling in marine aquaculture: a review.

Biofouling in marine aquaculture is a specific problem where both the target culture species and/or infrastructure are exposed to a diverse array of fouling organisms, with significant production impacts. In shellfish aquaculture the key impact is the direct fouling of stock causing physical damage, mechanical interference, biological competition and environmental modification, while infrastructure is also impacted. In contrast, the key impact in finfish aquaculture is the fouling of infrastructure which restricts water exchange, increases disease risk and causes deformation of cages and structures. Consequently, the economic costs associated with biofouling control are substantial. Conservative estimates are consistently between 5–10% of production costs (equivalent to US

Fish aggregation device (FAD) research: gaps in current knowledge and future directions for ecological studies

1.5 to 3 billion yr−1), illustrating the need for effective mitigation methods and technologies. The control of biofouling in aquaculture is achieved through the avoidance of natural recruitment, physical removal and the use of antifoulants. However, the continued rise and expansion of the aquaculture industry and the increasingly stringent legislation for biocides in food production necessitates the development of innovative antifouling strategies. These must meet environmental, societal, and economic benchmarks while effectively preventing the settlement and growth of resilient multi-species consortia of biofouling organisms.

Extensive aggregations of wild fish at coastal sea-cage fish farms

AbstractWe reviewed the literature concerning fish aggregation devices (FADs) to determine areas of relative research deficiency. Using specific searches of the Aquatic Sciences and Fisheries Abstracts (ASFA) database from 1978 to December 2003 and a classical search of the pre-1978 literature, we collected 407 references on FADs. Publications before 1980 were predominantly peer-reviewed, although non-peer reviewed literature has dominated since 1980, due to the numerous technical reports produced as FADs became more widely used in artisinal and large-scale industrial fisheries in the 1980s. Most studies of the ecology of FAD-associated fish were descriptive, with few mensurative experimental studies and even fewer manipulative experimental studies that tested specific hypotheses, due to inherent difficulties in working in the open ocean on objects that are temporary in space and time. Research on the ecology of FAD-associated fish has focused on moored FADs, despite the major FAD-based fisheries being around drifting FADs. Publications presenting information on moored FADs outnumbered papers on drifting FADs by a ratio of 3.5:1. We recommend that greater emphasis be placed by fisheries scientists and funding agencies on researching drifting FADs to provide better information for management of large-scale FAD-based industrial fisheries. Future research should focus on determining the patterns of use of drifting FADs by pelagic species, the underlying sensory processes of attraction and the ecological consequences for individual fish stocks and the wider pelagic ecosystem of the use of FADs as fisheries enhancement tools.

Excluding access to invasion hubs can contain the spread of an invasive vertebrate.

We present evidence of a largely undocumented environmental effect of coastal sea-cage fish farms on wild fish. We estimated the total abundance and biomass of wild fish aggregated in the immediate vicinity of nine fish farms in the Mediterranean Sea and one farm off the east coast of Australia. Estimates of wild fish aggregations ranged from 2000 to 86000 individuals and from 100 kg to 38.5 tons of fish per farm and were always greater than control locations. Particularly large aggregations (>30000 fish, > 12 tons) occurred at half of the farms. Aggregations were temporally stable for weeks to months and most wild fish associated with farms (88%) were of adult size. Potential effects of such large aggregations of wild fish in the immediate vicinity of fish farms include increased vulnerability to fishing and pathogen transfer between caged and wild fish. We suggest specific legislation should be enacted wherever large aggregations of wild fish occur around fish farms to enhance the positive and reduce the negative effects of association.

Proxy measures of fitness suggest coastal fish farms can act as population sources and not ecological traps for wild gadoid fish.

Many biological invasions do not occur as a gradual expansion along a continuous front, but result from the expansion of satellite populations that become established at ‘invasion hubs’. Although theoretical studies indicate that targeting control efforts at invasion hubs can effectively contain the spread of invasions, few studies have demonstrated this in practice. In arid landscapes worldwide, humans have increased the availability of surface water by creating artificial water points (AWPs) such as troughs and dams for livestock. By experimentally excluding invasive cane toads (Bufo marinus) from AWP, we show that AWP provide a resource subsidy for non-arid-adapted toads and serve as dry season refuges and thus invasion hubs for cane toads in arid Australia. Using data on the distribution of permanent water in arid Australia and the dispersal potential of toads, we predict that systematically excluding toads from AWP would reduce the area of arid Australia across which toads are predicted to disperse and colonize under average climatic conditions by 38 per cent from 2 242 000 to 1 385 000 km2. Our study shows how human modification of hydrological regimes can create a network of invasion hubs that facilitates a biological invasion, and confirms that targeted control at invasion hubs can reduce landscape connectivity to contain the spread of an invasive vertebrate.

Movements of Diadromous Fish in Large Unregulated Tropical Rivers Inferred from Geochemical Tracers

Background Ecological traps form when artificial structures are added to natural habitats and induce mismatches between habitat preferences and fitness consequences. Their existence in terrestrial systems has been documented, yet little evidence suggests they occur in marine environments. Coastal fish farms are widespread artificial structures in coastal ecosystems and are highly attractive to wild fish. Methodology/Principal Findings To investigate if coastal salmon farms act as ecological traps for wild Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) and saithe (Pollachius virens), we compared proxy measures of fitness between farm-associated fish and control fish caught distant from farms in nine locations throughout coastal Norway, the largest coastal fish farming industry in the world. Farms modified wild fish diets in both quality and quantity, thereby providing farm-associated wild fish with a strong trophic subsidy. This translated to greater somatic (saithe: 1.06–1.12 times; cod: 1.06–1.11 times) and liver condition indices (saithe: 1.4–1.8 times; cod: 2.0–2.8 times) than control fish caught distant from farms. Parasite loads of farm-associated wild fish were modified from control fish, with increased external and decreased internal parasites, however the strong effect of the trophic subsidy overrode any effects of altered loads upon condition. Conclusions and Significance Proxy measures of fitness provided no evidence that salmon farms function as ecological traps for wild fish. We suggest fish farms may act as population sources for wild fish, provided they are protected from fishing while resident at farms to allow their increased condition to manifest as greater reproductive output.

Drifting objects as habitat for pelagic juvenile fish off New South Wales, Australia

Patterns of migration and habitat use in diadromous fishes can be highly variable among individuals. Most investigations into diadromous movement patterns have been restricted to populations in regulated rivers, and little information exists for those in unregulated catchments. We quantified movements of migratory barramundi Lates calcarifer (Bloch) in two large unregulated rivers in northern Australia using both elemental (Sr/Ba) and isotope (87Sr/86Sr) ratios in aragonitic ear stones, or otoliths. Chemical life history profiles indicated significant individual variation in habitat use, particularly among chemically distinct freshwater habitats within a catchment. A global zoning algorithm was used to quantify distinct changes in chemical signatures across profiles. This algorithm identified between 2 and 6 distinct chemical habitats in individual profiles, indicating variable movement among habitats. Profiles of 87Sr/86Sr ratios were notably distinct among individuals, with highly radiogenic values recorded in some otoliths. This variation suggested that fish made full use of habitats across the entire catchment basin. Our results show that unrestricted movement among freshwater habitats is an important component of diadromous life histories for populations in unregulated systems.

Demographic and Phenotypic Effects of Human Mediated Trophic Subsidy on a Large Australian Lizard (Varanus varius): Meal Ticket or Last Supper?

The importance of drifting objects to small juvenile pelagic fish was investigated off the coast of New South Wales, Australia. Distance-related and temporal patterns in the distribution of clumps of drifting algae were investigated with 5000 m2 transects at five distances from shore (0.1, 0.5, 1, 5 and 10 km), two to three times per season for 2 years. Juvenile fish associated with drift algae were collected. Clumps of algae, predominantly Sargassum spp., were most abundant in spring, which coincided with the highest abundance of alga-associated post-flexion juvenile fish. Drift algae were also most abundant close to shore, probably due to the proximity to source and the dominant onshore winds. Fish were quickly attracted to drifting artificial objects (fish aggregation device; FADs), although the magnitude of attraction varied greatly among days. The relative abundance of small fish in open waters available to colonise FADs and differing weather conditions may explain much of this variability. More fish colonised FADs with an odour source than unscented control FADs, indicating small fish may use chemical cues to locate drifting structures. We conclude that juvenile fish actively seek drifting objects as pre-settlement habitat, which may reduce predation and enhance settlement opportunities.

Aquaculture and Coastal Space Management in Europe: An Ecological Perspective

Humans are increasingly subsidizing and altering natural food webs via changes to nutrient cycling and productivity. Where human trophic subsidies are concentrated and persistent within natural environments, their consumption could have complex consequences for wild animals through altering habitat preferences, phenotypes and fitness attributes that influence population dynamics. Human trophic subsidies conceptually create both costs and benefits for animals that receive increased calorific and altered nutritional inputs. Here, we evaluated the effects of a common terrestrial human trophic subsidies, human food refuse, on population and phenotypic (comprising morphological and physiological health indices) parameters of a large predatory lizard (∼2 m length), the lace monitor (Varanus varius), in southern Australia by comparison with individuals not receiving human trophic subsidies. At human trophic subsidies sites, lizards were significantly more abundant and their sex ratio highly male biased compared to control sites in natural forest. Human trophic subsidies recipient lizards were significantly longer, heavier and in much greater body condition. Blood parasites were significantly lower in human trophic subsidies lizards. Collectively, our results imply that human trophic subsidized sites were especially attractive to adult male lace monitors and had large phenotypic effects. However, we cannot rule out that the male-biased aggregations of large monitors at human trophic subsidized sites could lead to reductions in reproductive fitness, through mate competition and offspring survival, and through greater exposure of eggs and juveniles to predation. These possibilities could have negative population consequences. Aggregations of these large predators may also have flow on effects to surrounding food web dynamics through elevated predation levels. Given that flux of energy and nutrients into food webs is central to the regulation of populations and their communities, we advocate further studies of human trophic subsidies be undertaken to evaluate the potentially large ecological implications of this significant human environmental alteration.

Beyond hydrography: Daily ichthyoplankton variability and short term oceanographic events on the Sydney continental shelf

Coastal aquaculture is widespread in Europe and there is a need for proper coastal space management among the different users of the coastal zone. Integration of aquaculture into coastal space entails both siting installations in physical space in relation to the existing network of coastal users, such as shipping, fishing, recreational activities and other industry, and ensuring that the extent of aquaculture does not lead to widespread changes to coastal ecosystems. Where the competition for space is particularly intense, political decisions, which simultane- ously seek to minimize both environmental impacts and user conflict, may be the only mechanism to allocate space to new aquaculture installations. From an eco- logical perspective, better integration of aquaculture into European coastal space so that ecological carrying capacities are not exceeded requires knowledge-based management of the interaction of ecological impacts of aquaculture with those of other coastal users, particularly concerning nutrient loading, and modification to biodiversity and species that are important to fisheries. Geographical informa- tion systems (GIS) are proven tools for natural resource management and space planning and are suggested to be used for planning aquacultures integration into European coastal areas.