MIMECCA project focuses on the development of environmental innovation measures to set carrying capacity protocols.

Protocols set for marine aquaculture carrying capacity

The team working on a project that aims to estimate the carrying capacity of marine aquaculture met in Madrid with agents interested in this issue, to transfer the results obtained so far and continue to move forward in this line of interest to the sector.

The initiative, which is called MIMECCA project and now is in its final phase, has been joined by CTAQUA, the University of Cádiz and the University of Alicante.

The meeting, held at the School of Engineering of Montes de Madrid, was attended by experts from the University of Alicante, the University of Cádiz, ASEMA, APROMAR-REMA and Fundación Biodiversidad.

"Knowing the carrying capacity of an aquaculture facility, that is to say, the optimum amount of fish, mollusks or crustaceans that can be grown in an estuary or in a floating nursery in the open sea, allows the sector to develop a sustainable activity, provides economic stability, favours investment by having a greater foresight capacity and facilitates reaching stable and sustainable production levels", explains María del Mar Agraso, technical director of the Andalusian Aquaculture Technology Center, CTAQUA.

Through the work developed in MIMECCA, specific protocols applicable to semi-intensive marine aquaculture have been set on land (Southern Atlantic coastline) and marine aquaculture in floating nurseries (Mediterranean coastline), addressing technical-productive, environmental and socio-economic areas. The implementation of these protocols makes it possible to reduce the impact of the activity on the environment and improve the social environment and the local economy in order to achieve long-term sustainability.

The MIMECCA team has developed two calculation protocols, one for each productive system contemplated in the project.

"These protocols are based on predictive models based on a basal production, which is multiplied by technical-productive, environmental, social and economic factors. To determine these factors, two workshops were held with experts from the research fields, the productive sector, administration and consulting, "explains Ángel Hernández, project technician at CTAQUA.

"The numerical values ​​of these factors have been obtained through a Delphi study with a panel of 20 experts nationally and internationally," he added. This study consists of a multi-cycle participatory process that favours consensus and concrete results, and is widely used in policy or environmental management areas to make complex decisions.

For the predictive aquaculture model in floating nurseries, a model was developed consisting of a basal production of 50 Tm/ha, three technical-productive factors (spatial organization, food conversion and distance between facilities), three environmental factors (distance to habitats, depth and current), one social (acceptance) and one economic (investment in R&D).

"According to the opinions transmitted by experts in a Delphi study, the technical-productive and environmental factors are those that have greater relative importance in the model; this is related to its direct impact on the rest of the factors and the amount of scientific studies on the matter, highlighting among them the distance between facilities and depth," says Ángel Hernández.

Maria del Mar Agraso Martínez from CTAQUA presented the MIMECCA project before the Aquaculture Committee of Andalusia last March. (Photo: CTAQUA)

For semi-intensive aquaculture on land, a model has been developed consisting of six factors, in addition to a basal production of 14 Tm/ha. Of these two are technical-productive ones (feed conversion and decantation area), one is an environmental one (nitrogen per hectare), two are social ones (quality of employment and acceptance) and one is an economic one (profitability of production). As in floating nurseries, the technical-productive factors have the highest multiplicative values, highlighting the feed conversion rate, the percentage of decantation area and the nitrogen contributed per hectare.

It should be noted that the baseline production has been established in accordance with the recommendations of a large panel of experts and with the data provided by administrations and the sector itself.

Organizations that participated in the project. (Photo: CTAQUA)

Despite having been valued with less relative importance in the Delphi study than the other factors, the panel of project experts and the sector have found it necessary to take into account social and economic factors, especially in the area of ​​the Southern Atlantic Coastline.

"The inclusion of this type of factor in carrying capacity models is something totally new and had not been taken into account in previous experiences in other Mediterranean countries. In this way, the necessary aspects are contributed to the model to be able to approach aquaculture planning from an ecosystem approach, as indicated by the FAO," Maria del Mar Agraso concludes.

CTAQUA considers it necessary to continue the line of work initiated in the MIMECCA project, since this type of predictive models are a valuable tool in the planning of the sector, making it possible to establish the carrying capacity for a sustainable sector, through generalist factors easily applicable by administrations and producers.

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