A Perspective on the Use of Performance Based Standards to Assist in Fish Habitat Management on the Seafloor Near Salmon Net Pen Operations in British Columbia

Résumé du livre

This document reviews scientific techniques & parameters for measuring changes to the marine ecosystem related to finfish aquaculture in British Columbia, focussing on salmon net-pen operations. The review is limited to seafloor habitats and draws in information from the peer reviewed literature and unpublished data as appropriate. It first provides an overview of the fish & fish habitats of the Broughton Archipelago area on the central British Columbia coast, where current research projects are focussed. It then examines: the use of performance based standards as an approach for monitoring & managing benthic ecosystems near salmon net-pen operations; the chemical surrogates & sampling methods currently used in impact assessment & monitoring to provide information about the ecological condition of the environment near finfish farms; and the recommended parameters & thresholds to indicate the occurrence of an important ecological change.