IMPLEMENTED ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT ANALYSIS (EFA) FOR AQUACULTURE: CONCEPTUAL MODEL DEVELOPMENT AND CASE STUDY APPLICATION

The main goal of the co-funded COFASP / ERA-net ECOAST project is to identify, develop and test new methodologies for improved spatial and temporal management of aquaculture and other activities in coastal areas. The project aims to implement methodological criteria to assess the ecological footprint of the aquaculture industry, using a holistic approach which combines ecological, ecotoxicological, chemical analyses together with the LCA method, to evaluate the real carrying capacity of aquaculture activities in an increasing competition for space in marine and coastal areas. To quantify the fluxes nutrients and chemicals as well as their impact on the ecosystem, it is necessary to integrate several parameters such as the mass balance between supplied and uneaten food in a cage, the biotic analysis the organic and inorganic sediments chemistry, and the quantification of organic compounds and nutrients computed from supplemented food and excretion products. The project was initiated by implementing an integrated ecological-chemical and ecotoxicological biomonitoring to assess both the short and long term environmental impact of aquaculture farm site within different stages of the production located in Boknafjord (South-Western Norway).