Effects of shellfish farming on the benthic environment

By C. Crawford, C. Macleod, Iona M. Mitchell. 2003

272 citations recorded by the source corpus.

The benthic environment under and near three shellfish farms in Tasmania, Australia, which had had a relatively high level of production over many years was investigated. Benthic samples were collected along transects which ran across the farms, generally from 100 m upstream to 100 m downstream. Sediment deposition, redox values, sediment sulphide concentrations, organic carbon content and water turbidity levels near the bottom were significantly different between the farms but not between sites outside the farm, at the boundary and sites within the farm. Video recordings at one farm showed dense coverage of fine filamentous algae and patchy bacterial mats directly under some longlines and this algae is thought to have fallen off the mussel longlines. At another farm dense beds of seagrass were observed in the videos both under trays of oysters and outside the farm. The benthic infauna did not show clear signs of organic enrichment, and neither univariate nor multivariate measures of benthic infauna were significantly different between sites inside and outside the farm, although they were different between farms. It was concluded from these results that shellfish farming is having little impact, and much less than salmon farming, on the benthic environment in Tasmania. Thus extensive monitoring of shellfish farms would appear to be not necessary.

Subfields: Global and Planetary Change, Oceanography

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/2ef70fab4650af4fbeca23330e7cdf893e1eb174

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In Oceanography

Citations in the corpus

The ecological role of bivalve shellfish aquaculture in the estuarine environment: A review with application to oyster and clam culture in West Coast (USA) estuaries (2009, background): “In some cases enrichment either does not occur or does not alter infauna (Grant et al., 1995; Chamberlain et al., 2001; Crawford et al., 2003), while in others, significant effects have been documented (Dahlback and Gunnarsson, 1981; Mattsson and Linden, 1983; Kaiser et al.”
GIS-based multi-criteria evaluation models for identifying suitable sites for Japanese scallop (Mizuhopecten yessoensis) aquaculture in Funka Bay, southwestern Hokkaido, Japan (2008, background): “Scallop culture has indicated less impact on environment (Crawford et al., 2003).”
Introduction of Non-Native Oysters: Ecosystem Effects and Restoration Implications (2005, background): “Habitat Impacts Oysters have potentially high impact when introduced into ecosystems because of their influence on habitat quantity and quality (Crooks 2002).”
Evaluation of indicators used to detect mussel farm influence on the benthos: Two case studies in the Magdalen Islands, Eastern Canada (2008, background): “Such measures have often been used to assess the effect of bivalve farming on the benthic environment (particularlyH’, e.g., Mattsson and Lindén, 1983; Grant et al., 1995; Stenton-Dozey et al., 1999; Chamberlain et al., 2001; Yokoyama, 2002; Crawford et al., 2003; Miron et al., 2005; Callier et al.,”
Small-scale spatial variability of food partitioning between cultivated oysters and associated suspension-feeding species, as revealed by stable isotopes (2007, background): “…differences between distinct coastal bay systems (Kang et al. 2003) or on relationships among large regions (e.g. freshwater marshes, river banks, salt marshes, intertidal mud flats with seagrass, mangroves) of estuarine areas (Kikuchi & Wada 1996, Deegan & Garritt 1997, Marguillier et al. 1997).”
Benthic organic enrichment from suspended mussel (Mytilus edulis) culture in Prince Edward Island, Canada (2009, background): “Sediment organic enrichment and/or alterations in benthic fauna in mussel farm areas have not always been detected (Baudinet et al., 1990; Grenz et al., 1990; Hatcher et al., 1994; Grant et al., 1995; Chamberlain et al., 2001; Crawford et al., 2003; Hartstein and Rowden, 2004; Anderson et al., 2005;”
Sedimentation rates in a suspended mussel farm (Great-Entry Lagoon, Canada): biodeposit production and dispersion (2006, background): “Although some studies have not detected biodepositrelated responses at bivalve culture sites (Crawford et al. 2003, Danovaro et al. 2004), others have shown that the accumulation of biodeposits may lead to enhanced sulphate reduction (Dahlbäck & Gunnarsson 1981), enhanced ammonium release (Hatcher…”
Influence of suspended and off-bottom mussel culture on the sea bottom and benthic habitats: a review. (2011, background): “Some studies have not detected effects related to mussel culture on infaunal communities (Crawford et al. 2003), whereas others have shown that mussel farms may modify microbial (Mirto et al. 2000), meiofaunal (Mirto et al. 2000) and/or infaunal communities (Hartstein and Rowden 2004).”