Influences of coastal zone management on the transmission and impact of Aquatic Animal pathogens

Popularisert sammendrag på norsk Som del av Coexist-prosjektet undersøker vi hvordan forvaltningsregimet kan influere på spredning av sykdommer. Popularisert sammendrag på engelsk COEXIST is a broad, multidisciplinary EU FP7 project, with 13 partners from 11 countries, tasked with evaluating competing activities and interactions in European coastal areas. Coastal zone management plans should allow different activities such as aquaculture, fisheries, wind farming, dredging and tourism to coexist harmoniously whilst conserving ecosystems and protecting natural resources. The ultimate goal of COEXIST is to provide a roadmap to better integration, sustainability and synergies across the diverse activities taking place in the European coastal zone. Aquaculture has been growing globally, and is of increasing importance in terms of secure seafood supply. However, growth is hampered by conflicts with other users of the coastal zone, especially within the EU. Communicable diseases are one of the most significant limiting factors encountered by aquaculture. In addition to their direct impact, these pathogens can be amplified with! in farms leading to significant infection pressure to wild fish stocks. Aquaculture and coastal management practices are likely to influence the interactions that occur between farmed and wild fish and therefore the transmission and impact of pathogens. As part of COEXIST, we are investigating how disease interactions particularly affect the aquaculture activities in two contrasting COEXIST Case Study regions, the Hardangerfjord region in Norway and the Ria Formosa in the Algarve region of Portugal. The research is drawing on the existing expertise of the consortium, including accessing national programme results and data where these are available (e.g. the results of Hardangerfjord Atlantic salmon sealice dispersion studies). We are also undertaking a combination of direct observations and stakeholder surveys to gauge the perceived and real importance of disease in limiting, or otherwise influencing, aquaculture activities in the Ria Formosa and Hardangerfjord regions. This will be further supported through a network modelling framework to study the influence of anthropogenic stock movements, hydrodynamic connectivity, and wild aquatic animal migrations on pathogen transmission between farmed and wild sites in these two ! regions. Outputs of the project will include a series of management recommendations to reduce the impact and spread of different pathogens in the study regions, and facilitate their control and eradication should they be introduced to a coastal zone. More generally, recommendations will be made as to how disease interaction assessments should be factored into the marine spatial planning process in Europe, particularly for aquaculture activities. Resultater Forvaltningsregimene i europeisk akvakultur er ekstremt varierende. Risikoen for spredning av sykdom hører nøye sammen med forvaltningsregimene. I coexist vil vi bruke avanserte epidemiologiske modeller (nettverksmodeller) sammen med hydrodynamiske modelelr så vel som bioekonomiske modeller for å prøve optimalisere forholdet mellom produksjon og risiko. Om prosjektet Coexist: www.coexistproject.eu Referanse