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An initial review of developments, implications and practical responses from industry and Seafish.

This summary report concerns UK seafood supply chains reliant on domestic and international aquaculture production. It sets out major impacts from key climate change drivers and major areas of adaptation action, from production to processing.

Shell waste is a major financial and operational burden on the shellfish industry. Although there are, in theory, many uses for shell, there is no singular solution to treat or utilise these materials as by-products and little infrastructure to take shell across the UK. Where infrastructure exists, it is often disjointed or only works on a localised level. Seafood processors are often unaware of potential opportunities. Most processors rely on disposal outlets which can cost up to £150 per tonne of waste making it a very costly problem. This study has undertaken an assessment of the availability of suitable shellfish waste for aggregate applications. In summary, ~43,000t of shell aggregates could be available from the current production of cockle, crab, mussel, oyster, whelk, queen and king scallops. An assessment has been made regarding the availability of these different shell types, market opportunities, technologies to treat the shell and costs.

Part of the Seafood 2040 aquaculture strategy for England - this full report includes a review of the English aquaculture landscape and current barriers to growth, along with the rationale and methodology behind the strategy.

The report summarised here has been commissioned by the Sea Fish Industry Authority (SEAFISH) with the aim of determining the potential impact of fisheries on EMS interest features and site integrity in relation to their conservation objectives.

The benefits of sustainable fisheries and the need to mitigate the environmental impacts of fishing and aquaculture are increasingly in the public consciousness. Poorly implemented, government run, command and control management schemes have often failed to curb fishing effort, prevent overfishing and avoid environmental degradation. Alternative, market based approaches have shown promise and, among these, enabling informed consumer choice in seafood purchasing can generate strong motivation for improved catching and culture practices.

The potential impact of wild Pacific oysters on local biodiversity is being raised as an issue that has to be considered in environmental assessments of both new farms and changes to practices by existing farms where they occur in wildlife protected areas. A FIFG-funded project has been carried out by Seafish which focuses on Pacific oyster cultivation in and around European Marine Sites. Working closely with industry and statutory nature conservation agencies, relevant background information was collated (Development of a Pacific oyster aquaculture protocol for the UK - Technical Reportand a protocol proposed (Development of a Pacific oyster aquaculture protocol for the UK - Protocol template. Where there could be an impact on protected wildlife and/or marine habitats, husbandry and management techniques have been proposed to mitigate or eliminate any potential impacts. The project complements the ‘Memorandum of Understanding for Appropriate Assessments in European Marine Sites’ that was agreed between the SAGB and Natural England.

Shellfish waste currently has few, if any readily available recycling outlets. Application of the waste to agricultural land as an organic manure has been identified as the lowest cost disposal route available to the majority of the seafood industry. An in-depth review of landspreading shellfish waste was carried out in 2006 to identify the possible benefits of using shellfish on land. This included an in-depth literature review, contacting people with experience of using shellfish waste on land, analysing some shellfish samples to assess their composition etc. The study found that shellfish could have benefit in land application for agricultural purposes and that it remained a viable outlet for shellfish waste providing compliance with legal constraints such as animal by-product legislation and waste management licensing is demonstrated. This report provides an overview of the information collected, including summarising shellfish properties and beneficial properties to land. It also provides an overview of how permission for the land application of shellfish by-products can be obtained.

South West Abalone Growers Association (SWAGA) aims to promote the sustainable development of abalone culture in the South West of the UK. In 2003 SWAGA undertook a FIFG Networking Project (FitzGerald 2003) to establish the limitations to the development of the industry of which legislative barriers were a significant feature.This legislative review has been produced as a guidance document for potential operators. Although it signposts the major legislative issues it is not exhaustive and prospective operators will need to establish site specific issues and requirements. It is also notable that there is considerable movement at present in a number of legislative areas and that any opinions provided in this report will be subject to change as interpretations evolve and regulations are updated.

The report presents the outcome of a feasibility study, supported by Seafsh, for developing an aquaculture and fsheries research and development centre at a laboratory facility in Brixham. (formerly AstraZeneca’s, but transferred to Plymouth University two years ago). The proposed concept was a full-service operation that could support the UK seafood industry - including fsheries and aquaculture supply chains - with market-led research, development and analytics capabilities.

This document provides supporting information for an assessment of the ecological effects of commercial fishing in waters off Southwest England (ICES Divisions VII e,f,g & h).

This report focuses on high temperature composting and follows a range of mixes of sea-food waste with household ‘green waste’ (i.e. grass clippings, hedge trimmings and garden vegetable residues), through the composting process as replicated treatments and concludes with bioassay and plant growing trials on the resultant composted material.