REGULATING THE LOCAL ENVIRONMENTAL-IMPACT OF INTENSIVE MARINE FISH FARMING - I - THE CONCEPT OF THE MOM SYSTEM (MODELING ONGROWING FISH FARMS MONITORING)

The paper describes the concept of a management system called MOM (Mod elling-Ongrowing fish farms-Monitoring) which may be used to adjust th e local environmental impact of marine fish farms to the holding capac ity of the sites. The concept is based on integrating the elements of environmental impact assessment, monitoring of impact and environmenta l quality standards (EQS) into one system. The amount of monitoring is dependent on the level of the environmental impact. Two terms are int roduced: (1) the degree of exploitation, which is an expression of how much the site is being utilised, and (2) the level of monitoring, whi ch determines the amount of monitoring depending on the environmental impact. For Norwegian conditions, a monitoring programme, including EQ S, has been developed concerning the impact on the sediment under fish farms. It consists of three types of investigations of increasing ela boration and accuracy. A model, which simulates the environmental impa ct on a site given information about the farm's size and production an d the hydrodynamic conditions and topography of the site, has been dev eloped but not yet tested. The model and the monitoring programme with EQS are only briefly described, but will be published later. The MOM system should help to maintain satisfactory environmental conditions i n and around fish farms and may be a valuable tool in site selection a nd coastal zone management. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.