1. Creating Frameworks of Good Practice
Andrea Fabris
Italian Fish Farmers Association
Sustainable Aquaculture Workshop
6th May Athens

2. Sustainable Aquaculture Workshop
Topic for Today
Good practice examples of effective and cost-efficient transposition and implementation of the WFD and MSFD.
But what does ‘Good practice’ mean in the hierarchy of practice terminology?
‘Best practice’ - comparative benchmarked operating procedures (OPs).
‘Good practice’ - fully effective performance of documented OPs.
‘Improving practice’ - improving performance of improving documented OPs.
‘Failing practice’ - declining performance of documented OPs.
‘Poor practice’ - jokingly is said to be failing practice most readily recognised in other people’s organisations!!
Sustainable Aquaculture Workshop
6th May Athens

3. Good Practice Frameworks
Developing Good Practice frameworks for aquaculture depends on a number of interacting factors.
Clear evidence-based definition of objectives and achievable outcomes.
Well-designed, proportionate, properly transposed and enforced legislation.
Fully adopted industry codes of good practice and good practice approaches.
Professional management and a trained, skilled workforce.
Facilities designed and maintained for the farming tasks and farm locations.
Underpinning scientific understanding, and an appropriate evidence base for aquaculture and the environment.
Sustainable Aquaculture Workshop
6th May Athens

4. Challenges for Regulators
Avoiding inappropriate, inflexible, one size fits all legislation.
Avoiding difficult-to-adopt, bureaucratic transposition and regulation.
Adopting a risk based approach to regulation.
Availability of relevant public R&D and a good environmental evidence base.
Recognising that there are different ways of
looking at things.
Sustainable Aquaculture Workshop
6th May Athens

5. Current issues – examples
Unnecessary/unfair burdens that fish farmers are facing related to WFD/MSFD implementation; (administrative and economic burdens that prevent aquaculture growth/development all over Europe)
Unfair prices for the use of the freshwater (to use, it is not the pollution taxes witch is another price (ES, IT, PL)
Lack of cooperation between administration responsible for WFD implementation and administration responsible for aquaculture development - Parallel but not coherent actions are performed regarding the strategy of effective water use on one hand and aquaculture development on the other. (PL)
The fees for use of public maritime area are equivalent in terms of cost (1.60 €/m2) to designated areas for beach establishments that have obviously a different profitability (IT)
Lack of universal system of defining the value of minimum acceptable flow in the river (IT, PL)
Sustainable Aquaculture Workshop
6th May Athens

6. Sustainable Aquaculture Workshop
Current issues
Procedures and applications necessary for a new fish farm in Italy:
The administrative licence for maritime state property from the local harbour office, which is obtainable after many authorisations (for example customs office);
The municipal building commission;
Permission from the local board of health;
Permission from the provincial office for the protection of environmental resources;
Opinion of Chamber of commerce;
"nulla-osta"from the regional division of forestry;
"nulla-osta"from the Mountain Community (for the Alpine region);
Authorisation from the responsible authorities to discarghe the water;
if the new fish farm is located in areas subject to special protection laws, a "nulla-osta" is necessary from each public body entrusted with the protection of the area.
Discharge authorizations are issued by different authorities the national territory and there is no uniformity of treatment both in terms of time, that economic analysis required, with significant inequalities (IT)
Bureaucratic complications: Necessary procedures and applications for a new fish farm in Italy: (sometimes need to be consulted more offices / officers of the same administration - with quite time consuming)
Sustainable Aquaculture Workshop
6th May Athens

7. Sustainable Aquaculture Workshop
FEAP Wide Perceptions
Widespread Problems
Multiagency – multi-legislation problems .
Bureaucratic systems.
Inconsistencies in systems and costs.
Lack of parity with other users.
Poor levels of understanding of aquaculture.
Interaction/conflict with other users
Tourism
Fisheries
Navigation
Waste waters
Natura 2000 sites
Ports
Military Zones …
NIMBY syndrome
Sustainable Aquaculture Workshop
6th May Athens

8. Challenges for the Aquaculture Industry
Dealing with poorly-designed legislation and difficult-to-adopt, bureaucratic transposition and regulation.
Continually implementing new systems and new production technologies.
Constantly updating management systems and operator training.
Continually updating CoGPs to reflect fast-changing technology and regulation.
Achieving fully effective communication to relevant stakeholders.
Sustainable Aquaculture Workshop
6th May Athens

9. Legislative and Regulatory Impacts
Unintended impacts on industry can and do occur is a number of ways.
Impacts on development planning
It is difficult to get aquaculture developments approved.
It is slow and costly to get aquaculture developments approved.
Impacts on farming and business operations
Legislation and regulation becomes over-burdening on businesses.
Regulatory processes become slow and time-consuming.
Aquaculture suffers a disproportionate burden, as compared with farming, forestry and other industrial activities.
Sustainable Aquaculture Workshop
6th May Athens

10. Sustainable Aquaculture Workshop
Examples of Good Practice (Scottland)
Computer-based modelling toolbox, providing an ecosystem approach to the planning and operation of sustainable finfish and shellfish aquaculture.
Based on an ECASA project and subsequent work by industry, SAMS and SEPA.
Used by regulators and the aquaculture industry.
Depomod – particle tracking model for waste and therapeutants.
Autodepomod –consenting model for biomass and therapeutants.
Meramod – model for bass and bream
Sustainable Aquaculture Workshop
6th May Athens

11. Sustainable Aquaculture Workshop
Examples of Good Practice (FEAP perceptions)
Catchment and river basin management (UK).
Freshwater Environmental Impact Unit Charging (EIUC) (England)
Water extraction and pollution systems (Poland).
Preservation of ponds and wetlands (Italy, Portugal)
Restocking and maintain biodiversity (Italy, Poland, Hungary)
Good information published by regulatory agencies and by industry (UK, Italy, France,…)
Sustainable Aquaculture Workshop
6th May Athens

12. Subjects for Further Progress - 1
Regulatory approaches tend by their nature to be over-precautionary.
Better wildlife population data and better understanding of species management is needed, but this is challenging in regulatory terms.
This issue may increase under MSFD as the result of Priority Marine Features (PMF) being listed as conservation priorities.
Define national priorities in legislative regulation development
Provide the facts on aquaculture sustainability issues
Economic and social sustainability
Sustainable Aquaculture Workshop
6th May Athens

13. Subjects for Further Progress - 2
Find locations that enable sustainable practices
Give spatial planning legal status by linking it with licensing
Easy maintenance of existing permits
Create a level playing field across food production sectors
Consultation with stakeholders is a key factor in any successful aquaculture permitting
Ensure success through education, training and skills development across the value chain
Continued technical development of computer-based modelling toolbox
Sustainable Aquaculture Workshop
6th May Athens

14. Good examples of Good Practices in EU
Comprehensive good practice manuals, including area management systems, tailored for the different types of fish farming in EU and for the different species
Sustainable Aquaculture Workshop
6th May Athens