[...]... such as copper pyrithione, are synthetic The second underlining, referring to the status of aquatic ecosystems, highlights the ecosystem approach In fact, the WFD implements the approach in two main ways: through the management of river basins (and their coastal waters) as a whole, including the joint consideration of point and diffuse sources of nutrients; and through the ecological component of quality... scientifically, as arising from a modern understanding of community ecology and the interconnected processes within ecosystems A web page of the UK Joint Nature Conservancy Council (JNCC 2004) provides a summary of the empirical view The phrase ecosystem approach’ was first coined in the early 80s, but found formal acceptance at the Earth Summit in Rio in 1992 where it became an underpinning concept of the Convention... to take account of the dynamic interconnections, but they are not valuable in themselves Second, it is quite evidently not beyond human abilities to manipulate ecosystem processes The matter at issue is, of course, to manage ecosystems wisely – at least in our own interests, but also, I believe, in the interests of all the creatures within them, and perhaps also in the interests of ecosystems as “emergent... nutrients amongst the biota and between them and their surroundings; the effects of the serpulid reefs in stabilizing the seabed in Creran; the transport of animal as well as micro-algal plankton by currents; the addition of oxygen by algal photosynthesis and air–sea exchange, and its consumption by the respiration of all the animals and bacteria living in the waters of the loch or on or 6 P Tett in its seabed... scale; it includes the part of the seabed that receives organic waste sinking from a farm and the part of the water column in which wastes and pollutants remain for a few hours In tidally active waters, this water column zone is shown as A+ Zone B is the water body scale, and is exemplified by the main basin of loch Creran Zone C is the regional scale 1 Fish Farm Wastes in the Ecosystem 15 discharging waste... damage (e.g installation of mooring blocks and continued scouring by riser chains) and changes in community structure caused by smothering from pseudo-faeces (undigested waste products) and debris (including dead shells) falling from the farm There is also potential for accidental introduction of new non-native species and increasing the spread within the UK of existing non-native plants and animals…... of materials between the living and nonliving parts… Formally, the nonliving substances form the environment and the living organisms form the (biotic) community; but a ecosystem is not simply environment plus community but also the interactions between and amongst them; it is both structure and function – the food web and how it works Thus, the interactions in loch Creran include the biogeochemical... ecosystem 4 P Tett 1.3 The Ecosystem in Loch Creran The west coast of Scotland is cleft in many places with long arms of the sea Called loch in Scots Gaelic (with the final ch a soft sound made in the back of the mouth), most are technically fjords: river valleys internally deepened by glaciers during the Ice Age and then flooded with salt water as the level of the ocean rose when the main ice sheets melted... by the photosynthetic release of oxygen, whereas growth on preformed organic matter consumes oxygen Of course, the first may lead to the second, recycling the nutrient elements nitrogen and phosphorus back into their mineral forms, and consuming the oxygen released during photosynthesis The problems associated with eutrophication typically come about when the coupling 1 Fish Farm Wastes in the Ecosystem. .. implemented in order to improve the quality status, and monitoring programmes put in place to check on this The WFD is also an integrating framework, bringing together provisions from earlier directives, including the UWWTD and the Habitats Directive Any special requirements of these directives are dealt with by the concept of Protected Areas within which additional management might be 1 Fish Farm Wastes in the . expectations. Compensating for stagnant wild capture fisheries and the increasing demand for marine products, marine aquaculture is one of the fastest growing industries in. contributor to the national economy, the monitoring of environmental impacts of the industry has been developed since the beginning of the industry 30 years