Aquaculture is the farming or culturing of aquatic organisms (fish, molluscs, crustaceans, plants). More than 99% of economic aquaculture activity in the UK is related to fish and shellfish although there is increasing culture of seaweed and marine worms for bait.

The majority (99%) of existing marine-based fin-fish aquaculture activity is located in Scotland although it is increasing in areas of Wales and England. Shellfish production is more evenly spread throughout the UK (Table 5.1). In 2007, the turnover from aquaculture was £350 million providing a GVA of £193 million. In addition, processing of fish from aquaculture provided an estimated £105 million GVA in 2007. Aquaculture revenue within the UK increased by 132% between 2000 and 2006. Development of the industry is closely tied in with changes in wild fisheries, the availability of investment, site availability and environmental carrying capacity.

Fish farm

© SSPO

The main environmental issues relate to: the sustainability of fish feed; the presence of structures that affect habitats and hydrodynamics; operations that disturb the seabed such as harvesting; and outputs such as discharges, escapees from farms and diseases/ parasites. These issues are managed by the relevant regulatory bodies (including Devolved Administrations, environment agencies and local authorities) through the consenting system and are also dealt with through voluntary best practice undertaken within the industry. The licensing system is extremely complex although there are plans to streamline it through the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009, the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010 and proposals for similar marine legislation in Northern Ireland. A number of new strategies support sustainable development by setting out goals for balancing economic growth with careful management of environmental impacts and support for social development. The overall aim of the 2009 EU Strategy for the Sustainable Growth of European Aquaculture is to encourage growth in the industry while building on the high environmental and quality standards that have been achieved so far.

While we have good information on the location of fish farms there are some uncertainties over the distribution of pressures associated with aquaculture activities, for example the dispersal of waste products and inputs of nitrogen and phosphorus. This is due to the way that information is collected: details are typically specific to individual sites and projects and are described in individual licence applications and are not centrally collated or freely and readily available. It is recommended that this information is collated centrally, for example by the UK Government and Devolved Administrations or their respective environment agencies.

Table 5.1 Production and total value of cultured shellfish species in the UK in 2007.