Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
each operation will vary depending on many factors. The decision-ranking tool al-
lows for such differences in species-specific fishery units and farms to be identified
and evaluated against one another. There is the potential to consider rankings across
species; however, the ranking tool is currently used to formulate recommendations
based on the distinguishing characteristics of each species-specific operation. Cor-
porate partners can then use both the recommendations and the information de-
rived from the ranking tool to motivate competition between individual operators
to improve in specific areas as identified through the ranking process. The ultimate
outcome of this type of system is the utilisation of market mechanisms to encourage
incremental change and improvement.
To employ the ranking tool, research is conducted on each wild-catch fish stock
or aquaculture operation under consideration. In the case of wild-catch fish species,
reports are created for each stock in question. For farmed species, an evaluation
module is created for each species that defines the data needed and allows for
individual farms to be compared. The information sources used to evaluate the
individual fishery units and formulate the farmed species modules include federal,
state and international data, stock assessment reports, independent academic re-
search papers, and trade and conservation group publications, as well as personal
communications with scientists, fishery managers, fishermen and the conservation
community.
The categories of information used by the Aquarium to evaluate individual fish-
eries and farms are consistent with those used by other conservation organisations
that evaluate seafood sustainability including the Monterey Bay Aquarium (2007),
Environmental Defense (2007) and Blue Ocean Institute (2007). The major areas
of consideration for wild-caught fish are stock status, fishery management, endan-
gered species bycatch, habitat impacts and target and non-target species bycatch.
For farmed species, the areas of consideration are performance-based measures
including farm outputs (e.g. waste streams), farm inputs (e.g. feed utilisation), fish
health, impacts to other species and the recent inclusion of new metrics including
energy utilisation and carbon footprint. After information in each of these areas
is collected for a species report (in the case of wild fish) or synthesised for the
aquaculture module (in the case of farmed seafood), it is then evaluated in terms of
a 'decision point' for incorporation into the decision-ranking tool.
16.4
The Aquarium's decision-ranking tool
The decision-ranking tool applies a hierarchical structure to the order in which
the areas of consideration are assessed. In general, the hierarchy for wild-catch
fisheries begins with metrics indicating the health of the fishery. This is based
on the assumption that a 'healthy' fishery is a requirement prior to further con-
sideration. For aquaculture operations, the hierarchy begins with specific directed
and localised impacts immediately controlled by the farm. Subsequently (for both
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