ECASA An Ecosystem Approach to Sustainable Aquaculture - is an EU funded Framework 6 RTD project with 16 research partners from 13 member states. It is the sucessor to several 4th and 5th Framework Programme projects which have helped to push forward our unsterstanding of the effects of aquaculture on the environment especially in the Mediterranean.

ECASA undertook a fieldwork programme involving sites ranging from the Atlantic waters of Norway and Scotland, the Baltic and the Mediterranean. ECASA included both fin and shell fish marine aquaculture and has actively sought stakeholder participation from the outset.

Follow the link to read more about the ECASA project in theECASA newsletters.

Project Overview

ECASA Project Summary

ECASA Project Objectives

The ECASA Toolbox

The ECASA Toolbox will be an internet based resource, containing tested tools for marine aquaculture environmental impact assessments. These tools will be a range of indicators, models and procedures, tailored for the differing culture methods and species grown across Europe.

The ECASA Toolbox is an innovative environmental management resource developed specifically for European marine aquaculture. The Toolbox has evolved over the course of the ECASA project with the aim to answer the needs of industry, regulators and environmental managers involved in marine aquaculture. The ECASA Toolbox is an internet based  source of information on a range of tools that can be applied to shell-fish and fin-fish aquaculture, informing on Environmental Impact Assessment and effective site selection.

The ECASA Toolbox will provide information on procedures, assessment and regulation of European marine aquaculture.

The ECASA Toolbox has now been launched. A preview of the initial design was released at the European Aquaculture Stakeholder Conference in Heraklion, Crete in September 2007. At the Conference participants had the opportunity to provide input into the final version of the Toolbox. Follow this link for further information on the Conference. Follow this link to view the presentations given at the Conference.

TOOLBOX CONTENTS

The ECASA Toolbox is divided into 5 cross reference sections:

Informative - giving background information on the approach adopted by the project

Indicator groups - giving detailed descriptions on the use of a wide range of indicators of aquaculture related interactions

Models - describing the models tested and developed in the project

Study site EIA's by species - providing reports on field work undertaken at a range of representative sites across Europe arranged by species farmed

Study site EIA's by country - providing reports on field work undertaken ata a range of representative sites across Europe arranged by country

The final version of the Toolbox can be found at http://www.ecasatoolbox.org.uk

NEWS

Article on the outcomes of ECASA featured in Cefas Shellfish News Spring/Summer 2008

Poster presented at the WAS Conference in Florence in May 2006

Sustaining Coastal Ecosystems and Aquaculture. An article on ECASA featured in SAMS newsletter,September 2006

News article printed in The Parliamentary Magazine, July 2005.