Introducing a Regulatory Policy Framework of Bait Fishing in European Coastal Lagoons: The Case of Ria de Aveiro in Portugal

The harvesting of bait through digging in coastal mudflats is practiced for recreational and commercial purposes in European coastal systems including the Ria de Aveiro coastal lagoon on the northwest Atlantic coast of Portugal. The scale of harvesting in the Ria de Aveiro has recently increased due to the current economic climate in Portugal, with targeting of the polychaete, Diopatra neapolitana species or “casulo” as it is widely known in the Aveiro region. The national authorities have attempted to control casulo digging by issuing a regulation (Ordinance) in 2014 on the maximum daily catch limit to be caught by each individual. The daily catch limit is intended to represent the Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY) for casulo beyond which overfishing will occur. The monitoring of the regulatory measures is expected to be conducted through on-site inspections in the digging areas. However, weak law enforcement was noticed, while there is also controversy over the daily catch limit (quota) stipulated by the Ordinance. To this end, the current study attempted to assess digging activities through remote monitoring and random inspections for a better policy enforcement of the national regulation. In addition, different harvesting scenarios were employed through a simplified bioeconomic model to attribute the current and future harvesting trends of bait digging in Aveiro coastal lagoon. The study findings indicate that remote monitoring coupled with some onsite interviews could be a more effective approach for the implementation of the current bait digging policy. Further, the results point to a distinctive discrepancy between the daily catch amount (MSY) introduced by the national legislation and the study findings which should be further scrutinized. The diggers seem to have reached the sustainable harvest identified by the present research. The current economic hardship in Portugal and the low profitability in similar employment sectors will possibly attract more diggers and increase harvesting in the near future. An increased harvest would likely trigger overfishing of D. neapolitana with unknown consequences for the population of the species as well as the aquatic ecosystem. The socio-economic and environmental effects are yet to be further clarified with more detailed data and advanced modeling techniques to ensure the sustainability of the activity

Ecosystem Service Mapping: A Management-Oriented Approach to Support Environmental Planning Process

Effective integration of ecosystem services (ESs) into spatial planning and decision-making processes has been advocated as an opportunity to improve current practices and to promote sustainable development. However, the actual uptake of ecosystem services is still challenging, in part due to the complexity of ES studies, data scarcity, and ES compartmentalization, and so on. This chapter presents a case of mapping and characterizing coastal ecosystem services in a way that deals with these issues in order to facilitate its integration in the decision-making and planning process. It gives an insight into which ESs are currently provided in Ria de Aveiro coastal region (Portugal), how are they distributed in space, and identifies multifunctional areas. We argue that the use of existing and available data, as well as tools and approaches that are similar to those used in spatial planning, notwithstanding its limitations, has the potential for bridging science and decision-making spheres. ES-related information could be thus gradually incorporated in the design of local strategies towards sustainable and transparent planning and management processes

Performance of Polychaete Assisted Sand Filters Under Contrasting Nutrient Loads in an Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture (IMTA) System

[Abstract] Polychaete assisted sand filters (PASFs) allow to combine a highly efficient retention of particulate organic matter (POM) present in aquaculture effluent water and turn otherwise wasted nutrients into valuable worm biomass, following an integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA) approach. This study evaluated the bioremediation and biomass production performances of three sets of PASFs stocked with ragworms (Hediste diversicolor) placed in three different locations of an open marine land-based IMTA system. The higher organic matter (OM) recorded in the substrate of the systems which received higher POM content (Raw and Df PASFs – filtered raw and screened by drum filter effluent, respectively) likely prompted a superior reproductive success of stocked polychaetes (final densities 2–7 times higher than initial stock; ≈1000–3000 ind. m−2). Bioremediation efficiencies of ≈70% of supplied POM (≈1.5–1.8 mg L−1) were reported in these systems. The PASFs with lower content of OM in the substrate (Df + Alg PASFs – filtered effluent previously screened by drum filter and macroalgae biofilter) differed significantly from the other two, with stocked polychaetes displaying a poorer reproductive success. The PASFs were naturally colonized with marine invertebrates, with the polychaetes Diopatra neapolitana, Terebella lapidaria and Sabella cf. pavonina being some of the species identified with potential for IMTA.European Commission; Centro-01-0145-FEDER-000018European Commission; MAR-02.01.01-FEAMP-0038Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (Portugal); PD/BD/127989/2016Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (Portugal); UIDB/50017/2020+UIDP/50017/202

A HEI strategy to implement solutions aligned with energy and climate change challenges

The vision of the University of Aveiro (UAveiro) is “to create, share and apply knowledge, involving the whole community through teaching, research, and cooperation with the surrounding environment, in order to make a clear difference for individuals and society”. Framed in the concept of Sustainability and Intergenerational Justice, UAveiro has has act by stimulating behaviours towards sustainability and by implementing solutions aligned with energy and climate change challenges.   Relevant examples are a manual of good environmental sustainability practices, dashboards to monitor our performance, University Footprint Calculator that enables “to think and anticipate realities” towards carbon neutrality without compromising future generations, UAUBike, solutions for sustainability challenges, the greenbuilding’s project.This paper showcases, from different perspectives, the role of UAveiro to contribute to tackle societal challenges arising from the climate crisis and global changes and promote transformative solutions in favour of sustainability, social responsibility and climate action

Recovering Wasted Nutrients From Shrimp Farming Through the Combined Culture of Polychaetes and Halophytes

[Abstract] The bioremediation and biomass production of organic extractive organisms (polychaetes Arenicola marina, Hediste diversicolor and halophyte Salicornia ramosissima) was assessed in an integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA) framework. Culture trials were performed outdoors using the nutient rich effluent from a shrimp farm employing recirculated aquaculture systems. Similar bioremediation efficiencies were obtained in cultures using a single polyculture tank (1 T) or two trophic levels separated tanks (2 T; ≈ 0.3 and 0.6 m2 operational area, respectively), with a reduction of 74–87% for particulate organic matter (POM), 56–64% for dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) and 60–65% for dissolved inorganic phosphorus (DIP). Hediste diversicolor adapted well to culture conditions, reaching densities up to 5.000 ind. m−2 (≈ 78–98 g m−2). Arenicola marina failed to cope with water temperature that exceeded the species thermal limits, displaying a survival < 10% (20 °C often pointed as the maximum thermal threshold for this species). Productivity of S. ramosissima with 1 T was about twice that obtained with 2 T (≈ 150–170 and ≈ 60–90 g FW m−2 edible aboveground biomass, respectively). The yellowish coloration of cultured plants was likely due to the chemical oxidation and rapid sand filtration pre-treatment applied to the brackish groundwater used in the aquaculture facility, that removed iron (and probably other essential elements). Overall, 1 T design combining H. diversicolor and S. ramosissima displayed the best bioremediation performance and biomass production, while also allowing reducing in half the operational area required to implement this IMTA framework.European Commission; 24517, 10/SI/2016European Commission; MAR-02.01.01-FEAMP-0038European Commission; Centro-01-0145-FEDER-000018Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (Portugal); PD/BD/127989/2016Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (Portugal); CEECIND/01434/2018Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (Portugal); UIDP/50017/2020+UIDB/50017/202

Valuation of Ecosystem Services to promote sustainable aquaculture practices

Conceptual frameworks to assess and valuate Ecosystem Services (ES) are rapidly becoming important tools for ecosystem‐based management, as they support transdisciplinary approaches to ecological economics and expand current asset boundaries to include natural and social capital. An important area where such ES assessment frameworks could become relevant management tools is aquaculture. Aquaculture activities are an interconnected part of the ecosystem in which they exist and, under certain circumstances, can support many of the same fundamental ES provided by nature. But, in most cases, aquaculture typically increases provisioning services at the expense of the other services (regulation & maintenance and cultural services). To understand the capacity of ES valuation methods to expose existing ES trade‐offs in areas under aquaculture development, this study provides a literature review of publications that assessed and valuated ES delivered and/or impacted by aquaculture. In general, it seems that certain types of aquaculture do negatively impact overall ES delivery (e.g. intensive mangrove shrimp farming in Asia), yet certain modes of production (e.g. integrated multi‐trophic aquaculture) and cultured species (e.g. algae and certain bivalves) can have a positive impact on ES, not only improving provisioning services but also regulation and maintenance services and, potentially, cultural services. ES valuation methods provide important data that facilitate discussion among stakeholders and policymakers and should be included in marine and coastal management planning processes to foster a more sustainable aquacultureThanks are due to the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) for the financial support of this study through a PhD grant to M. Custódio (PD/BD/127990/2016) and CESAM (UID/AMB/50017/2013), and the co‐funding by the FEDER, within the PT2020 Partnership Agreement and Compete 2020. This work was also supported by the Integrated Program of SR&TD “Smart Valorization of Endogenous Marine Biological Resources Under a Changing Climate” (reference Centro‐01‐0145‐FEDER‐000018), co‐funded by Centro 2020 program, Portugal 2020 and European Union, through the European Regional Development Fund, by the European COST Action “Ocean Governance for Sustainability – challenges, options and the role of science” and by the ICES Science Fund Project “Social Transformations of Marine Social‐Ecological Systems”S

Halophyte plants from sustainable marine aquaponics are a valuable source of omega-3 polar lipids

Marine aquaponics is a promising sustainable approach for the production of profitable crops such as halophytes. However, the effect of this culture approach on the lipid composition of halophytes remains unknown. In this work, we contrasted the polar lipidome of Salicornia ramosissima and Halimione portulacoides when produced in marine aquaponics (effluent from a super-intensive flatfish aquaculture production), with that of conspecifics from donor wild populations. Phospholipids and glycolipids were identified and quantified by LC-MS and MS/MS and their profile statistically analysed. Halophytes produced in aquaponics have higher levels of glycolipids with n-3 fatty acids (DGDG 36:3; SQDG 36:3; MGDG 36:6) compared with the donor wild populations. In the case of H. portulacoides, a significant increase of phospholipids bearing n-3 fatty acids (most in PC and PE) was also recorded. These lipids have potential applications in food, feed and pharmaceutical industries, contributing to the valorization of halophytes produced under sustainable aquaculture practices.publishe

Nutrient dynamics in Mediterranean temporary streams: A case study in Pardiela catchment (Degebe River, Portugal)

Most of the streams in the Mediterranean region are temporary, following predictable seasonal of flooding and drying, with a transition from lotic conditions to shallow lentic conditions. The goal of our study was to assess the nitrogen and phosphorus dynamics in channel-bed processes of temporary streams between floods. Results show that, during winter, temperatures ranged between 9.5 and 11.2 °C and oxygen concentration ranged from 8.0 to 9.5 mg L-1, whereas, during summer, temperatures varied between 21.2 and 26.8 °C and oxygen between 1.2 and 5.3 mg L-1, with oxygen depletion in the pools during the night. The nitrate concentrations were far more abundant during winter (February), while ammonium concentration increased after stream fragmentation into pools (especially in July when oxygen depletion conditions favoured ammonification). Results on sediment profiles showed that the most active sediment layers for NH4-N are the top 2-3 cm, corresponding to the sediment depositional sites of the stream. Phosphate concentrations had larger variability, yet concentrations decreased from winter to spring and increased again in summer, when the shallow water pools were formed. Sediment profiles at the sediment depositional sites showed that PO4-P was more dynamic in the first 6 cm.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B7GX1-4PMYXC7-1/1/314475cea07f9c50c2dd6bda50bb8cf

LED Lighting and High-Density Planting Enhance the Cost-Efficiency of Halimione Portulacoides Extraction Units for Integrated Aquaculture

Halophytes are salt-tolerant plants that can be used to extract dissolved inorganic nutrients from saline aquaculture effluents under a production framework commonly known as Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture (IMTA). Halimione portulacoides (L.) Aellen (common name: sea purslane) is an edible saltmarsh halophyte traditionally consumed by humans living near coastal wetlands and is considered a promising extractive species for IMTA. To better understand its potential for IMTA applications, the present study investigates how artificial lighting and plant density affect its productivity and capacity to extract nitrogen and phosphorous in hydroponic conditions that mimic aquaculture effluents. Plant growth was unaffected by the type of artificial lighting employed—white fluorescent lights vs. blue-white LEDs—but LED systems were more energy-efficient, with a 17% reduction in light energy costs. Considering planting density, high-density units of 220 plants m−2 produced more biomass per unit of area (54.0–56.6 g m−2 day−1) than did low-density units (110 plants m−2; 34.4–37.1 g m−2 day−1) and extracted more dissolved inorganic nitrogen and phosphorus. Overall, H. portulacoides can be easily cultivated hydroponically using nutrient-rich saline effluents, where LEDs can be employed as an alternative to fluorescent lighting and high-density planting can promote higher yields and extraction efficienciesThe authors thank the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) for the financial support to Marco Custódio (PD/BD/127990/2016), Paulo Cartaxana (CEECIND/01434/2018) and CESAM (UIDB/50017/2020+UIDP/50017/2020). This work was also supported by the Integrated Program of SR&TD “Smart Valorization of Endogenous Marine Biological Resources Under a Changing Climate” (reference Centro-01-0145-FEDER-000018), co-funded by Centro 2020 program, Portugal 2020 and European Union, through the European Regional Development Fund, and by the project “AquaMMIn—Development and validation of a modular integrated multitrophic aquaculture system for marine and brackish water species” (MAR-02.01.01-FEAMP-0038) co-funded by Portugal 2020 and the European Union through Mar 2020, the Operational Programme (OP) for the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) in PortugalS

Ecosystem Services Provided by the Little Things That Run the World

Highest extinction risk and consequently biodiversity loss are predicted to occur in invertebrates, specifically insects, and these declines are expected to cascade onto ecosystem functioning and human well-being. Although this knowledge is intrinsically present in more traditional communities, in more urban environments, mapping ecosystem services can be an important tool to raise people’s awareness on the importance of preserving insect diversity. After an extensive revision of the available literature, we used a rule-based approach to assess the provisioning, regulating and maintenance, and cultural services delivered by insects. We followed the Common International Classification of Ecosystem Services (CICES) and identified several potential indicators that may help underpin the mapping and valuation of the services delivered by insects. From our search, we extracted a total of 73 indicators, divided as 17 Provisional indicators, 27 Regulation and Maintenance indicators, and 29 Cultural indicators. We concluded that insects are providers of services in the three major ‘Sections’ of ecosystem services defined by CICES. Despite the lack of recognition of provisioning and cultural services, the indicators provided may help to raise awareness on the importance of the little things the run the world, in order to preserve traditional and technological uses of insects and their services