Final selection of Indicators - the toolbox

During the course of ECASA, large numbers of indicators were proposed for use in the future application of Environmental Impact Assessments. Many were tested in the field at various sites representing the range of conditions under which European marine aquaculture is practiced today. The results of the field tests are collected in the site reports with each study site having a corresponding EIA style report. These reports have shown that the list of indicators could be shortened as the performance of some of them in the field testing was unsatisfactory.

To go a step further in defining a final list of indicators which will allow the assessment of the environmental impact of aquaculture through an ecosystem approach, the input received from the stakeholders, producers, regulators, environmentalists and scientists was vital. Preliminary comments were made at national levels on the number of indicators and the ecosystem approach, so this will lead towards a shorter list of indicators. To help the reader, specific comments on indicators are made in the Toolbox sections devoted to indicators dealing with sediment, benthos, water quality, socio-economic and others.

Click on the following links for more detail:
ECASA methodology for the selection of indicators
Indicator assessment
The use of indicators: threshold and value
Indicators and Models

Final selection of indicators