Study to gauge threat of species escaping from fish farms

The University's Department of Biology will be participating in a study to determine the threat to the sea's natural biodiversity by species escaping from fish farms within the EU.

This is considered by many to cause problems to the future sustainability of aquaculture as the fish that escape can have detrimental genetic and ecological effects on the populations of wild species.

Cages sometimes break in storms, operational accidents lead to spills of fish and the wear and tear of the netting causes holes. Fertilised eggs may also get away if fish, such as cod and sea bream, spawn within sea cages.

The project is geared at improving fish farming technology and how this could be used to prevent such incidents. It is designed to conduct and integrate biological and technological research on a European scale to improve guidelines for aquaculture technologies and operational strategies.