PNR

Project duration       36 months

Nature                          New project

Keywords                    Sustainability, health, monitoring, marine farms, aquaculture, GIS platform, remote sensing.

Define the socio-economic partner that will benefit from the expected results

The National Laboratory of Control and Analysis of Fishing and Aquaculture Products and Environmental Health will benefit from support and capacity building in terms of project coordination and management, training on the use and processing of in-situ and remote sensing data, development of health maps of marine aquaculture areas in Algeria, facilitation of networking, collaboration and dialogue with stakeholders ( fishing sector, environment, trade and agriculture). Particular attention will be paid to the dissemination of the results produced in the project through the laboratory website.

As aquaculture in Algeria in its current form is a rapidly evolving activity with multiple environmental and social challenges, the monitoring of marine farms are now essential tools for a responsible and sustainable development of aquaculture. The outcomes for the fisheries and aquaculture sector are

• To have a tool to provide decision makers and aquaculture producers with practical recommendations to reduce the impact of aquaculture activities on the environment
• To have precise information on the health status of the environment and products according to the species farmed (bass, sea bream, mussels and oysters)
• Classification of marine farms with a label (good, average and bad) according to the performance of each farm in relation to the environment in which the activity is located
• Establishment of a GIS system and mapping of aquaculture areas sensitive to anthropic pressures, with identification of the impact of pollution on the aquaculture installation
• The results of this project will constitute a scientific database to support decision-making for an integrated coastal zone management policy based on a participatory approach
• Aquaculture products for local consumption or export will be supported by the monitoring and periodic control of the actions of this project, which will reassure the final consumer
• Environmental monitoring will allow the fisheries and environmental sectors to anticipate epidemics or toxic phytoplankton blooms in one or more wilayas. This will function as an alert system
• The census and diagnosis of the state of healthiness of the environment and aquaculture products will make it possible to better study the evolution of marine aquaculture in Algeria in the future. This will make it possible to elucidate the environmental constraints affecting the Algerian coasts
• The results will enable the revision of the texts of laws, decrees and orders governing aquaculture, the environment and the marketing of fishery products in Algeria.

• GIS portal on marine aquaculture in Algeria
• Dashboard illustration on marine aquaculture
• Mapping the healthiness of marine aquaculture farms and their products in Algeria
• Capacity building of the sector and socio-economic partners on the use of new technology
• Digitalisation of marine aquaculture in Algeria
• Better transparency and governance of the marine aquaculture activity
• Enable the socio-economic partner to integrate regional initiatives in the field of sustainable aquaculture, such as the WestMED Initiative, Plan Bleu, FAO/GFCM - Economic diversification of aquaculture activities by incorporating the notion of co-management and spatial compatibility for sustainable marine aquaculture
• Marine aquaculture has many benefits beyond the potential to provide a source of protein, it creates jobs and therefore livelihoods. It leads to more resilient coastal communities and provides opportunities for social stability.
• Although floating cage aquaculture farms face logistical challenges, the project through the use of RemoteSensing techniques can make a difference (temperature, salinity, chlorophyll, suspended matter, current speed and direction, wave height)
• With this data, the fisheries and aquaculture sector can choose sites with sufficient current and depth to mitigate pollution from fish farms.
• The platform and data can help advance the expansion of marine aquaculture in a way that is environmentally friendly, profitable and safe.

Project leader

Project title

Staff project

Socio-economic partner(s)

The results of this project will first of all enable the location of the different sources of pollution to which the Cultmare farm water is exposed. This will allow the setting up of new stations for monthly sampling to better control the quality of the water.

As the area is classified as B, which means that shellfish can be harvested but can only be released for human consumption after being processed in a purification centre, monitoring the water quality at the Cultmare farm purification tanks will allow the partner to avoid potential contamination of the mussels at this stage.

Monitoring the quality of the mussels (before and after the purification stage) will help the partner to ensure good quality mussels on the market.

The regular search for toxic phytoplankton will allow us to detect the presence of phytoplankton in the environment and give the partner the possibility to react in time to avoid a possible contamination of mussels by biotoxins.