Title:
Environmental Impact Assessment (44/2011) study required by the expansion request of the fish farm EMAT Ltd from 100 to 1000 tonnes / year
Duration:
ca 9 months (October 2010 – June 2011)
Funded by:
East Mediterranean Aqua Technique (EMAT) Ltd
Project Description:
In 2010, a relatively small fish farm (100 t annual production) called EMAT Ltd assigned MER to carry out an EIA for expanding production to 1000 t of gilt-head seabream (Sparus aurata) and European seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax). In 2011, MER submitted a comprehensive EIA (44/2011) report to the Department of Environment (DoE) where the relocation and expansion of farm to deeper waters was proposed. MER presented the EIA to the environmental committee and the DoE granted the production license of 1000 t for five years.
The EIA report among others included an introduction (scope, team qualifications, regulatory framework, aquaculture review, description of proposed project), methods of primary (mapping of priority habitats, water sampling analysis, sediment physico-chemical analysis, macrofauna identification, P. oceanica ecological assessments, identification of marine flora and fauna, questionnaires to stakeholders such as local communities and restaurants, simulations of the dispersion model Meramod) and secondary (climate, geology, hydrology, oceanography, air quality, noise and vibrations, biological environment, socio-economic) data collection, analysis of data collected in the results section including an overview of human current and future activities, socio-economic and environmental impact assessments and a conclusive section with proposed approaches to mitigation and recommendations.