Abstract
AEI Aquaculture Environment Interactions Contact the journal Facebook Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsTheme Sections AEI 6:175-183 (2015) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/aei00123 Influence of mussel aquaculture on the distribution of vagile benthic macrofauna in îles de la Madeleine, eastern Canada Annick Drouin1,2,*, Philippe Archambault2, Brianna Clynick1,2, Karine Richer1, Christopher W. McKindsey1,2 1Institut Maurice Lamontagne, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, 850 route de la mer, Mont-Joli, Québec G5H 3Z4, Canada 2Institut des sciences de la mer, Université du Québec à Rimouski, 310 allée des Ursulines, Rimouski, Québec G5L 3A1, Canada *Corresponding author: annick.drouin@gmail.com ABSTRACT: We examined spatial variation in the abundance of 4 benthic vagile species in a lagoon with blue mussel Mytilus edulis aquaculture (inside vs. outside of the mussel lease; among areas with 1 yr old, 2 yr old and harvested mussels; and with distance from mussel lines). American lobster Homarus americanus, Atlantic rock crab Cancer irroratus, common starfish Asterias rubens and winter flounder Pseudopleuronectes americanus were all at least 3 times more abundant in the farm area with 2 yr old mussels, where mussel fall-off is more frequent, than in areas outside of the farm or other areas within the farm. A strong association of lobsters with mussel line structures was observed, where most individuals were observed directly under the mussel lines, close to anchor blocks, in the areas with 1 yr old, 2 yr old and harvested mussels (58, 42 and 57%, respectively). Mussel farms influence the distribution of benthic macrofauna at a number of spatial and temporal scales, and this may be due to a number of mechanisms, depending on the species. An in situ experiment was done to separate the influence of anchor blocks and mussel fall-off on the distribution of lobsters, crabs, starfish and flounders. Results of the manipulative experiment highlighted the importance of shelter structures over a short-term period for lobsters, but not for the other 3 species. Conclusions from the observations and the manipulative experiment suggest that lobster distribution is a function of both physical structure and feeding opportunities, whereas the distribution of the other species was mainly due to trophic effects. KEY WORDS: Mytilus edulis · Homarus americanus · Cancer irroratus · Asterias rubens · Pseudopleuronectes americanus · Spatial variation · Environmental impact Full text in pdf format PreviousNextCite this article as: Drouin A, Archambault P, Clynick B, Richer K, McKindsey CW (2015) Influence of mussel aquaculture on the distribution of vagile benthic macrofauna in îles de la Madeleine, eastern Canada. Aquacult Environ Interact 6:175-183. https://doi.org/10.3354/aei00123 Export citation RSS - Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in AEI Vol. 6, No. 2. Online publication date: February 04, 2015 Print ISSN: 1869-215X; Online ISSN: 1869-7534 Copyright © 2015 Inter-Research.
Highlights
Bivalve aquaculture is known to influence the benthic environment within — and in the areas immediately surrounding — farm areas, with impacts on benthic habitats largely attributed to the accumulation of organic matter related to bivalve filter-feeding and waste production
The existence of a trophic mechanism is supported by the studies by Freire et al (1990) and Freire & GonzálezGurriarán (1995), who showed that crabs in mussel culture areas increase the proportion of mussels in their diets relative to that of crabs in areas outside of mussel farms
As each area inside the mussel farm represented a given stage of the mussel culture cycle, farm-scale variation was evaluated by comparing abundances noted along the 4 visual transects in each farm area (Fig. 1: M1: lines with 1 yr old mussels, M2: lines with 2 yr old mussels and MH: harvested lines)
Summary
Bivalve aquaculture is known to influence the benthic environment within — and in the areas immediately surrounding — farm areas, with impacts on benthic habitats largely attributed to the accumulation of organic matter related to bivalve filter-feeding and waste production. Whereby scavenging species are seen associated with fallen farmed bivalves, are usually invoked to explain the observed patterns of greater abundance in farm areas relative to non-farm areas. Mussel fall-off is concentrated directly below mussel lines, where starfish and other vagile macrofauna were observed to be more abundant than in areas between mussel lines (D’Amours et al 2008, Wilding & Nickell 2013). Such mussel line-scale variation in the distribution of macrofauna could explain why some studies failed to observe spatial patterns in the abundance of vagile macrofauna. Inglis & Gust (2003) have reported such variation for the abundance of starfish among farm areas in New Zealand
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