The Welsh National Marine Plan describes Welsh Government’s ambition to support the sustainable development of aquaculture activities in Welsh Waters. To further this agenda, Natural Resources Wales (NRW) sought to publish resources to provide developers, regulators and advisors with information on the potential impacts of aquaculture activities on Welsh habitats and species.

NRW commissioned ABPmer to support them with the Assessing Welsh Aquaculture Activities (AWAA) project. Funded through Welsh Government by the European Maritime Fisheries Fund (EMFF), the project resources were intended to provide guidance for those undertaking aquaculture activities and help inform marine planning decisions and environmental assessments.

The AWAA project comprises the following resources:

Evidence Database

The Evidence Database is a collection of relevant evidence sources currently available on the pressures which may arise from different aquaculture activities and how they may impact biotopes (components of habitats) and species.

To inform the database, we:

• Undertook a systematic literature review to identify the potential impacts of aquaculture activities on marine biotopes and species
• Assigned each piece of impacts evidence a confidence score based on source, applicability of location, and applicability of aquaculture species
• Refined a list of pressures and associated aquaculture activities from the evidence

Dashboard (and Interactions Spreadsheets)

The Dashboard presents the sensitivity of biotopes and species to the pressures associated with aquaculture activities, informed by the underlying Interactions Spreadsheets.

 To inform the Interactions Spreadsheets, we compiled a list of all Welsh biotopes and species, and:

• Determined their sensitivity to pressures associated with the different aquaculture activities
• Checked the applicability of the benchmark or sensitivity thresholds
• Identified which Marine Protected Areas and features the biotopes or species were part of

Mapping Tool

The Mapping Tool is an interactive web application which allows users to spatially investigate the potential sensitivity of biotopes around Wales to the pressures associated with different aquaculture activities.

The Tool was created by joining the sensitivity of biotopes collated for the Evidence Database to NRW’s spatial Marine Recorder and Phase 1 Intertidal Habitat Survey datasets.

Aquaculture Activity Assessments

The Aquaculture Activity Assessments guide users through a step-by-step process to understand the potential impacts an aquaculture activity may have on marine habitats and species.

Project Report

The Project Report provides users with a description of the methods that have informed the production of the different AWAA resources.

Learn more about this project
Browse all the AWAA resources at the NRW website

ABPmer supports policy-makers, regulators and the fisheries and aquaculture industry on marine environmental policy matters, assessment and management, including interactions between fisheries, marine protected areas (MPAs) and other marine developments.

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