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SARF 013 - Risk factors in shellfish harvesting areas

Project Code: S14031

03/11/2010

Scottish Association for Marine Science
Magill, S ; Black, K;
Centre for Research into Environmment and Health
Kay, D; Stapleton, C

This study assessed the risk factors associated with cultured shellfish. The study was carried out on Loch Etive and offers a number of lessons for other sea lochs on the west coast of Scotland. Results from the three elements of this study indicate that E.coli non-compliance issues within the Loch Etive shellfish production areas appear primarily to be summer high flow event driven. Therefore, determining the human (sewage)/ animal (diffuse) mix of pollution impacting on shellfish harvesting areas under high flow events is crucial to the design of remediation measures to prevent impairment of ‘protected areas’. Although there is significant human settlement around the sealoch, the ‘sewage’ contribution to the bacterial compliance parameter loadings during periods of peak input to Loch Etive were tiny when compared to the diffuse catchment flux derived from livestock grazing areas. Some small agricultural catchments were found to generate disproportionately high loadings to the loch which offers scope for learly targeted remediation effort.

Final report

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