« Previous | Contents | Next »
Listen
Appendix 6: Glossary
Anthropogenic:
(in this context) materials occurring in the natural environment which have originated from human activities.
Aquaculture:
the rearing or culture of aquatic organisms using techniques designed to increase the production of the organisms in question beyond the natural capacity of the environment, the organisms remaining the property of a natural or legal person throughout the rearing or culture stage, up to and including harvesting.
Area Management Agreement:
agreement established, under the Tripartite Working Group initiative, between fish farming companies and District Salmon Fishery Boards/Fishery Trusts with the objective of promoting and maintaining the good health of both wild and farmed salmonids. Area Management Groups undertake ongoing oversight of the functioning of the AMAs.
Biodiversity (biological diversity):
the variability amongst living organisms, including the variability within species, between species, and of ecosystems.
Birds Directive:
the European Directive, supported by national legislation, that makes it an offence to trap or kill certain species of bird without permission from the Competent Authority - Scottish Government.
Catchment-based fisheries management:
is a process where people come together out of self interest to optimise the benefits that can be derived for their local community. It involves the assessment by the people in a geographically-distinct river catchment of their needs, appraisal of the assets of that catchment and the application of a plan to best meet individual needs in a harmonious manner.
Diadromous:
Fish which migrate between fresh and salt water.
Ecosystem:
a community of inter-dependent organisms, together with the environment they inhabit and with which they interact; this complex, integrated unit exists in a fine balance, so that even small changes to one part of the system can have knock-on effects on many other components of the system.
Ecosystem approach:
identifying and protecting critical processes in the ecosystem and the interactions between them.
Eutrophication:
the enrichment of water by nutrients, especially compounds of nitrogen and phosphorus, causing an accelerated growth of algae and higher forms of plant life to produce an undesirable disturbance to the balance of organisms and the quality of the water concerned.
Fallowing:
practice of leaving cages empty of fish for a period of time to break cycles of disease and/or to allow the seabed to recover.
Fisheries Trusts:
charitable organisations, sometimes called Foundations, that work on all-species scientific advice and data gathering, and that provide other project work options to freshwater fisheries catchment areas. They are represented nationally by The Rivers and Fisheries Trusts of Scotland ( RAFTS).
Mixed-stock fishing:
there is no agreed definition of mixed-stock fisheries ( MSFs) for salmon. Any definition should be related to the primary fishery management objective, which is to maintain river stocks within precautionary limits. MSFs might therefore be defined as any fisheries for salmon operating outside estuary limits.
NASCO:
the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organisation, established under the Convention for the Conservation of Salmon in the North Atlantic Ocean, which came into force in 1983, whose objective is to contribute to the conservation, restoration, enhancement and rational management of salmon stocks in the North Atlantic Ocean.
Natura 2000:
a network of protected areas established under the EC Habitats and Species, and Wild Birds Directives.
NGO:
Non-Governmental Organisations.
Non-native:
this term is commonly applied at a Scottish level, although it may be applied at a more local level. For a species to be truly native, it has to have reached and become established in an area by natural means, rather than by a transfer by man, whether deliberately or accidentally. Successful reintroductions of formerly present species may be treated as native populations too, and populations which may have been introduced by man before there were historical records may sometimes also be given similar status too, particularly if there is uncertainty if they got to an area by natural means or not.
OSPAR Convention:
the 1992 Oslo-Paris Convention, to which the UK is a signatory, aimed at preventing and eliminating pollution of the marine environment in the Northeast Atlantic from land-based sources and by dumping from ships and aircraft.
Precautionary approach:
approach requiring inter alia:
- consideration of the needs of future generations and avoidance of changes that are not potentially reversible;
- prior identification of undesirable outcomes and of measures that will avoid them or correct them;
- initiation of corrective measures without delay, so that these achieve their purpose promptly;
- priority to conserving the productive capacity of the resource where the likely impact of resource use is uncertain; and
- appropriate placement of the burden of proof by adhering to the above requirements.
Precautionary principle:
the principle that all responsible parties should act prudently to avoid the possibility of irreversible environmental damage in situations where the scientific evidence is inconclusive but the potential damage could be significant.
River basin:
area of land from which all surface run-off flows through a sequence of streams, rivers and, possibly, freshwater lochs into the sea at a single river mouth, estuary or delta.
River Basin Management Plans:
required by the Water Framework Directive, plans subject to review every six years setting out the environmental objectives for water bodies and providing a summary of the measures that are being used to achieve them.
Salmonid:
a member of the salmon family, including the Atlantic salmon, brown trout/sea trout and the grayling.
Sea lice:
Lepeophtheirus salmonis Krøyer and Caligus elongatus Nordmann, natural marine ectoparasites of salmon.
Social justice:
the equal and fair distribution of social values such as freedom, income and wealth and the opportunity to take part in society.
Sustainable development:
development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
SVQ:
Scottish Vocational Qualification.
Triploid fish:
a fish that has an extra set of chromosomes. Triploid fish occur rarely in the wild but can be produced in hatcheries.
« Previous | Contents | Next »