July 29, 2013

Shetland coast threatened by alien marine species

ORANGE-tipped sea squirt, wireweed and rainbow wrack are among the deadly dozen alien species placed on an “unwanted list” of potential invaders drawn up by marine experts.

 

The Marine Spatial Planning Team at Shetland’s North Atlantic Fisheries College (NAFC) Marine Centre, backed by Marine Scotland, have produced a definitive guide to help fish farmers and fishermen to identify non-native species that could pose a potential threat to area’s fishing and aquaculture industries.

Some of the alien invaders have already been found off the coast of the British mainland, including the carpet sea squirt, a filter feeding marine invertebrate from Japan which has managed to hitch a lift around the globe on boat hulls and in ballast water.

July 19, 2013

NAFC MARINE CENTRE PRODUCE A GUIDE ON HOW TO IDENTIFY MARINE ALIENS

The Marine Spatial Planning Team at the NAFC Marine Centre have produced a guide to assist marine users in identifying introduced species (also known as non-native species or marine aliens), which can be damaging to Shetland’s marine environment and to its important marine industries, such as fishing and aquaculture. This is part of a project funded by Marine Scotland.

So far Shetland is relatively free from introduced species, but there is a risk that they could spread to Shetland from elsewhere in the UK, where they are becoming an increasing problem. Introduced species found on the Scottish mainland include ‘carpet sea squirt’ and ‘wireweed’, both of which are originally from Japan, but have managed to hitch a lift around the globe on boat hulls and in ballast water.