The Atlantic Aquatic Resource Conservation project is all about turning good science into practical, on the ground help for rivers. We do this by working at the scale appropriate to the problem in hand.

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Delivery of EU Objectives

How the AARC project will deliver the aspirations of Priority 2 (Objective 2.2 and 2.4) and Priority 1, (Objective 1.1 and 1.3) of the Operational Programme 2007-2013.

The Atlantic area faces a number of threats identified by Priority 2, and the AARC project addresses a wide variety of these:

1. Exhaustion of halieutic (fishing) resources

2. Loss of biodiversity

3. Various types of pollution

4. Degradation of natural spaces and landscapes

5. Deterioration in water quality

6. Over-fishing Pressure from tourism, wastewater and intensive agriculture

The project will deliver Objective 2.2

Objective 2.2 will be delivered through the improved long-term protection of halieutic resources (fisheries resources) through transnational cooperation. The project will focus on migratory stocks of protected species which have economic, cultural and environmental value but which currently fall outside the scope of regional protection due to their migratory habit, which causes them to cross political and economic boundaries. The migratory fish stocks in question utilise freshwater estuarine, coastal and international marine habitat. The species are: Shad, Atlantic Salmon, Sea Trout Sea Lamprey, European Eel, Smelt and Eel. The main problem is that they are simultaneously:

1. Protected under the Habitats and Species Directive generally and directly though the transposition of the Directive into National Legislation

2. Exploited/used by low GDP rural communities on the Atlantic Fringe of Europe

3. Are in international decline

4. Are apex species and indicators of ecosystem health, recognised by the Water Frame Work Directive and new EU Marine legislation

This issue of their decline is truly transnational and can only be addressed through long term intensive transnational collaboration. The project will adopt an Ecosystem Approach which encompasses economics, societal choice and ecology to address complex environmental issues. The lead partner (Westcountry Rivers Trust) is a leading exponent of the successful delivery of the Ecosystem Approach. The work of the lead partner is given as one of 21 global examples of the successful implementation of the Ecosystem Approach recognised by the Secretariat for the Convention on Biological Diversity. The approach will restore, protect and enhance fishery resources sustainably and long into the future by:

1. The use of innovative genetic techniques for defining the species migration paths and annual movements.

2. Development of aquaculture processes to support reintroductions and supportive stocking

3. Improvement of natal spawning habitat under pressure from agriculture and climate change

4. Raise public and political awareness of the need for integrated management of all these issues to deliver joint goals.

5. Increase informed sustainable resource usage and strengthening regional economic performance through liberating endogenous potential

6. Increased recognition of the need for (IWRM) and the application of the Ecosystem Approach. Successful conservation should be undertaken at scales relevant to the issues (CBD Secretariat).

The Transnational Interreg program is the only funding resource suitable for the protection of these shared resources at the appropriate scale.

The project will deliver Objective 2.4.  

The conservation of migratory fish species is dependant on IWRM which has ancillary benefits for the Atlantic Area as highlighted in the Exe Ante Evaluation study. The water quality in the coastal zones of the European Atlantic Area is dominated by the quality of water leaving EU Rivers (Maritime Policy Task Force, Blue Paper for the European Commission).

Climate change will exacerbate negative trends of diffuse pollution from land and flooding, leading to decreased water quality through direct pollution and subsequent algal blooms at sea (IPCC, 2001) AARC will address river pollution to protect and enhance the breeding and juvenile habitat of the migratory species concerned.

The partnership will exchange best practise approaches for river protection. AARC will seek to extend protection for Natura 2000 sites to permit the protection of important migratory fish species across their whole range.

AARC will integrate the management of migratory fish across political boundaries, coordinating actions with land management, river management, estuary management, coastal and marine management.

The project will be a model for IWRM and will demonstrate how an Ecosystem Approach encompassing economy, ecology and culture can sustainably deliver the joint goals of the Water Framework Directive, the Nitrates directive, the Habitats and Species Directive and the EU ICZM Recommendation 2000/413/EC.

The project will deliver Objective 1.1.  

The AARC project will link conservation SME's with high level University researchers and public bodies, facilitating knowledge transfer into rural, lower RDI regions, particularly in the south of the Atlantic Area. AARC actions will be formalised through the development and delivery of an international accredited program in Integrated Water Resource Management involving all partners. This will perpetuate the AARC partnership and the delivery of the goals far beyond the tenure of the project.