Aquaculture in Lake Storsjön: an ecosystem services based investigation Pietro Marcianò 2015 Bachelor’s thesis in Environmental Engineering Mid Sweden University, Östersund Department of Ecotechnology and Sustainable Building Engineering i MID SWEDEN UNIVERSITY Ecotechnology and Sustainable Building Engineering Author: Pietro Marcianò,
[email protected] Degree programme: Ecotechnology, 180 credits Main field of study: Environmental Engineering Semester, year: Spring 2015 ii Abstract The purpose of this thesis is to investigate if the application of the ecosystem services concept can provide decision makers and stakeholders with additional relevant information for decisions regarding establishing of aquaculture on a local level, using the Lake Storsjön as a case study. In order to provide this knowledge, three different tasks are carried out within this thesis: the identification of the main ecosystem services provided by Lake Storsjön, the understanding of ecosystem services that will be affected by the expansion of aquaculture and the identification of the services that will be used for a possible expansion of the aquaculture sector. The CICES methodology (Common International Classification of Ecosystem Services) is used to identify the ecosystem services provided by Lake Storsjön. The understanding of the affected ecosystem services is carried out with the use of a Delphi-inspired approach. The identification of the services required for the establishment of aquaculture is driven by a cross-reference matrix. Lake Storsjön provides thirty-nine out of the fifty-nine ecosystem services included in the CICES. About half of these will be effected by environmental impacts connected to operations of ecosystem management required by aquaculture expansion, mostly with a low or medium degree of impact.