Volume 20/Number l/January [989
ecology with particular reference to the protection and
management of the environment, to the dynamics of the
fish population, and to pollution. The principal result
has been the realization of a marine park in the small
archipelago of Tabarca, off the coast of Alicante, based
on a proposal by the municipality of that town. The sea
bottom around the main island (80 ha of surface) and
the nearby small islets and rocks has a great ecological
and biogeographical interest: it represents for many
species with tropical affinities the northernmost limit of
their distribution in the Mediterranean.
The park, which was set up in 1986, had its definite
completion 15 June 1988, with the establishment of the
management commission composed of local, regional,
and state administrators and of researchers from the
University of Alicante.
The ample scientific documentation of the protected
area was collected in one volume edited in 1985 by A.
Ramos, La reserva marina de la Isla Plana o Nueva
Tabarca (Alicante). The management procedures were
established on the basis of this documentation. Tabarca
is organized as a multipurpose park, with areas given
over to reinforced protection, to experimentation, to
small fisheries, and to tourist activities where compat-
ible with conservation.
In this context, the University of Alicante has organ-
ized a course of post graduate study on the
conservation of land and marine environment held by
professors of various European universities. The aim is
to complete the preparation of graduates by furnishing
them with an adequate knowledge of ecological prob-
lems, for a more rational use of the environment. In
Spain, this necessity is being seen as increasingly
important: the creation of new specialists capable of
answering the growing number of requests for compe-
tent personnel in matters of pollution and management
of the environment.
G. C O G N E T T I
Biological Control of Fish
Diseases ?
By studying the antagonistic effects Which some marine
bacteria have upon fish pathogens, researchers in Spain
have characterized several antibiotic substances pro-
duced by marine bacteria. They hope to inoculate the
antibiotic producing strains directly into fish culture
systems as a form of biological control of pathogenic
bacteria.
The bacteria which produce the antibiotics are
members of the Pseudomonas/Alteromonas group. The
pathogens affected are members of the following
groups: Vibrio, Aeromonas, Pasteurella and Yersinia.
The only strains tested which were unaffected by the
antibiotics were Edwardsiella tarda which causes only
occasional losses in salmon or trout due to septicaemia
or enteritis and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a relatively
unimportant opportunistic pathogen.
The fish diseases which could be amenable to bio-
logical control include: vibriosis, haeraorrhagic
septicaemia, furunculosis, bacterial septicaemia, enteric
redmouth, and pseudotuberculosis. If sufficient num-
bers of the antibiotic producing bacteria can be kept in
the water body the advantages to the fish farmer, the
environment, and the consumer could be considerable.
The outlay on chemical antibiotics could be lowered
and the pollution and food chain effects could be mini-
mized.
One possible system might involve a small continu-
ous culture of antibiotic-producing bacteria drip
feeding into the water supply to the tanks/recirculation
system. Less likely, but worthy of investigation, might be
a portable drip feed for use on cages when the onset of
disease is detected or anticipated.
Whatever the outcome of this work, the idea of an
antibiotic which reproduces itself at very low cost is
certain to arouse a great deal of interest within the
aquaculture industry.
K E VIN 0 ' C A R R O L L
Deep Sea Mining Impact
Studies
Although commercial interest in mining minerals in the
deep-sea has been put on ice due to present economic
circumstances, it still seems likely that development will
one day take place. The slowing down of the develop-
ment of commercial mining operations has provided an
opportunity for some of the environmental questions
raised by such a process to be examined. Based upon
our general understanding of the deep-sea ecosystem, a
number of predictive statements of the likely impact of
mining have been made. However, actual experimental
studies to back these predictions have been scarce.
Two programmes will be taking place over the next
few years which hope to answer some of the remaining
questions regarding the impact of deep-sea mining on
the sea-bed.
The first is a United States project which will revisit a
pilot scale mining test site used in 1978. This site, at a
depth of 4500 m in the western Pacific, was first
examined 5 years after the mining test had been carried
out. The samples taken at this time revealed no differ-
ences in the benthic community structure in relation to
the creation of the mining tracks. There were, however,
procedural difficulties which may have contributed to
this inconclusive result. This next survey will use the
latest technology to ensure that the samples recovered
are taken from precise positions which will enable con-
clusive data on the long-term impacts of mining
operations to be assessed.
The second study will be carried out by West Ger-
many, again in the western Pacific. It is proposed to use
a towed bottom contact device to make a series of
radial disturbance tracks through a central point. This
scheme will lead to a gradient of disturbance with
distance from the central point, and subsequent sam-
piing programmes should help answer fundamental
questions regarding recovery of the deep-sea benthos
from disturbance events.
Perhaps fortuitously, the delay in commercial mining
developments may enable enough work to be carried