Chapter 14 - Environmental impacts

Abstract

Tilapia culture has witnessed a tremendous expansion during the last twodecades. This expansion was accompanied by a switch from traditional, low-input, semi-intensive systems to more high-input, intensive systems. Tilapia culture is currently relying mostly on processed feeds, with extensive use of drugs and bioactive compounds, including hormones, pesticides, antibiotics and other therapeutic compounds for various reasons, such as disease control, fertilization, liming, disinfection, oxidation, coagulation, pesticides and adsorption. Releasing traces of these chemicals to the environment with aquaculture effluents is inevitable, posing varying degrees of toxicity to aquatic organisms or accumulating in the environment. Aquaculture effluents containing these compounds may therefore produce adverse ecological impacts, in addition to the possible contamination of the flesh of aquatic animals which could be hazardous to consumers. This chapter describes farm effluents, organic enrichments, hormones and bioactive compounds, with emphasis on their adverse impacts and how to reduce and mitigate these impacts. The best aquaculture management practices (BAMPs) are also highlighted as a means for reducing environmental impacts of tilapia culture.