Abstract
Aquaculture has become the fastest growing sector of the food industry worldwide. However, the increase of intensive aquaculture practices has been raising global concern about economic and social impacts, but mostly due to the associated potential environmental impacts. The aim of this report is to make a preliminary assessment on the impact of a seabass aquaculture (Dicentrarchus labrax) on the surrounding coastal waters. The aquaculture site is located at the SW Iberian coast (Sines, Portugal), having 16 cages, each holding around 150 000 specimens at different stages of growth. We present a spatial and temporal description of environmental physical, chemical and biological parameters taken in the course of four monitoring campaigns (June 2018 to April 2019). All monitored parameters showed values within the natural range of coastal waters. So far, results don’t reveal any detrimental impact of the production units on local water quality, although more research is needed. The preliminary findings point to the hydrodynamic regime in the production area, and to the feeding strategy and the dimension of production units as the reasons for the lack of stress on the receiving waters.
Highlights
The oceans are an integral part of our society and economy, supplying living and non-living resources and providing a range of important goods and services
Results do not reveal any detrimental impact of the production units on local water quality
More research is needed, these preliminary findings suggest that (1) the hydrodynamic regime in the production area is responsible for a fast renewal of the water in the system, preventing local water quality conditions to deteriorate, and (2) the feeding strategy and the dimension of production units are not imposing stress on the receiving waters
Summary
The oceans are an integral part of our society and economy, supplying living and non-living resources and providing a range of important goods and services. In response to the limited potential to increase wild fishery catches and the rising demand for seafood [driven by both population growth and increased per capita consumption (Godfray et al, 2010)], alternative sustainable food supplies (i.e., aquaculture) have been rapidly developing. This growth is further fostered by constant technologic improvements.
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