Fish farming and anti-fouling paints: a potential source of Cu and Zn in farmed fish

M Nikolaou,N Neofitou,L Tziantziou,K Skordas,I Castritsi-Catharios

doi:10.3354/aei00101

Abstract

AEI Aquaculture Environment Interactions Contact the journal Facebook Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsTheme Sections AEI 5:163-171 (2014) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/aei00101 Fish farming and anti-fouling paints: a potential source of Cu and Zn in farmed fish Marina Nikolaou*, Nikos Neofitou, Konstantinos Skordas, Ioanna Castritsi-Catharios, Lamprini Tziantziou School of Agriculture, Department of Ichthyology and Aquatic Environment, University of Thessaly, Fytokou St., N. Ionia, 38446 Volos, Greece *Corresponding author: maze55@live.com ABSTRACT: The accumulation of copper and zinc, the basic components of anti-fouling paints, was examined in cultured sea bass Dicentrarchus labrax and sea bream Sparus aurata. Samplings were carried out at 4 eastern Mediterranean fish farms. Two of the farms used nets treated with anti-fouling paints, and 2 used untreated nets. At each farm samples of sediment and fish tissue (muscle, liver and gills) were analysed for heavy metal concentrations. The results showed that while total copper and zinc concentrations in sediments were quite similar in samples collected from the 4 farms, the extractable copper concentration in sediment from farms using anti-fouling treatment was 2 to 3 times higher than from those using untreated nets. Statistical analysis revealed no significant differences for either metal between sediment samples from farms using anti-fouling treatment and those which did not, except for extractable copper concentrations. However, analysis of the biological samples showed that copper concentrations in muscle tissue were lower in samples from farms using untreated nets, with the highest copper concentrations being observed in fish livers from farms using anti-fouling paints. General linear model results indicated significant differences between heavy metal concentrations in fish samples from farms using anti-fouling paints and those which did not. Furthermore, 1-way ANOVA indicated that these differences were confined to liver tissue for zinc, whereas significant differences for copper were seen in all tissues (except for gills of sea bream) for both species studied. These results indicate that the use of anti-fouling paints may be a potential source of metal accumulation in cultured fish. KEY WORDS: Aquaculture · Anti-fouling · Copper · Zinc · Fish · Eastern Mediterranean Full text in pdf format PreviousNextCite this article as: Nikolaou M, Neofitou N, Skordas K, Castritsi-Catharios I, Tziantziou L (2014) Fish farming and anti-fouling paints: a potential source of Cu and Zn in farmed fish. Aquacult Environ Interact 5:163-171. https://doi.org/10.3354/aei00101 Export citation RSS - Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in AEI Vol. 5, No. 2. Online publication date: June 18, 2014 Print ISSN: 1869-215X; Online ISSN: 1869-7534 Copyright © 2014 Inter-Research.

Highlights

Biofouling can be defined as the growth of unwanted organisms on the surfaces of man-made structures immersed in the sea (WHOI 1952)
The statistical analysis in our study showed significant differences between heavy metal concentrations in the biological samples from AF and NAF farms, indicating that the use of anti-fouling paints, as is current aquaculture practice for the painting of nets, is a significant source of chemical pollution in cultured fish
The highest metal concentrations of extractable Cu were found in the sediment samples collected under the cages of the fish farms that used nets treated with anti-fouling paint

Summary

Introduction

Biofouling can be defined as the growth of unwanted organisms on the surfaces of man-made structures immersed in the sea (WHOI 1952). It is widely accepted that biofouling in the aquaculture industry is an expensive problem (Enright 1993, Hodson et al 1997, Braithwaite et al 2007). In an industry selling a food product, the use of copper and zinc as anti-fouling compounds is undesirable from both health and marketing perspectives. These metals are listed under the EU Dangerous Substances Directive, which recognises their toxicity to aquatic organisms and long-term adverse effects on the environment, and as such their release into the environment requires control (67/548/EEC). A number of authors have reported that copper from treated nets could have lethal or sub-lethal effects on farmed fish (Anderson et al 1995, Bellas et al 2001, Burridge & Zitko 2002) and could affect the immediate immune defence mechanism of the exposed fish (Cotou et al 2012)

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