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 2:157-176 (2012) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/aei00034 MERAMOD: predicting the deposition and benthic impact of aquaculture in the eastern Mediterranean Sea Chris J. Cromey1, Helmut Thetmeyer2, Nikolaos Lampadariou3, Kenneth D. Black1,*, Jos Kögeler4, Ioannis Karakassis5 1Scottish Association for Marine Science, Scottish Marine Institute, Oban, Argyll PA37 1QA, UK 2Leibniz Institute of Marine Sciences, IFM-GEOMAR, West Shore Campus, Duesternbrooker Weg 20, 24105 Kiel, Germany 3Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, Institute of Oceanography, 710 03 Heraklion, Crete, Greece 4Akvaplan-niva AS, Polar Environmental Centre, 9296 Tromsø, Norway 5Marine Ecology Laboratory, Department of Biology, University of Crete, 714 09 Heraklion, Crete, Greece *Corresponding author. Email: kenny.black@sams.ac.uk ABSTRACT: A model composed of coupled particle tracking and benthic response modules was developed for predicting waste solids flux and benthic impacts of gilthead sea bream Sparus aurata L. and sea bass Dicentrarchus labrax L. aquaculture. The model was tested at 6 sites with different hydrodynamics, bathymetries and biomasses in the Aegean and Ionian seas, eastern Mediterranean Sea, and sediment trap flux and benthic impact indicators were observed. Seven sediment trap validation studies were conducted that varied in design with traps deployed either on the seabed, attached to nets or suspended in the water column. Model predictions of flux to traps spaced 5 m apart up to 50 m from the cages over a 13 d period were significant (R2 = 0.61, n = 57, p ≤ 0.05). However, the model could not predict adequately the flux to traps spaced 2 m apart in the high-flux zone underneath cages where variability between trap observations was high. In this high-flux zone underneath cages, the averaged model flux predictions resulted in a performance of ±49%. Statistically significant relationships were established at 4 sites between modelled flux and either benthic fauna impact indicator species (S), abundance (A), A/S ratio, Shannon-Wiener index or biomass fractionation index (BFI), (R2 = 0.82, 0.60, 0.57, 0.67 and 0.48, respectively; n = 24, p ≤ 0.05). Two other sites, which did not exhibit an abundance peak in enriched zones, did not fit these relationships. Using relative abundance of taxonomic groups, a modelled flux of 4.1 g m−2 d−1 was determined to be a useful boundary; on either side of this boundary, clear trends occurred in pollutant tolerant and intolerant species. KEY WORDS: Aquaculture impact model · Benthic impact · Mediterranean · Indicator · Sediment trap Full text in pdf format PreviousNextCite this article as: Cromey CJ, Thetmeyer H, Lampadariou N, Black KD, Kögeler J, Karakassis I (2012) MERAMOD: predicting the deposition and benthic impact of aquaculture in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Aquacult Environ Interact 2:157-176. https://doi.org/10.3354/aei00034 Export citation RSS - Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in AEI Vol. 2, No. 2. Online publication date: March 07, 2012 Print ISSN: 1869-215X; Online ISSN: 1869-7534 Copyright © 2012 Inter-Research.
Highlights
In the 20 yr from 1989 to 2009, Mediterranean aquaculture of marine finfishes rose from 3384 to 222 149 t; 95 677 t were produced by Greece and 77 196 t by Turkey in 2009 (FAO 2011)
A model composed of coupled particle tracking and benthic response modules was developed for predicting waste solids flux and benthic impacts of gilthead sea bream Sparus aurata L. and sea bass Dicentrarchus labrax L. aquaculture
The model was tested at 6 sites with different hydrodynamics, bathymetries and biomasses in the Aegean and Ionian seas, eastern Mediterranean Sea, and sediment trap flux and benthic impact indicators were observed
Summary
In the 20 yr from 1989 to 2009, Mediterranean aquaculture of marine finfishes rose from 3384 to 222 149 t; 95 677 t were produced by Greece and 77 196 t by Turkey in 2009 (FAO 2011). The benthic impacts of the Mediterranean fish farming industry are still less well described and understood than those at higher latitudes, where salmon is the predominant culture species group, but considerable progress has been made in recent years in understanding and quantifying the relationships between particulate waste inputs and benthic response in this environment (e.g. Holmer et al 2008, Apostolaki et al 2009, Papageorgiou et al 2009, 2010, Sanz-Lázaro et al 2011). Regulation and management of seabed impacts is a key component of regulating finfish impacts in all salmon farming countries We used a large body of benthic impact and sediment trap data collected from several fish farms in the eastern Mediterranean Sea to develop a computer model that will allow prediction of benthic impacts and thereby aid good environmental management and regulation
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