Abstract
Conventional aquaculture (ACUA-C) in Mexico is an activity that maintains an annual growth rate of 6%. Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) aquaculture is the predominant aquaculture in the country with 4623 farms, most of which operate with semi-intensive (SIS) and extensive (ES) production systems, discharging untreated wastewater that negatively impacts the environment. To address this problem, new ecotechnologies such as biofloc (BFT), recirculation systems for aquaculture (RAS), constructed wetlands (CWs) for water treatment, and aquaponics (AS) have emerged to mitigate the environmental impacts of untreated wastewater. The objective of this work is to evaluate the feasibility of tilapia farming with BFT, RAS, CW, and AS ecotechnologies through an economic and financial feasibility analysis, considering their environmental and social implications in a Mexican aquaculture farm located in the state of Veracruz. Open interviews, direct observation, and diagnosis of the semi-intensive tilapia system was carried out between 15 May 2019 and 15 February 2020 in order to calculate, design, and theoretically evaluate the four ecotechnological alternatives (TBF, RAS, CW, and AS). Economic (13), environmental (10), and social (5) variables were applied, making use of the same facilities. The results reveal that the four ecotechnologies implemented in an SIS are economically viable and environmentally acceptable, especially in water management, in addition to being socially feasible. It is concluded that BFT offers an alternative to the producer by having a lower additional cost to improve problems, despite the possible complexity of operation and energy requirements to manage wastewater treatment. The technological transition to BFT is recommended to solve the problem of sustainable water management.
Highlights
It is not intended to determine which of them is sustainable, among other reasons because of the difficulty of translating the philosophical and ideological aspects of sustainability into the ability to make decisions in this regard [71]. This analysis establishes the elements to deepen the study of the application of these ecotechnologies, taking into consideration the assumptions exposed, and the decision making in the management of the study site
According to the systems analyzed in this study, it is evident that they offer different characteristics
All of them offer an optimal but not definitive solution, which depends on the needs, characteristics of the farm, regulations, and capital
Summary
The productive activity with the highest growth in the agricultural sector in recent decades has been aquaculture [1], presenting an annual growth of 5.8% during the period from 2000 to 2018 [2], which is faster than other animal production segments [3]. Among the species of relevance in aquaculture are cichlids (tilapia), representing the largest aquaculture production group in the world [4]. Tilapia is the common name given to three genera of the family Cichlidae: Oreochromis, Sarotherodon, and Tilapia [5]. The most important species for aquaculture are in the genus Oreochromis and are O. mossambicus, O. The future of the global food system.
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