Use of geotechnologies to promote the sustainable expansion of fish farming: an analysis for the municipality of Chopinzinho, Brazil

Abstract

The expansion of fish production in a sustainable way in small municipalities has become an objective for both fish farmers and consumers, whether for nutritional and/or environmental appeal. The objective of this work was to map natural resources in the municipality of Chopinzinho/Pr using geotechnology to subsidies the planning of fish production in the municipality. The methodology used was based on geoprocessing and remote sensing tools. Results indicate annual growth in fish production, an amount of 53.1 hectares of water depth and 242 excavated ponds, the majority (81.8%) measuring less than 3,000 meters. The estimated nutrient input, due to fish farming, in excavated ponds, during the cultivation cycle was 104.14 tons of Total Nitrogen and 12.78 tons of Total Phosphorus and during harvesting 3.95 tons of Total Nitrogen and 0,85 tons of Total Phosphorus. Therefore, the use of geotechnology tools to map natural resources and excavated ponds, for subsequent estimation of nutrient input, has the potential to become a methodology to promote the expansion of fish production in a sustainable manner.