AEI 6:135-149 (2015) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/aei00120
Spatial distribution of suspended particulate wastes at open-water Atlantic salmon and sablefish aquaculture farms in Canada
Lindsay M. Brager1, Peter J. Cranford1,*, Jonathan Grant2, Shawn M. C. Robinson3
ABSTRACT: Finfish aquaculture results in the production of particulate waste products that include uneaten feed and faeces. The impact of these wastes on the suspended particle field at 4 open-water fish farms in Canada was studied using high-resolution in situ particle sensors. Within-pen sampling at a sablefish Anoplopoma fimbria farm in British Columbia provided some evidence of the release of low levels (mean effect <0.2 mg l-1) of waste feed near the surface (1-3 m depth), but no waste signal was detectable in surface waters outside this farm. Enhancement of the particle field was also not apparent in surface waters (0.5-2 m depth) within the boundaries of an Atlantic salmon Salmo salar farm in the Bay of Fundy. However, data collected outside 2 adjacent farms indicated periodic, low-level particle enhancement (significant mean effect of <1.0 mg l-1; p < 0.001) near the surface immediately down-current from the net-pens. Despite the large sample numbers obtained, consistent detection of waste particle enhancement was confounded by the apparently small effect size and natural seston patchiness. These results suggest that any farm-induced effect on the surrounding particle field at the study sites would be highly localized and episodic. Consequently, the potential for enhanced production by co-cultured bivalve filter-feeders at these integrated multi-trophic aquaculture farms is limited by available space close to net-pens and the periodic availability of low levels of suspended particulate fish wastes.
KEY WORDS: Aquaculture wastes · Suspended particulate matter · Biomitigation · Integrated multi-trophic aquaculture · Salmo salar · Anoplopoma fimbria
Full text in pdf format  | Cite this article as: Brager LM, Cranford PJ, Grant J, Robinson SMC
(2015) Spatial distribution of suspended particulate wastes at open-water Atlantic salmon and sablefish aquaculture farms in Canada. Aquacult Environ Interact 6:135-149. https://doi.org/10.3354/aei00120
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