Journal
MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN
Volume 91, Issue 1, Pages 45-53Publisher
PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2014.12.029
Keywords
Fatty acids; Aquaculture wastes; Fouling; Benthic communities; Terrestrial markers
Funding
- FATFISH [CTM2009-14362-C02-02]
- Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad (Government of Spain)
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Currently, the lipid content of fish feeds includes high amounts of terrestrial vegetable oils, rich in n-6 fatty acids and poor in n-3 fatty acids. Sinking organic matter in the shape of fragmented pellets and fish faeces could be ingested by the surrounding fauna attracted to the submerged structures of aquaculture facilities or living in natural benthic habitats. Fatty acids contained in feed pellets were used as trophic markers to shed light on the assimilation and incorporation of aquaculture wastes by the invertebrate fauna associated to sea-cages. Eighteen macroinvertebrate species, and zooplankton, seaweeds and sediments were collected from two fish farms, one of which (control) had not been used as such for two years. This study demonstrates that macroinvertebrate fauna present in fouling can take up sinking organic matter from farms. Further research should be directed at assessing the potential implications of aquaculture production for the surrounding ecosystem. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available