Relative effects of nutrient emission from intensive cage aquaculture on the semiarid reservoir water quality.

ABSTRACT

The effects of cage aquaculture on freshwater ecosystems are determined by multiple farming and environmental variables, and thus, the assessment of a wide range of abiotic and biotic variables enables better understanding of the impacts generated by this nutrient source. This study was carried out at Castanhão reservoir located in the State of Ceará, which is the largest Brazilian producer of Nile tilapia in cage systems, wherein about 8000 reservoirs provide a vast area to expand not only this important socio-economic but also pollution-prone activity. Nutrient mass budget, water quality monitoring, hydrodynamic characterization, and elemental/stable isotopic composition of end-member products were measured in cage aquaculture and other reservoir areas in order to determine the relative effects on reservoir conditions. Nutrient budgets showed that 34% of the artificial feed was lost to the water column but water quality monitoring and isotopic composition analysis suggested that the cages were not extensively impacting the water quality probably because of the physiographic and hydrodynamic features of the cage site.