Nutrient and fine sediment loading from fish pond drainage to pearl mussel streams - Management implications for highly valuable stream ecosystems.

Man-made, drainable aquaculture ponds have the potential to affect the water quality in the receiving waters, but whether they act mainly as a source or sink of fine sediments and nutrients is still unclear. Particularly in oligotrophic streams containing populations of the highly endangered freshwater pearl mussel (Margaritifera margaritifera), even low additional inputs pose the threat of exceeding thresholds for downstream habitat quality. In this study, the effluent quality during the drainage of two extensively used cyprinid ponds with a size of 0.103 and 0.150 ha was monitored at a high temporal resolution, to characterize the nutrient and sediment loading into the receiving stream under two different management scenarios. The loading of total suspended solids (TSS) was disproportionally dominated by the final step of pond drainage during the fish harvest, when a proportion of 30% of the particles released over the entire drainage process was released with only 1% of the total water volume drained. The continuous release of the ponds' surface water resulted in an additional loading of 28.8 kg/ha of NO3-N, 0.82 kg/ha of NH4-N and 0.58 kg/ha of total-P that was not strongly enhanced by the fish harvest. Using a settling pond was an efficient measure to reduce the amount of suspended particles and excess ammonium and phosphorous reaching the receiving stream. Without such a measure, TSS concentrations in the receiving stream during the fish harvest were elevated to a maximum of >900 mg/l, representing a 20-fold increase compared to 45 mg/l upstream. However, about 1/3 of the released TSS were retained in the overgrown outflow ditch. The differences in loading and retention patterns of dissolved and particulate pollutants revealed the need for divergent approaches to address suspended or dissolved pollutants: Physical settling structures can be effective at reducing particulate inputs, but they might not be sufficient to mitigate the negative effects on oligotrophic streams without a specific design to sustainably remove nutrients. This information on drainage management is not only relevant for minimizing the impacts of aquaculture ponds on downstream ecosystems, but also for the maintenance of nature conservation and flood retention ponds.

Effect of fish pond drainage on turbidity, suspended solids, fine sediment deposition and nutrient concentration in receiving pearl mussel streams.

Extensive fish production in earthen ponds is a common aquaculture practice, which requires draining of the ponds for fish harvesting. Despite their value for biodiversity and water retention, the impact of fish ponds on the receiving streams as regards fine sediment and nutrient pollution remains controversial. This holds particularly true for streams with endangered freshwater pearl mussels, requiring a highly permeable streambed with low fine sediment content for successful juvenile development. This study quantified the amount of fine sediment, suspended solids and nutrients delivered to pearl mussel streams in relation to the pond characteristics, distance to the receiving stream and applications of measures to prevent the input of fines. Comparing fine sediment deposition above and downstream of the pond inlets after 21 pond drainage operations, as well as continuous measurements of the turbidity for 12 operations revealed varying effects of pond fishing on the receiving streams. Average fine sediment deposition was increased by nearly six-fold compared to upstream and maximum turbidity values for single drainage operations exceeded 460 NTU. Draining between 1% and 92% of the water volume of individual ponds resulted in additional loading of 0.07-4.6 t suspended particles. Physical mitigation structures that prevent mobilized material from reaching the receiving stream significantly reduced the fine sediment input and deposition rates. Harvesting methods that do not require complete drainage of the pond reduced the turbidity by ten-fold. Without mitigation measures, the impact of pond drainage operations on the fine sediment deposition was comparable to high discharge events. No significant increase in nutrient concentration was observed during most drainage operations. These results reveal remarkable effects of pond drainage on the aquatic environment, as well as the possibility to minimize such impacts by switching to harvest methods that do not require complete pond drainage and installation of sedimentation structures.