Longitudinal evaluation of the impact of traditional rainbow trout farming on receiving water quality in Ireland

In the context of future aquaculture intensification, a longitudinal ten-year evaluation of the current traditional rainbow trout production in Ireland was performed. Publically available and independent data obtained from local authorities were gathered and analysed. Inlet and outlet concentrations...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	PeerJ (San Francisco, CA) Vol. 6; p. e5281
Main Authors:	Tahar, Alexandre, Kennedy, Alan M, Fitzgerald, Richard D, Clifford, Eoghan, Rowan, Neil
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	United States PeerJ. Ltd 24-07-2018 PeerJ, Inc PeerJ Inc
Subjects:	Ammonium Analysis Aquaculture Aquaculture, Fisheries and Fish Science Aquatic and Marine Chemistry Background levels Biodiversity Civil engineering Climate change Creeks & streams Dissolved oxygen Ecology Effluents Environmental Contamination and Remediation Environmental impact Environmental Impacts Environmental management Farms Fish Fisheries Food Freshwater aquaculture Ireland Nitrogen Oncorhynchus mykiss Phosphorus Physiological aspects Pond-based Purification Rainbow trout Rainbow trout fishing Receiving water Rivers Self-purification Surface water Trout Water quality Water treatment Ireland Receiving water Freshwater aquaculture Environmental impact Ireland Pond-based Rainbow trout
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Summary:	In the context of future aquaculture intensification, a longitudinal ten-year evaluation of the current traditional rainbow trout production in Ireland was performed. Publically available and independent data obtained from local authorities were gathered and analysed. Inlet and outlet concentrations of parameters such as BOD , ammonium, nitrite, dissolved oxygen and pH for four consecutive flow-through fish farms covering the four seasons over a ten-year period (2005-2015) were analysed. The objectives of the study were (i) to characterize the impact of each fish farm on water quality in function of their respective production and identify any seasonal variability, (ii) to quantify the cumulative impact of the four farms on the river quality and to check if the self-purification capacity of the river was enough to allow the river to reach back its background levels for the analysed parameters, (iii) to build a baseline study for Ireland in order to extrapolate as a dataset for expected climate change and production intensification. For most of the parameter analysed, no significant impact of the fish farming activity on water quality/river quality was observed. These results, the first ones generated in Ireland so far, will have to be completed by a survey on biodiversity and ecotoxicology and compared after production intensification and the likely future introduction of water treatment systems on the different sites.
ISSN:	2167-8359 2167-8359
DOI:	10.7717/peerj.5281