Environmental Impact of Aquaculture

By
Dr. Magdy A. Salah El Deen and Dr. Samia El Guindy

1. Introduction/ Background

In this era, the world is facing increasing demands for food supply, and has a need for
higher quality food resources, in which aquatic products form an important
component (UNDP 1994). After significant growth in the last decades, the world's
capture fisheries are becoming increasingly limited by physical and biological
capacity, by deteriorating environments, and by resource costs of excessive levels of
exploitation. Because of the limitation in capture fisheries production, aquaculture has
been considered as the sole source of growth supply in the fisheries sector during the
1990s, raising hopes that growth of aquaculture may ease pressure on the threatened
wild stock and increase food supply to cope with the increasing demands. However,
aquaculture is not without its own environmental problems. For example, frequent
outbreaks of disease, overfeeding inputs, pollution yielded from such underlying
important food resource etc. call into questioning the overall impact of some forms of
intensive aquaculture.

2. Fisheries and Aquaculture production

According to FAO statistics (FAO 1995 and 2002a), aquaculture has grown steadily
in recent decades (Table 1).By region, more than 80% of aquaculture production
comes from Asia, less than 5% from Latin America, whilst in 1993, Africa produced
only some 0.2% of global production. The growth in aquaculture production may be
attributed to the fact that much of the current investment and expansion involves more
intensive forms of production, usually of high value species, whose returns stimulate
the capital development and support the input costs.

Table 1 World fisheries and aquaculture production, 1984-97 (106 tone)

1984 1986 1988 1990 1993 1997
Fisheries 77.3 (92.1%) 84.2 (90.7%) 87.9 (89.0%) 85.1 (87.6%) 84.7 (83.9%) 64.4 (69%)
Aquaculture 6.6 (7.9%) 8.6 (9.3%) 10.9 (11.0%) 12.0 (16.1%) 16.3 (16.1%) 28.8 (31%)
Total 83.9 92.8 98.8 97.1 101.0 93.2
Source: FAO (1995& 2002a). Note: Figures exclude mammals and seaweeds.

3. Aquaculture, Environment and Resources

Aquaculture is capable of significant development, and may in at least some

circumstances help to address increasing problems of food supply and food security.
However, its dependence on natural resources, and its potential for placing greater
demands on these, may place it in direct competition and possible conflict with other
demands, whether utilization or orientation around conservation or esthetical issues.

Internationally, rising demands for natural resources for economic growth and
productive development have been accompanied by increasing public sensitivities to
environmental impact. The 1992 United Nations Commission for Environment and
Development (UNCED) Conference brought these issues to wider public attention
and political focus, resulting in a serious of commitments for environmental
protection and sustainable development. These have highlighted the need for better
management of natural resource –sensitive processes such as aquaculture, and are
encouraging the process of bringing the externalities of actual or potential impacts
into direct environmental costs (Folke and Kautsky 1992) and into environmental and
resource management policy.

4. Environmental problems Associated With Aquaculture

The environmental impact of aquaculture is seen in a variety of ways and includes

user conflicts, alteration of hydrological regimes, introduction of exotic species to the
wild, pollution of water resources, etc. Generally, the relationship between intensity
of aquaculture production and environmental degradation is not straightforward;
intensification can have both positive and negative environmental impacts
(NACA/FAO 2001).

Table 2 gives an overview on some of the environmental problems associated with

aquaculture. Some of these problems are discussed in the presented text but of no less
importance are other forms of impact.

Table2 : Some environmental problems associated with aquaculture activity(

Baird et al.1996)
Problem area Nature of problem
Waste and nutrient loadings Outputs of solids, N, P, vitamins, minerals,
husbandry/diseases, chemicals, antibiotics; impact of
waste materials on the adjacent benthos and the water
column; on species/community diversity, quality
indices, stimulation of blooms.

Water exchange In intensive land-based systems, of flushing through

freshwater or marine cage or enclosure; quantities
required, effect effects of abstraction, dilution with
"low grade" wastes, at concentrations sufficient to
diminish measured quality, but too low for simple
treatment.

Degradation of terrestrial In coastal areas, caused by salinization of soils,

environments affecting adjacent agricultural practices, coastal
fingers, excessive clearance of mangroves and
protective cover.

Escaped stocks From damaged systems, or through flooding,

damaged on ineffective discharge screens; risks of
competition with/genetic contamination of local
stocks, disease transmission, directly or indirectly
reduced biodiversity.

Predation by conservation Causing damage, loss, stress-related disease to

sensitive species farmed stocks, requiring controls without
compromising conservation interests.

Social/amenity disturbance Visual, noise, activity disruptions.

4.1 Waste and nutrient loading

The most significant effect of aquaculture wastes is increasing the nutrient concentrations in
natural waters (hyper-nutrification) and so causing an increase in plankton and microbial
populations (eutrophication). The source of these nutrients is mainly wasted fish feed. Thus
the wastewater from intensive aquaculture systems will contains: particulate solids (faeces
and waste feed), dissolved metabolic wastes, dissolved nutrients from feeds and faeces
(nitrogen and phosphorous in their various chemical forms) and biocide and pharmaceutical
residues
To put the extent of that impact into perspective, aquaculture must be compared with other
industries that produce wastes with the potential to pollute. In most industrial countries,
modern methods of agriculture account for far more pollution of freshwaters and coastal seas
than intensive fish farming. Without drastically changing agricultural farming practices this
situation will not change in the foreseeable future. For example, fish farming in Denmark
accounts for less than 3% of the annual biological oxygen demands (BOD) on freshwaters,
less than 1% of the total nitrogen loading and less than 2% of the total phosphorous loading (
FES 1992). In this respect the environmental impact from fish farming waste is small in
comparison to the potential impact of agricultural wastes. In addition domestic sewage
produces the greatest amount of waste phosphorous, which is known to have a substantial
effect on freshwater aquatic environments (Table 3)
Data from other European countries indicate a very similar situation, although some caution
must be exercised in the interpretation of data of such a generalized nature (differences in
reporting and analytical methodologies can make them difficult to compare. Table 4, for
example, shows that aquaculture in Scottish freshwater contributes less to the annual
phosphorous loading on Scottish freshwaters than forestry, and both contribute significantly
less than the discharge from domestic sewage treatment systems.

Table 3 : Sources of pollution in freshwater in Denmark: Loading is tones per

annum; figures in parentheses are percentage of total( From FES 1992)
Source BOD Total N Total P
Agriculture 160,000 (66) 260,400 (89) 4,400 (29)
Domestic sewage 24,090 (10) 25,000 (9) 7,200 (47)
Industry 50,183 (21) 5,000 (2) 3,400 (22)
Fish farming 8,645 (<3) 1,715 (<1) 210 (<2)

Table 4 : Estimated annual phosphorus additions to Scottish freshwaters (from

NCC, 1990)

P addition rate P addition rate

Source Total
(kg P/ y) (tonne P/ y)
Aquaculture (production) 12 t/ fish 53
4 300 t* production
Atmospheric (area) 0.12/ ha 10
deposition 87 000 ha
Forestry (area) 0.1/ ha 77
7.7 x 105 ha
Population (people ) 0.1 per person 510
5.1 x 106
Total load 650
* Combined rainbow trout and salmon smolt production for 1989

Wastewater from intensive aquaculture operations also differs substantially from

sewage effluents. The latter contain considerably greater amounts of organic matter,
whilst aquaculture wastewaters are more comparable to natural waters in terms of
their nutrient composition (Table 5). However, whilst the concentration of pollutants
might be small, over a period of time this can amount to quantities great enough to
cause changes in the functioning ecosystem.

Table 5 : The quality of fish farm effluent, river water and domestic wastewater
(mg/l) (from Warrer-Hansen, 1982)

Fish farms Domestic

Factor River water
effluent wastewater
BOD 1.0 – 5.0 3.0 – 20 300
Total N 1 -2 0.5 – 4 75
Ammonia N No data 0.2 – 0.5 60
Total P 0.02 – 0.10 0.05 – 0.15 20
Suspended solids No data 5 -50 500

This ecosystem change, or environmental impact, is normally seen on a local scale.

Wastewater discharge from a fish farm into a relatively small river may cause oxygen
depletion and community changes only a short distance downstream, with the ecosystem
returning to normal at some distance from the farm. A greater environmental danger is where
aquaculture development becomes concentrated at a regional level. The effects of individual
farms can be additive, and can be detected at the ecosystem level, in contrast to the more
localized effects caused by a single discharge.
Runoff from arable farming, the main source of ammonia-N, is difficult to quantify and
detect. However, the effects of individual land-based fish farms can be detected and measured
easily because of the point- source nature of their discharge. This has made the development
and enforcement of legislative measures for fish farming relatively easy in comparison with
those of agriculture industry. It also provides the fish farmer with an advantage over the
arable farmer since fish wastewaters can be treated and pollution minimized.

4.2 Chemicals/ therapeutants

The vast majority of the chemicals used by the aquaculture industry are for the treatment or
prevention of disease, although cleaning agents are also used. The administration of
therapeutants to fish or other aquatic animals is rather different from administration to
terrestrial livestock. In the latter case it is possible to separate individual animals for
treatment, or to treat a whole herd by giving the treatment to each animal in turn. In the case
of farmed aquatic animals this is not possible as in some treatment procedures; the whole
stock should be bathed/ dipped in the therapeutants for a certain time. This creates problems
in the treatment application and then after discharging into the surrounding (i.e. water bodies),
for which there are environmental implications.
The main environmental concerns over the use of chemical therapeutants in aquaculture result
from the direct toxicity of the compounds; the development of resistance to compounds by
pathogenic organisms; the prophylactic use of therapeutants and the duration of they remain
active in the environments. In case of using antibiotics for treatment, the main environmental
concern are the possible development of resistance to antibiotics by humans (e.g. Vibrio spp.)
and the increased difficulty of treating diseases of aquaculture stock due to the development
of resistance strains of pathogen.
4.3 Disease transmission

The incidence of fish disease transmission is dependent upon several factors including the
type of organisms (viral, parasitic or bacterial etc.), the susceptibility of the host fish and
environmental factors (quality of water, depth of penetration of fish spines).
• Parasitic diseases and harmful algae
Several parasites and algae can infect humans such as trematodes, nematodes, dienoflagellats
and diatoms.
• Viral Diseases
Shellfish, such as oysters, mussels and clams can bio-accumulate viral pathogens from
polluted waters. The consumption of contaminated shellfish has caused gastroenteritis,
respiratory illness, fever, and hepatitis.
• Bacterial Diseases
There are some common bacteria that can infect humans through fish handling such
as Aeromonas hydrophila , Edwardsiella tarda, etc.

4.4 Oxygen depletion

Most of the environmental consequences of aquaculture are related to the addition of
substances to the water. There is one notable exception to this pattern; that is, the depletion of
dissolved oxygen. This is caused by the respiration of intensively held animal stock; increased
microbial respiration in the sediments and water column resulting from the release of organic
carbon from aquaculture system. This problem is obvious in the operation facility but it is
further compounded by the discharge of the waste metabolites and organic solids into the
surrounding physical environment.

4.5 Floating cage farming

Floating cage farming is most commonly used for growing different marine and freshwater
organisms. Pollution from floating cage aquaculture can affect the environment via two
mechanisms. Fish faecal waste and waste feed settles to the bottom of the water body, and
accumulates to form thick, organically rich sediment. This affects the benthic community and
can affect water quality. Also, respiratory wastes (primarily ammonia) and dissolved
phosphorus (leached from waste feed and faecal waste) may affect nutrient flux in the water
body, and this the dynamics of plankton communities. Moreover, if the location of cages in
the water stream was not appropriately selected, this may negatively affect downstream flow
through water obstruction, increase sedimentation, increase aquatic weed growth, bank
erosion, etc,

5. Aquaculture in Egypt

5.1 General: Aquatic resources, fisheries and fish production

The fisheries and aquaculture sector in Egypt is diverse in nature. The country is bordered by
two seas, each with its own characteristics. The River Nile provides Egypt with a continuous
flow of fresh water, directly or indirectly feeding a number of littoral lakes and lagoons, as
well as an extensive system of canals. Together, these waters constitute a unique resource
base that supports many different types of fish production. Capture fisheries and aquaculture
production statistics of Egypt during the period 1992 - 2003 show that the production
increased by more than 130% during the last 10 years, exceeding 875,000 tons today (Table
6). The aquaculture sub-sector accounted for approx. 51% of total production. One of the
major features of the pattern of production is the rapid increase in contribution of aquaculture
to total fisheries production. The aquaculture production in 2002 was a tenfold compared to
1992. The latest production figures of aquaculture in 2003 show again an increase of 24%
compared to 2002 which is impressive, reaching 445,000 tonnes of fish. Tilapias and mullets
together account for more than 50% of all fish produced in Egypt. These species are highly
valued by local consumers. There is quite a large variety of local species available on the
market, but so far their potential for aquaculture has not been explored.

Table 6 Captured Fisheries and aquaculture production in Egypt during 1992-2003 (in
* 000 tonnes)
(Aquaculture in Egypt, GAFRD 2001, 2002, and 2003)
Source 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003
Sea 87.0 96.0 93.9 91.0 99.4 110.1 125.2 172.4 139.9 133.1 132.4 117.3
fisheries
Lakes 159.8 156.9 162.7 185.0 174.7 193.9 210.0 183.7 167.2 178.1 162.3 n.a.
Nile, canals 40.0 50.0 57.5 67.9 69.7 77.8 79.2 57.6 80.3 109.8 120.8 118.3
& others
Fish 35.0 35.0 35.0 41.9 54.6 66.4 116.0 215.8 323.7 334.8 359.9 445.1
farming
Rice fields 25.0 19.0 18.0 19.8 21.3 6.9 12.4 8.1 16.4 18.3 16.3 n.a.
Total 347.5 358.2 368.4 407.1 421.5 456.9 544.4 639.6 724.3 771.5 810.5 n.a.
production
(%of which 17% 15% 14% 15% 18% 16% 24% 35% 47% 43% 44% n.a.
fish
farming)

Aquaculture

Aquaculture has been practiced in Egypt for thousands of years. Egypt has been the
traditional leader in aquaculture production in the Near East Region. Egyptian aquaculture
started with the use of traditional extensive and semi-intensive techniques. Rapid
development has occurred in recent years, after aquaculture had been identified as the best
answer to reduce the increasing gap between supply and demand for fish in Egypt. Progress
was very slow until the late 1970s, then rapid change occurred in all forms of aquaculture
activity, including the development of support in infrastructure such as hatcheries and feed
mills. This resulted in a noticeable increase in aquaculture production.

5.2 Environmental concerns

As aquaculture practice in Egypt is developing and gets more complicated, its conflicts with
other resource users becomes greater. Also, environmental concerns become an important
issue as farming practices are intensified. These potential conflicts and concerns require
careful environmental evaluation and proper management. The various environmental issues
and impacts of aquaculture (as described thoroughly beforehand) have been intensively
discussed with the main players in this field in many meetings, workshops, consultancy
missions etc. The main objectives of such discussion were directed to: (i) Identify methods for
managing the environmental impact of aquaculture, including those impacts of environment
on aquaculture and the impacts of aquaculture on the environment; and (ii) recommend to
farmers, governments and other concerned parties, the steps which should be taken to
introduce methods to improve the environmental management of aquaculture. The Ministry of
Water Resources and Irrigation/ MWRI, Ministry of Agriculture and Land
Reclamation/MOALR as well as the Ministry of Environment/MOE ,in Egypt, were taking
the lead to tackle this important this vital issue.

The discussion at the different levels of interests raveled that this matter is not as easy as it
sounds. It was apparent that far less precise and quantified information is available
concerning the interactions between aquaculture and the environment than had been expected.
While the nature of impacts is generally well known, data availability and knowledge of what
caused the impact, especially that suffered by aquaculture is often unquantified and
speculative. Little is known of the environmental impacts caused by aquaculture, with most
information, even if recent, anecdotal in nature.
The potentially negative environmental impacts of freshwater aquaculture in Egypt consist
essentially of its contribution to the pollution of the River Nile, the main source of freshwater.
However, the pollution is relatively harmless (mainly nutrients and organic matter) and
insignificant in size. The few cases of freshwater aquaculture contributing to localized water
pollution involve cage culture in the River Nile due to mismanagements and illegal practices.
The different interest of stakeholders and beneficiaries at different levels were also another
factor.

The government of Egypt is now taking important actions toward increasing and support
aquaculture activities, as a source of animal protein, while keeping close and careful
attention to the aquatic environment safety. The following are some of the action already
taken or in the pipeline for implementation:
• Prepared a national water quality management program and established a
water quality management unit/MWRI to monitor and manage different water
quality issues particularly in the River Nile and its branches (canals and
drains)
• Implement the polluter's pays principle

References

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