Environmental Impacts of Aquaculture Practices
Summary
Aquaculture has emerged as a cornerstone of global food security, yet its rapid expansion carries diverse environmental consequences. Key impacts include nutrient enrichment of water bodies, leading to eutrophication and harmful algal blooms, and the accumulation of organic matter on the seabed, which can alter benthic habitats and reduce sediment oxygenation. Chemical inputs such as pesticides, antibiotics and antifoulants may persist in surrounding ecosystems, disrupting microbial and invertebrate communities and promoting antimicrobial resistance. Escapes of cultured species can introduce genetic and ecological pressures on wild populations, while intensive feed use generates waste that contributes to nutrient loading and bioaccumulation of metals. Spatial competition for coastal and freshwater resources may also affect mangroves, seagrasses and other critical habitats. To address these challenges, research has explored closed‐loop systems, polyculture and integrated multi-trophic approaches alongside improved siting and fallowing regimes. Sustainable management must balance production efficiency with ecosystem health, applying rigorous monitoring, adaptive policy and stakeholder engagement to mitigate long-term impacts and secure the resilience of aquatic environments worldwide.
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Environmental Impacts of Aquaculture Practices publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in environmental impacts of aquaculture practices across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Eutrophication: Enrichment of water bodies by nutrients, primarily nitrogen and phosphorus, leading to excessive algal growth and oxygen depletion.
Bioaccumulation: Gradual concentration of chemicals or metals in organisms over time, often through the food chain.
Antimicrobial resistance: The ability of microorganisms to withstand the effects of drugs that once eliminated them, often driven by antibiotic use in aquaculture.
Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture (IMTA): A farming approach that co-cultivates species from different trophic levels so that the waste of one serves as input for another, enhancing sustainability.
Sediment core analysis: Examination of layered seabed or riverbed samples to reconstruct historical deposition of nutrients, contaminants and organic matter.
References
- Aquaculture wastewater management in Nigeria's fisheries industry for sustainable aquaculture practices. Scientific African (2024).
- Vertical distribution and pollution assessment of TN, TP, and TOC in the sediment cores of cage farming areas in Dongshan Bay of southeast China. Frontiers in Environmental Science (2023).
- Environmental issues in Chilean salmon farming: a review. Reviews in Aquaculture (2019).
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