@article{article_528479, title={POTENTIAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF TUNA CAGE FARMING IN THE AEGEAN SEA}, journal={Aquatic Research}, volume={2}, pages={61–72}, year={2019}, DOI={10.3153/AR19008}, url={https://izlik.org/JA32GC99GD}, author={Gürses, Rıdvan Kaan and Büyükateş, Yeşim and Yiğit, Murat and Ergün, Sebahattin and Ateş, A. Suat and Özdilek, H. Göksel}, keywords={Tuna farming,Cage aquaculture,Environmental impact,Water quality}, abstract={<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6pt;margin-right:10.7pt;margin-bottom:3pt;margin-left:0cm;text-align:justify;line-height:normal;"> <span lang="en-gb" style="font-family:’Times New Roman’, serif;" xml:lang="en-gb">The present study aimed to investigate the potential impacts of Atlantic
Bluefin Tuna ( <i> <u> <span>Thunnus thynnus </span> </u> </i>)
farming in offshore cage systems in the Aegean Sea (Sığacık Bay-Izmir, Turkey),
in respect to physico-chemical water quality parameters, nutrient loads,
chlorophyll- <i>a </i>, total suspended
solids, zooplankton groups, and TRIX index calculations for the potentially
affected cage farm area and an unaffected reference site. Concentrations of
physico-chemical variables (temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, pH) in the
study carried out in May and August 2018, were within the acceptable limits for
marine aquaculture in terms of water quality characteristics. The concentrations of PO <sub>4 </sub>-P, NH <sub>4 </sub>-N,
and NO <sub>2 </sub>-N showed no temporal or spatial changes, and were recorded
below 0.01 mg/L (<0.01)
for PO <sub>4 </sub>-P and NH <sub>4 </sub>-N,
whereas lower than 0.005
mg/L (<0.005) for NO <sub>2 </sub>-N
values in both cage and reference stations in May and August 2018 periods.
Results showed low levels of TSS (0.33-11.87 mg/L), both in the cage
farm area and the reference site, remaining below the general quality criteria
of 30 mg/L for marine environment. No eutrophication risk (TRIX index, <i>T<4 </i>) was observed around the Tuna Cage
Farm Site in Sığacık Bay, according to the legislations enacted for “Sensitive
Areas of Enclosed Bays where fish farms are not allowed”. Based on these
findings, demonstrating highly
interactive trophic level variability, it can be concluded that the impacts of
the Tuna Cage Farm were not significant, possibly due to the consistent
movement of the water in currents in the study area. </span> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p>}, number={2}