Use biological, chemical or mechanical methods to manage excess pollution from aquaculture effluents

Overall effectiveness category No evidence found (no assessment)
Number of studies: 0
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Effectiveness

not assessed
Certainty

not assessed
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not assessed

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Background information and definitions

Aquaculture systems may discharge a range of pollutants into the marine environment, including faeces, excess feed and nutrients, and chemicals, such as disinfectants, antifoulants, pesticides, herbicides, and drugs for disease control. Effluents from aquaculture facilities can cause changes in nutrient levels and microbial communities in the marine environment (Becker et al. 2017) and increased nutrient loads in coastal waters have the potential to negatively impact on corals (Zhao et al. 2021). A range of biological, chemical or mechanical methods may be employed to manage excess pollutants from aquaculture facilities (Turcios et al. 2014), including the use of reagents (Karia et al. 2022), certain invertebrates (Gómez et al. 2019) or algae (Lugo et al. 2020), or constructed wetlands (Huang et al. 2019).

This action includes studies that report the effects of removing pollutants from existing levels of aquculture effluent. Studies that report the effect of reducing the amount of aquculture pollution that is produced are described in Reduce pollution from aquaculture effluents. Aquaculture/mariculture systems also pose serious environment risks by promoting the spread of non-native, invasive, and pest species and diseases. Evidence for actions related to non-native, invasive and pest species is summarised in Threat: Invasive and other problematic species, genes and diseases - Aquaculture.

^{Becker C., Hughen K., Mincer T.J., Ossolinski J., Weber L. & Apprill A. (2017) Impact of prawn farming effluent on coral reef water nutrients and microorganisms. Aquaculture Environment Interactions, 9, 331–346. https://doi.org/10.3354/aei00238.}

^{Gómez S., Hurtado C.F. & Orellana J. (2019) Bioremediation of organic sludge from a marine recirculating aquaculture system using the polychaete Abarenicola pusilla (Quatrefages, 1866). Aquaculture, 507, 377-384. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aquaculture.2019.04.033.}

^{Huang X.F., Ye G.Y., Yi N.K., Lu L.J., Zhang L., Yang L.Y., Xiao L. & Liu J. (2019) Effect of plant physiological characteristics on the removal of conventional and emerging pollutants from aquaculture wastewater by constructed wetlands. Ecological Engineering, 135, 45–53. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoleng.2019.05.017}

^{Karia M.T., Haziq A.H., Ramli N.M., Zuhan M.K.N.M. & Razali M.N. (2022) Remediation of aquaculture effluents using physical treatment. Materials Today: Proceedings, 57, 1196–1201. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2021.10.386.}

^{Lugo L.A., Thorarinsdottir R.I., Bjornsson S., Palsson O.P., Skulason H., Johannsson S. & Brynjolfsson S. (2020) Remediation of aquaculture wastewater using the microalga Chlorella sorokiniana. Water, 12, 3144. https://doi.org/10.3390/w12113144.}

^{Turcios A.E. & Papenbrock J. (2014) Sustainable treatment of aquaculture effluents—what can we learn from the past for the future? Sustainability, 6, 836–856. https://doi.org/10.3390/su6020836.}

^{Zhao H., Yuan M., Strokal M., Wu H.C., Liu X., Murk A., Kroeze C. & Osinga R. (2021) Impacts of nitrogen pollution on corals in the context of global climate change and potential strategies to conserve coral reefs. Science of the Total Environment, 774, 145017. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.145017.}

Key messages

We found no studies that evaluated the effects on corals of using biological, chemical or mechanical methods to manage excess pollution from aquaculture effluents.

‘We found no studies’ means that we have not yet found any studies that have directly evaluated this action during our systematic journal and report searches. Therefore, we have no evidence to indicate whether or not the action has any desirable or harmful effects.

About key messages

Key messages provide a descriptive index to studies we have found that test this intervention.

Studies are not directly comparable or of equal value. When making decisions based on this evidence, you should consider factors such as study size, study design, reported metrics and relevance of the study to your situation, rather than simply counting the number of studies that support a particular interpretation.

Please cite as:

Thornton A., Morgan, W.H., Bladon E.K., Smith R.K. & Sutherland W.J. (2024) Coral Conservation: Global evidence for the effects of actions. Conservation Evidence Series Synopsis. University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.

Where has this evidence come from?

List of journals searched by synopsis

All the journals searched for all synopses

This Action forms part of the Action Synopsis:

Coral Conservation

Related Actions

	Actions	Effectiveness	Studies	Category
	Use biological, chemical or mechanical methods to manage excess pollution from aquaculture effluents Action Link	No evidence found (no assessment)	0	Synopsis Link
	Reduce pollution from aquaculture effluents Action Link	No evidence found (no assessment)	0	Synopsis Link