Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 August 2009
Aquaculture, like any other industry, has the potential to generate pollutants for which the aquaculturist may be held legally responsible. Some of the pollutants created by aquaculture operations include both organic materials originating from excess primary production or inefficient supplemental feeding and toxic compounds such as herbicides, pesticides, and fish poisons. It is possible to utilize excess organic effluents for beneficial purposes such as culturing additional algal and animal species.
Construction of aquaculture facilities can result in physical alteration of the environment—including changes in circulation patterns, increased sedimentation, interference with freshwater input to the estuary, and direct destruction of productive areas. Intensive raft-culture may interfere with natural estuarine production.
Finally, the potentially serious threat from wide spread dissemination of culture species is discussed. Possible problems include introduction of pathogens and all of the ecological problems that are commonly associated with introduced species.