Aquaculture, coastal pollution and the environment

Increased aquaculture production and coastal pollution due to anthropogenic activity appear to interact, thus affecting both aquaculture and the quality of coastal waters. Further to the fact that aquaculture itself can affect the environment, some major factors that cause nuisance in coastal and surface waters and contribute to nutrient inputs include municipal wastewater and storm water discharges, combined sewer overflows, agricultural and urban run-off, and various others. While substantial progress has been made in the field of wastewater treatment in developing countries over the past decades, the management and treatment of sludge from on-site sanitation systems remains a serious problem. The issue of coastal nutrient input due to aquaculture, being a serious input source in developing countries, is extensively described and discussed in this chapter. For comparison purposes, examples of case studies regarding nutrient inputs in Europe with Cyprus as an example are also presented. The general issue of quality of coastal environment and aquaculture is emphasized and analysed based on the above-mentioned information. Mitigation measures for the control of nutrient inputs in coastal waters, both from man-made coastal sources and aquaculture are presented together with measures to protect the supply of high quality seafood.