A current practice of marine aquaculture\ud
is to integrate fish with low-trophic-level organisms\ud
(e.g. molluscs and/or algae) during farming to\ud
minimise effects of cultivation on the surrounding\ud
environment and to potentially increase economic\ud
income. This hypothesis has been tested in the\ud
present article experimentally, by co-cultivating fish\ud
and mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis) in the field.\ud
Integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA) experiments\ud
were started in July 2004 by transplanting\ud
mussel seed at two depths (-3 and -9 m) within\ud
1,000 m downstream to fish cages and at 1,000 m\ud
upstream from cages. Mussels were cultured in nylon\ud
net bags for 12 months and the growth recorded\ud
biometrically. The outcome of our field experiment\ud
corroborated the idea of IMTA effectiveness. In fact,\ud
in the study area, the organic matter from fish-farm\ud
biodeposition caused changes in the chemical environment\ud
(i.e. controls and impacted sites were\ud
significantly different for organic matter availability\ud
and chlorophyll-a) and this induced changes in\ud
growth performance of co-cultivated mussels. Mussels\ud
cultivated close to cages, under direct organic\ud
emission, reached a higher total length, weight and\ud
biomass than mussel cultivated far from farms