Water quality issues associated with aquaculture: A case study in mine pit lakes

Abstract

Abandoned mine pit lakes in Minnesota are being used for intensive aquaculture, and this has resulted in real and perceived water-quality impacts. In current net pen aquaculture operations, metabolic wastes and uneaten food are dispersed into previously oligotrophic lakewater, resulting in increased levels of phosphorus and nitrogen, oxygen depletion, and increased deposition of organic matter. Conditions necessary for algal blooms have been infrequent due to light limitation from intensive artificial aeration and circulation. Highly emotional conflicts arose over the novel use of a few of these man-made water bodies by an industry commonly perceived to be relatively "green" and heavily promoted by state and federal governments as a rapid growth industry. The combination of the industry's "newness" on the regulatory scene, coupled with the current regulatory push toward antidegradation of groundwater and regulation of agriculture, necessitated consideration of carcinogenesis, Alzheimer's disease, and antibiotic resistance transfer in addition to more conventional considerations, such as eutrophication and wildlife impacts. Water Environ. Res., 68, 995 (1996).

Estimating Water Retention in Post-mining Excavations Using LiDAR ALS Data for the Strzelin Quarry, in Lower Silesia

“…Water in flooded mines can be used for various purposes, including: recreation and tourism (bathing, swimming, diving, fishing, surfing, boating, canoeing, water skiing), wildlife habitat, aquaculture and fish farming, water management (water storage, storage of high flood, addition to low-water), drinking and industrial water reservoirs, or storage of irrigation water for agriculture and horticulture (Axler et al 1996;Ceppi et al 2014;Doupé and Lymbery 2005;Jawecki 2012;McCullough 2008;McCullough and Lund 2006;Ravazzani et al 2011;Schultze et al 2010). The potential use of mine and quarry lake water depends on both water quantity and quality (Axler et al 1996;Clews et al 2014;Doupé and Lymbery 2005;Kumar et al 2016;McCullough 2008;McCullough and Lund 2006;Schultze et al 2010).…”

“…The potential use of mine and quarry lake water depends on both water quantity and quality (Axler et al 1996;Clews et al 2014;Doupé and Lymbery 2005;Kumar et al 2016;McCullough 2008;McCullough and Lund 2006;Schultze et al 2010).…”

Widespread consumption-dependent systematic error in fish bioenergetics models and its implications

“…BEMs are appealing because they are based on balanced, energy-fate equations that have been thought to promote reasonable predictive behavior. These models have been widely used to evaluate factors that constrain fish growth (Hayward and Margraf 1987;Hill and Magnuson 1990), impacts of fish predation on prey populations (Jones et al 1993;Rand et al 1995;Kershner et al 1999), contaminant bioaccumulation in fishes (Jackson 1996), and waste loads from aquaculture (Axler et al 1994). They have also been applied to enhance understanding of basic ecological processes such as the role of fish in lake nutrient cycling (Schindler and Eby 1997), and commonly serve as subcomponents of individual-based models of fish life history and population dynamics (Trebitz 1991;Rose and Cowan 1993) and other model types (Hayes et al 2000;Burke and Rice 2002).…”

Aquaculture: an Alternative Option for the Rehabilitation of Old Mine Pits in the Pampasian Region, Southeast of Buenos Aires, Argentina

“…Aquaculture in pit lakes represents a potential means to rehabilitate these environments, improving their appearance and productivity (Axler et al 1996;Doupé and Lymbery 2005;Mallo 2007;Miller 2008;Viadero and Tierney 2003). Mine water sources are often nearly ideal in temperature, alkalinity, and pH for raising fish such as trout, and have the additional value of being devoid of any serious fish pathogens.…”