Guidelines for aquaculture effluent management at the farm-level

Pressure from environmental groups will force most governments to impose effluent regulations on aquaculture. Shrimp and fish producers are concerned that these regulations will be unnecessarily restrictive and expensive. Most pond aquaculture cannot be conducted without discharge. Fish and shrimp farms tend to be concentrated in specific regions, but typically they are sprawling operations where large volumes of relatively dilute effluents are released at many points. Effluents from pond aquaculture resemble non-point sources of pollution more than point sources. Thus, application of traditional effluent treatment methods to meet effluent standards, as done for point source pollution, will be difficult or impossible. Many involved in aquaculture believe that application of best management practices (BMPs) could be a reasonable and affordable way to improve the quality and reduce the volume of pond effluents. During recent years, several organizations have suggested systems of BMPs for making pond aquaculture more environmentally responsible. These include international development organizations (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and International Finance Corporation), industry groups (Global Aquaculture Alliance, Australian Prawn Producers Association, Marine Shrimp Culture Industry of Thailand, and Alabama Catfish Producers), a research center (Coastal Resources Center, University of Rhode Island), and state agencies in the USA (Missouri Department of Natural Resources and Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services). The contents of BMP documents presented by the different groups are remarkably similar. Although the BMP approach is largely a "paper list" at present, the topic is being discussed widely, and producers are becoming more aware of environmental issues. There is an obvious attempt by producers in Latin America, Asia, Australia, and the United States to improve production practices, and some producers are voluntarily adopting BMPs. Many shrimp producers in several nations have installed settling basins, and a few large shrimp farms monitor effluent quality. The Aquaculture Certification Council (ACC) plans to implement a certification program based primarily on compliance with BMPs during 2003. There also is considerable discussion among producers and governmental agencies in several nations regarding BMPs, and it is expected that regulatory programs based on BMPs will be forthcoming. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.