Wastewater Management Through Aquaculture

Abstract

The efficient use of freshwater is an important concern for the future, because many areas in the world are facing water scarcity on a continual basis or during drought years. The major use of freshwater globally is for food production. Aquaculture is a particularly water-intensive activity, and it competes with traditional agriculture for freshwater in many areas. There is urgent need to improve water use efficiency in all types of agriculture – aquaculture included. One way of improving water use in aquaculture is by increasing the intensity of production. The largest production sector is pond aquaculture, in which fertilizers are applied to increase the availability of natural feed or manufactured feeds are applied. Fertilized ponds already tend to be managed for the highest level of production possible. The production of aquaculture feed requires a large amount of water for producing plant meals included as ingredients. The water embodied in feed often greatly exceeds the direct water use in ponds. Thus, the opportunities for reducing water use in conventional pond culture through intensification are limited