Environmentally sustainable land-based marine aquaculture

The Development of Sustainable Saltwater-Based Food Production Systems: A Review of Established and Novel Concepts

“…RASs enable up to 90%-99% of the water to be recycled and water use in saltwater RASs can be as low as 16 L/kg of fish. This is in stark contrast to conventional aquaculture systems that use 3000-45,000 L of water/kg of seafood produce [88,100,101]. RAS are flexible.…”

“…Due to the on-land and recirculatory nature of RAS, the potential for fish escapes is extremely low and 90%-99% of water is recycled. They can be located on land unsuitable for other food production methods, in urban areas or close to markets Contaminants, parasites, and diseases can be removed or treated effectively through sterilization of the reused water and all wastes can be concentrated and treated or used as an input to other production systems (e.g., agricultural fertilizer or methane generation) [2,88,89,[100][101][102][103][104]. RASs can also be located away from water bodies, further reducing the potential for fish escapes to the environment, and allowing for the culture of faster-growing fish that have been selectively bred or genetically modified without the worry of potential biological invasion [2].…”

“…If recirculated water is not properly sterilized, the reuse of water in RASs can lead to contaminants from feed and system components and diseases/pathogens accumulating in the system [18,104,111]. However, two studies by Tal et al (2009) and Martins et al (2011) found that contaminants in RASs were either below harmful levels or undetectable [90,100]. The use of denitrifying bacteria in RAS biofilm filtration systems has three possible constraints that may negatively impact survival, growth, and reproduction of the cultured organism.…”

“…RASs improve conditions for cultured fish by having greater control over environmental and water quality parameters and enhancement of feeding efficiency. Subsequently, RASs can allow for higher stocking densities than most aquacultural systems [91,100,[104][105][106][107][108][109][110] by sterilizing the water prior to (re)entry to the fish tanks, pathogens and contaminants are removed, reducing the risk of disease outbreaks and contaminant uptake by the fish [18,104,111]. Due to the on-land and recirculatory nature of RASs, the potential for fish escapes is greatly reduced [2,104].…”

Wastewater treatment for land-based aquaculture: improvements and value-adding alternatives in model systems from Australia

“…As NH 4 + is also a problematic nutrient in LBAS culturing shrimps, the use of such filters would be beneficial to promote nitrification and could be readily adapted to the large volumes of LBAS. Membrane biological reactors are also efficient in promoting microbial processes, as demonstrated in a temperate seabream system (Tal et al 2009), and NH 4 + removal is efficient over a range of salinities, from 0 to 32 ‰ in temperate IRAS (Sharrer et al 2007). However, at higher salinity the startup time for a nitrifying reactor is extended because the nitrifying microbial community takes longer (~118 d) to acclimate and become effective (Sharrer et al 2007).…”