PRJNA838716
Breakdown rates and microbial inoculation of natural sediments by salmon feces: some inconvenient truths for waste dispersal modelers
Salmon farms produce significant quantities of waste particulates, primarily in the form of fish feces which induce pronounced ecological effects beneath the farms that ease in intensity with distance away. Understanding the size, shape and characteristics of these ecological effects is an important aspect of environmental sustainability. It is also an imperative to appropriate planning and managing of aquaculture instalments, especially with respect to avoiding potentially overlapping footprints and adversely affecting any ecologically important sensitive habitats. To that end, we investigated particle brake-up and decay rates of salmon feces evaluated on two contrasting types of sediment (natural and highly enriched), on a plastic (inert) substrate with still water, and when suspended and constantly moving in turbulent water in chambers. Measurements were taken with aid of visual and image recognition techniques over a prescribe period of time. The potential for microbial inoculation of the sediments was assessed with the use of 16S rRNA metabarcoding of the feces, seawater and sediments before and after the feces were introduced.