Abstract
Fish farms often cause environmental degradation to the surrounding aquatic areas when they operate for a long time. In this study, a simple numerical model was developed to evaluate the water quality (dissolved inorganic nitrogen, dissolved oxygen) of fish farms. This model consisted of a conventional ecosystem model with an added "cultured fish" component.
This model was applied to represent the material cycling in a red sea bream culture at Hazamaura, Gokasho Bay, Japan.The analysis was carried out on the basis of field data collected from 1986-1989.
In order to verify the model, the simulated concentrations of dissolved inorganic nitrogen and dissolved oxygen were compared to observed concentrations. The simulated results were in good agreement with the observational data for the whole year. In the simulated nitrogen and dissolved oxygen cycle, we found that the factors causing water pollution (eutrophication, anoxia, etc.) were: excretion by the cultured fishes, river load and benthic regeneration in summer, an increase in organic substances from feed scraps and an increase in dissolved inorganic nitrogen through mineralization in winter.
