Aquaculture water use refers to the quantity, quality, and management of water required for culturing aquatic organisms in controlled or semi-controlled systems, and encompasses both consumptive and non-consumptive components. It includes water withdrawals for ponds, raceways, cages, recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS), and integrated multi-trophic systems, as well as flows for dilution, temperature regulation, oxygenation, and waste dispersion. Scientifically, it is characterized through metrics such as water footprint, evaporation and seepage losses, exchange rates, and pollution loading, and is central to assessing environmental impacts, resource efficiency, carrying capacity, and sustainability of aquaculture operations within watershed and coastal-zone management frameworks.
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