A Meramod® model approach for the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of the off-shore aquaculture improvement in the Alghero Bay (North western Sardinia, Italy)

Marine fish farming generates particulate wastes which are dispersed in the sea environment. To deal with this problem, particulate waste dispersion models have been developed to predict the effects of fish cage culture. In this study, we evaluated the seabed deposition of a fish farming facility located in the central western Mediterranean by using the Meramod® model. The objectives where first to assess the actual scenario, and second to forecast the possible impact due to the forthcoming enlargement of the farming area with the addition of new fish cages. By computing the hydrodynamic measurements and the daily amount of feed recorded between July and December 2006, the impact seabed surfaces forecasted by the model increased from 5.6ha in the actual scenario, up to 7.3ha in the future. The model estimated a maximum level of total solid flux deposition of 3,800g/m2bed/year and a maximum level of total carbon flux deposition of 1,350g/m2bed/year for both scenarios. Furthermore, the model predicted that the installation of 4 new fish cages (with an hypothetical mean daily amount of feed of 50kg/cage) will produce a total solid and carbon flux deposition levels ranging 0-400 and 0-150g/m2bed/year respectively, under the new fish cages location.