Impact of fish farms on the distribution of organic matters in the Aegean Sea: A case study

In this study, the abundance and almost monthly variations of dissolved (DOC) and particulate (POC) organic carbon in seawater, organic and total, carbon and nitrogen percentages in the sediment were analysed to observe the potential impacts of aquaculture in Ildırı Bay in the Aegean Sea between December 2008-February 2011. Beside DOC and POC, inorganic nutrients and physical parameters were also investigated. Phytoplankton and detrital fractions of POC determined from the measured POC and Chlorophyll a (Chl a) values. Statistical analysis has been used to investigate the reason of these variables? similarities and differences within the stations and correlations and regressions within the parameters.Due to the fish farm and land based nutrient inputs, the levels of nutrients were found to be high at the coastal stations, K1 and K2. The particulate organic matter concentrations varied between BDL-353 mikroM for POC, BDL-62.1 mikroM for PON, BDL-7 mikroM for Total Particulate Phosphorus (TPP) in the study area. The C:N:P ratio of Particulate Organic Matter (POM) derived from the regression analysis in the area were 43:9:1. Spatial distribution of particulate matter ratios varied from the Redfield ratio. POC: Chla ratio for the study is observed 154:1.Despite the eutrophic (only for theupper limits) levels of inorganic nutrients and Chl a, any enrichment of organic matter in the vicinity of the cages has not yet led to notable eutrophication phenomena due to the best site selection (waste matter would be diluted by the sea because of the rapid flushing ) and the succesful management of the aquaculture facility.