Assessment of Mariculture Impact on the Environment and Human Health

Mariculture activity has recently undergone a major expansion due to increasing food demand and food diversity in the market. Intensive cultivation of organisms may cause significant changes in the environment. Input of organic matter as the result of farming activity (unconsummated food, faeces of organisms) can negatively impact on various segments, such and sediment, water and organisms, i.e. changes in chemistry of water and sediment, disappearance of certain benthic communities. This book presents a case study of fish farming impact on sediment, water and organisms within marine environment in Central Adriatic Sea. Various methods (elemental analysis, sequential leaching procedure, mineralogy, sedimentology, stable isotope analysis, and benthic fluxes) were used to evaluate the degree of influence on the ecosystem around the fish farm. On the basis of the value of potentially toxic elements in cultured organisms the risk to human health was assessed. The work presents comprehensive ecological study that evaluates the impact of human activity on the environment and an example of the establishment of risks to human health due to the ingestion of cultured organisms.