Improving the quality of water for release from land-based aquaculture in northern Australia (Old ID 26373)
Role
Chief Investigator
Description
Effluent from land-based aquaculture farms is problematic because of its nutrient content. This project will be the first in Australia and the tropics to assess the ability of 'denitrification bioreactors' (woodchip-filled trenches) to remove suspended solids and nitrogen from effluent leaving an aquaculture farm. It will be carried out on a barramundi farm the Great Barrier Reef catchment in North Queensland. Changes in quality of water flowing through bioreactors will be measured under a range of likely operating conditions, including differences in salinity and effluent retention rate. The results will be applicable to aquaculture farms throughout the tropics, enabling a reduction in negative environmental impacts, and facilitating intensification and expansion of fish production without increasing nutrient export.
Date
01 Apr 2019 - 31 Mar 2020
Project Type
GRANT
Keywords
fish farming;Barramundi (Lates calcarifer);Water Quality;Wet Tropics;Nitrate;Great Barrier Reef
Funding Body
Department of Industry, Mainstream Aquaculture
Amount
102594
Project Team
Shannon Todd;Alex Cheesman