Application of sustainability indicators in fish farms in the Atlantic Forest region to evaluate the environmental externality of aquaculture production

• Grant number: 18/17328-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: December 01, 2018
• End date: November 30, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Fishery Resources and Fishery Engineering - Aquaculture
• Principal Investigator: Guilherme Wolff Bueno
• Grantee: Elisa Maia de Godoy
• Host Institution: Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Registro. Registro , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The theme of environmental sustainability has been gaining the attention of the population, becoming a global concern. Given the growing demand for environmentally sustainable food, modern forms of thought and action are needed, a trend that is even more evident in cases where production directly involves the aquatic environment, especially in the case of the water resource, which is limited and finite. In this context, the present project aims to apply environmental sustainability indicators to evaluate the externalities and impacts generated by aquaculture enterprises in the Atlantic Forest region of the Ribeira Valley, state of São Paulo. A meta-analysis of zootechnical data and the collection of information on the environmental variables of two commercial Nile tilapia farms (Oreochromis niloticus) will be performed through the application of environmental sustainability indicators (ISA). In soil tanks (three units per farm) water, sediment, fish and feed samples will be collected three times throughout the production cycle, characterizing the beginning, middle and end of production (180 days). The environmental variables obtained will support the definition of ISA of each project. The indicators will be transformed into a performance scale and then the environmental sustainability indexes will be calculated by linear combination. The results will help aquaculture managers and producers in the quantification of impacts and environmental externalities generated by fish production, as well as assisting in the planning and ordering of the activity aiming at good management practices and the sustainable use of natural resources.