Changes in water quality affect fish behavior in aquaculture productions, influencing their growth and welfare, Fish Ethho Group, a association that studies the welfare of water animals, said.
The study, where he participated the association leader and researcher at the University of Algarve (Ualg) João Saraiva, concluded that he “importance of guaranteeing appropriate environmental parameters to ensure efficient and sustainable aquaculture production,” the group said in a statement.
According to researchers, the results highlight the need to implement “practices that ensure good environmental conditions for fish, not only in view of their health and well-being, but also to maximize the efficiency of aquaculture”.
“We managed to exhaustively catalog the behavioral consequences of the main sources of water quality alteration,” says João Saraiva, co -author of the investigation cited in the note.
At the same time, the leader of the Investigation Group on Ethology and Animal Welfare of the Sea Science Center (CCMAR) at the University of Algarve, has been found to what extent not only behavior changes, but also as “ Change in water parameters influence fish well-being ”.
The scientific review has analyzed several factors that influence the poolic production, including physical variables such as temperature and chemicals such as dissolved oxygen, salinity, pH and inorganic nitrogen.
“In addition to classic water quality parameters in the context of fish production, we also include forms of pollution, such as microplastics and raw, which affect open water productions,” says João Saraiva.
These variables “affect not only physiology, metabolism and fish organs, but also interfere with their sensory perception, conditioning fundamental behaviors such as swimming, shoed formation, food, defense against predators, aggressiveness and mating as well as adaptive and stress -related behaviors, such as exploration, escape response and anxiety. ”
Thus, the researcher stresses, “it was possible to elaborate a catalog of very complete behavioral indicators, which allows to identify problems in water quality, complementing the very measurement of these parameters.”
It is a non-profit association that has the mission of studying and improving the welfare of aquatic animals, bridging the science and the aquaculture sector, applying scientific knowledge, both in aquaculture and fisheries.
The association works directly with European Union agencies, international companies and research institutions.
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