FFI, April 2005

A THREE-YEAR EU-funded project is looking at the need for fish farms to improve the management of wastewater and solids, to minimise pollution and optimise the recovery, disposal and reuse of solid waste.

AquaEtreat (Improvement and Innovation of Aquaculture Effluent Treatment Technology) is working on efficient, costeffective treatments for farm effluent water and waste.

The project also aims to devise ways to add value and re-use the waste products.

AquaEtreat links research teams in France, Italy, Denmark and the UK.

Sebastiano Vilella and Vincenzo Zonno, both from the Universita di Lecce in Italy are, respectively, responsible for the project's scientific and technical coordination.

Ifremer in France, the University of Swansea and the Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research (IGER) in Wales are also project partners.

The project is studying all types of farms - open and closed systems, fresh water and marine operations, regardless of species. New treatment and waste recuperation methods devised by the project will be tested in three different sites.

Jean-Paul Blancheton at Ifremer's Palavas-les-Flots station is working with trout farm Murgat to install a Foster Lucas-type pond, similar to those used in Denmark with good results.

"In France there is a plan to make fish farmers pay to treat water so its important that this research progresses.

In Denmark they have already do this and in the rest of the EU it will be here in a short time, " says Blancheton Italian company Maribrin, which produces seabream and seabass in a flowthrough system, and Danish trout company Hoghoj Farm, which uses recirculation , are also testing new systems.

Hydrotech which makes microscreen filters and Bluewater Flatfish, a marine turbot farm which uses recirculation, are also participating.

In addition each participating country is studying a different method of water treatment. The French team is working on the use of seaweed as a purifying agent and the treatment of waste particles.

Wales is looking at the use of wetlands for treating farm rejects while in Italy, STM Aquatrade Srl is focusing on the removal and thickening of particles. The Universita de Lecce and IGER will jointly explore sludge and its potential for use as fertiliser.

Uses for wastewater being considered are in the production of algae, aquatic plants, zooplankton or fish which can be used as feed.

Another area being looked at is the use of solid waste in the agro-industrial sector, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. Work has already been carried out successfully using treated sludge as a tomato fertiliser.

The Federation of European Aquaculture Producers (FEAP) is responsible for ensuring the new technologies are transferred to small and medium enterprises in the EU via training programmes and the dissemination of information.

"The importance of AquaEtreat can be measured by several aspects, " says FEAP's Courtney Hough.

"The optimisation of water use, the minimisation of water pollution and the optimisation of waste recovery - including its reuse and disposal - are the core of the project's goals."