Untitled - CNR

number of taxaMarine research at CNRMeiofaunal Taxa2520151050Dec Apr Jul OctImpact 1 Impact 2 Control 1 Control 2Figure 3: Temporal variations of number of meiofaunal taxa at the Control and Impactedstations.to be organic enriched environments relativeto adjacent areas outside of the regionof direct impact of increased sediment accumulation[22, 23], see [24] for comparison),and differences between Impactedand Control sites were evident and significant,in this study, in all sampling periods,in terms of proteins, lipids and biopolymericcarbon concentrations.The presence of the fish farming had aconsiderable impact on the biochemicalcomposition of the sedimentary organicmatter, as in the impacted stations proteinand lipid concentration were about 2 timeshigher than in the Controls.The increase in proteins and lipids in fishfarmsediments is likely to be related to thecomposition of the food pellets provided tothe fish being reared [6]. Indeed, the foodpellets were typically composed of 48%to 52% protein and of 20% to 22% lipids,which when not consumed by the fish, accumulatesin the surface sediments beneaththe cages [23].This study highlights that changes in quantityand biochemical composition of sedimentorganic matter caused by intensiveaquaculture are critical for assessing thepresence and levels of impact induced byfish-farm activities, confirming that intensiveaquaculture can significantly contributeto benthic eutrophication processes,although the extent of the spatial effects offish-farm effluent is potentially limited.2169