Water Management for Sustainable Brackishwater Aquaculture in Coastal Ecosystem-Innovative Approaches

Abstract

Brackishwater aquaculture is a coastal farming activity, which aims at deriving maximum benefits from unproductive and marginally productive coastal lands and brackish water bodies, and it has contributed significantly to the progress of the country’s economy as well as the economic well-being of the rural poor. It is a fast-growing food industry, and the success mainly depends on the availability of good and adequate quality source water and water management during culture. Hence, the water management in coastal brackishwater aquaculture is paramount, which starts with the identification of good quality and adequate water resources, water monitoring during culture for maintenance of the optimum water quality, and discharge water management by reducing, reusing recycling, and remediation technologies. Coastal watershed-based integrated water resource management using the advancement in geospatial modeling, remote sensing, and geographical information system (GIS) helps to identify the potential site, water source, and its salinity regime during different seasons and to minimize the impact of upstream activities on the coastal aquaculture as well as the impact of aquaculture on coastal ecosystem. Of late intensive coastal aquaculture is rapidly expanding with the introduction of Penaeus vannamei which uses large water volume and high protein content in feed which results in significant nutrient-rich effluents. Recirculating aquaculture systems (RASs) seem to be a solution. Development and advancement of RAS, raceways, integrated multi tropic aquaculture (IMTA), zero water exchange systems, biofloc, seaweed bioremediation, algal bioreactor-based RAS, and aquaponics offer scope for higher productivity with better water management practices that maintain the serenity of coastal ecosystems. In the present article, all the above-mentioned water management technologies in brackish water aquaculture have been discussed for pristine coastal ecosystems.