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Abstract
An experiment was conducted to evaluate the amount of wastes discharged from fish
ponds during harvest and to assess pond draining schemes and harvest techniques that may
reduce waste loading in effluent water. Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) were cultured for
113119 days in twelve 200 m2 ponds with fertilization and supplementary pelleted feed.
There were four treatments with three replicates each: (A) ponds were treated with teaseed
cake at a rate of 10 ppm to partially anaesthetize tilapia 1.5 h prior to harvest by three
seinings without draining ponds; (B) ponds were limed at a rate of 75 ppm calcium hydroxide
24 h prior to harvest and drained by sequential complete draining, and then tilapia were
collected from a harvesting pit; (C) ponds were drained by sequential complete draining and
tilapia were collected from a harvesting pit; and (D) ponds were drawn from 100 to 50 cm
and tilapia were harvested by two seinings, followed by complete draining and collection of
the remaining tilapia from a harvesting pit. Treatment D is the common practice in
Thailand. The harvest efficiency was 97% in treatment A. Comparing the harvest efficiency
for the first two seinings, there were no significant differences between treatments A and D.
Liming in treatment B resulted in significantly higher concentrations of 5 day biochemical
0144-8609/01/$ - see front matter 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 1 4 4 - 8 6 0 9 ( 0 1 ) 0 0 0 7 6 - 0
126 C.K. Lin et al. / Aquacultural Engineering 25 (2001) 125135
oxygen demand, total settable matter, total solids and total phosphorus (TP) in the water
discharged from the last 25 cm depth than those at both 100 50 and 50 25 cm depths, while
there were no significant differences in effluent quality parameters among different depths in
both treatments C and D. Concentrations of all effluent quality parameters in the water
discharged from the last 25 cm depth in treatment B were higher than those in treatments C
and D. Seining in treatment D resulted in the highest concentrations of all effluent quality
parameters except TP at middle depth. Compared with the common draining practice,
adoption of the sequential complete draining schemes (treatments B and C) caused 33 86%
reductions for different effluent quality parameters except total nitrogen and TP in the
discharged wastes. The present experiment showed that the use of teaseed cake to anaes-
thetize tilapia could allow effective harvest by seining, without draining the pond. Alterna-
tively, the discharge of potential pollutants from ponds into the environment could be
reduced by sequential complete draining of ponds and collecting fish from harvesting pit
(treatments B and C), and can be further reduced by modification of sequential partial
draining of pond water level to 25 cm above pond bottom and seining fish without further
draining. The present experiment demonstrated that appropriate management in pond
draining and fish harvest could minimize the environmental impacts of pond effluents.
2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction
Seok et al., 1995). Several strategies of draining and harvesting could reduce such
effects from channel catfish ponds (Hollerman and Boyd, 1985; Schwartz and Boyd,
1995; Kouka and Engle, 1996; Tucker et al., 1996; Ghate et al., 1997).
The purposes of this study were to assess several harvest techniques, to evaluate
the amount of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and solids discharged from waters of
Nile tilapia ponds during draining at harvest, and to identify fish harvest techniques
that may reduce the loading of nutrients and solids in effluent waters.
Pond water column samples, taken biweekly at 09:00 h, were analyzed for total
alkalinity, total ammonia nitrogen (TAN), nitrite nitrogen, nitrite nitrate nitrogen,
total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN), soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP), total phospho-
rus (TP), organic carbon, chlorophyll a, total suspended solids (TSS), and volatile
suspended solids (VSS) using standard methods (APHA et al., 1985; Egna et al.,
1987). Temperature, dissolved oxygen (DO), pH (at 20 cm below the water surface),
and Secchi disk depth were measured in situ according to the same schedule. In
addition, monthly diel temperature, DO, and pH were determined at 06:00, 09:00,
14:00, 16:00, 18:00, 23:00, and 06:00 h next day in each pond.
During harvest, effluent samples were collected from treatments B, C and D
when pond water levels were 100 50, 5025, and 250 cm, respectively. For a
pond, three effluent samples were collected at each water level at the beginning,
middle and end of draining, and mixed to provide a single representative sample.
The effluent samples were analyzed for TP, total solids (TS), total volatile solids
(TVS), TSS, VSS, total settleable matter (TSM), and 5 day biochemical oxygen
demand (BOD5) using standard methods (APHA et al., 1985; Egna et al., 1987),
and total nitrogen (TN) using the method described by Raveh and Avnimelech
(1979).
Data were analyzed statistically by one-way analysis of variance (Steele and
Torrie, 1980) using SPSS (version 7.0) statistical software package (SPSS Inc.,
Chicago, USA). Differences were considered significant at an alpha level of 0.05.
Statistical analyses for percentage values (%) were performed on arcsine trans-
formed data. Their mean values are given in the back-transformed scale followed
by their confidence limits. All other means are given with 91S.E.
3. Results
Table 1
Mean values of water quality parameters measured over the culture period but prior to harvest/drain-
ing in different treatments
Parameters Treatments
A B C D
Temperature (C) 30.89 0.2 31.0 90.2 31.1 9 0.2 30.8 90.1
DO at dawn (mg l1) 0.29 0.1 0.1 90.0 0.2 90.1 0.2 9 0.1
pH 7.4 (7.27.6) 7.3 (7.17.5) 7.6 (7.57.6) 7.5 (7.37.6)
Secchi disk visibility (cm) 7.39 1.3 10.0 91.1 10.7 93.0 10.0 92.0
Alkalinity (mg l1 as 117928 65 916 163 915 121 9 19
CaCO3)
TAN (mg l1) 1.939 1.08 3.59 91.67 1.03 90.91 1.54 9 1.10
TKN (mg l1) 4.7192.36 8.33 90.97 4.68 90.97 7.04 91.42
SRP (mg l1) 0.469 0.36 0.06 90.02 0.30 9 0.25 0.16 90.02
TP (mg l1) 0.979 0.36 0.58 90.06 0.76 9 0.23 0.83 90.08
Chlorophyll a (mg m3) 2469 83 122 923 156 9 37 192 9 77
TSS (mg l1) 2109 42 122 9 7 160 9 43 142 9 11
VSS (mg l1) 47910 38 9 7 34 98 43 9 8
Organic carbon (mg l1) 92.359 5.32 88.40 9 5.57 99.42 9 11.98 97.14 9 9.09
A, seining fish in undrained ponds but treated with teaseed cake (treatment A). B, limed ponds followed
by sequentially complete draining and harvest (treatment B). C, sequentially complete draining and
harvest (treatment C). D, seining fish in partially drained ponds and collecting the remaining fish in
harvesting pits after complete drainage (treatment D).
130 C.K. Lin et al. / Aquacultural Engineering 25 (2001) 125135
Table 2
Efficiency of the different harvest techniques
A B and C D
A, seining fish in undrained ponds but treated with teaseed cake (treatment A). B and C, collecting fish
from harvesting pits in drain ponds (treatments B and C). D, seining fish in partially drained ponds and
collecting the remaining fish in harvesting pits after complete drainage (treatment D). Mean values with
different superscript letters (c and d) in the same row were significantly different (PB0.05).
a
The number of fish not collected during seining in treatment A was determined by the application
of a lethal dose of teaseed cake to ponds.
5025 cm depth (Table 4). Sequential complete draining without liming (treatment
C) resulted in significantly lower amount of discharged BOD5, TSM, TSS, VSS and
TN than common draining practice (treatment D) (PB0.05). The discharged
amounts of BOD5, TSM, TSS and VSS by sequential complete draining with liming
(treatment B) were not significantly different from those by sequential complete
draining without liming (treatment C) and common draining practice (treatment D)
(P\ 0.05), however, sequential complete draining with liming (treatment B) re-
sulted in significantly higher discharged amount of TN than sequential complete
draining without liming (treatment C) (PB 0.05).
4. Discussion
The commonly used Thai practice of partially draining a pond from 100 to 50
cm, seining twice, then completely draining to collect the remaining fish (as
incorporated in treatment D) resulted in a large amount of waste being discharged.
The wastes discharged from 1 ha pond would be equivalent to 1.6 t of BOD5, 210.5
m3 of TSM, 43.1 t of TS, 4.3 t of TVS, 38.2 t of TSS, 3.6 t of VSS, 107 kg of TN,
and 7 kg of TP. Sequential complete draining (as incorporated in treatments B and
C) resulted in less discharged BOD5 and solids than treatment D, however,
discharged TN in treatment B was higher than that in treatment D, and discharged
TP was higher in both treatments B and C than that in treatment D (Table 4).
Compared with the common Thai practice (treatment D), adoption of the sequen-
tial complete draining schemes (treatments B and C) caused 3386% reductions for
different water quality parameters except TN and TP in the discharged wastes
(Table 5).
C.K. Lin et al. / Aquacultural Engineering 25 (2001) 125135 131
Table 3
Effluent quality parameters using different draining schemes
Water quality Treatments Pond water levels during draining Weighted means
parameters
10050 cm 5025 cm 250 cm
B, limed ponds followed by sequentially complete draining and harvest (treatment B). C, sequentially
complete draining and harvest (treatment C). D, seining fish in partially drained ponds and collecting the
remaining fish in harvesting pits after complete drainage (treatment D). Mean values with different
superscript letters (b, c and d) in the same column for each parameter were significantly different
(PB0.05). Mean values with different subscript letters (x and y) in the same row for different pond water
depths were significantly different (PB0.05).
132 C.K. Lin et al. / Aquacultural Engineering 25 (2001) 125135
Table 4
Calculated amount of discharged wastes and percentage distribution at different water depths during
draining using different draining schemes
BOD5 (kg ha1) B 287937x (28.7) 140912bx (14.1) 571 9 67y (57.2) 998 944bc
C 2579 51 (43.5) 1179 32b (19.8) 217 9 55 (36.7) 590 9 123b
D 4279 199 (27.1) 658973c (41.7) 492 9133 (31.2) 1577 9 360c
TSM (m3 ha1) B 0.39 0.2x (0.4) 0.5 90.1bx (0.5) 92.59 25.0y (99.1) 93.3 9 24.8bc
C 1.090.3 (3.5) 0.8 90.1b (2.6) 26.8 917.0 (93.9) 28.5 917.2b
D 18.099.7 (8.6) 129.2941.5c 63.3 9 24.6 (30.0) 210.5 955.6c
(61.4)
TS (t ha1) B 5.19 0.1x (20.6) 2.8 90.1x (18.8) 14.99 3.4y (60.6) 22.8 93.2
C 5.39 0.1 (31.3) 2.6 90.2 (15.7) 8.9 93.1 (53.0) 16.8 9 3.4
D 8.691.7 (20.0) 21.799.6 (50.4) 12.7 9 2.7 (29.6) 43.1 911.8
TVS (t ha1) B 0.890.1x (27.7) 0.49 0.0bx (13.5) 1.7 90.3y (58.8) 2.9 90.3
C 0.790.1 (36.0) 0.4 90.1b (17.9) 1.0 90.3 (46.1) 2.1 90.4
D 0.890.1x (19.1) 2.2 90.6cy (50.7) 1.3 90.3xy (30.2) 4.3 9 0.8
TSS (t ha1) B 0.69 0.0x (3.9) 0.4 9 0.1bx (2.9) 14.2 93.7y (93.2) 15.2 93.6bc
C 1.49 0.1x (19.9) 0.7 90.1bx (9.8) 4.9 91.7y (70.3) 7.0 91.9b
D 4.29 2.0 (10.9) 22.9 98.4c (60.0) 11.1 93.2 (29.1) 38.2 911.4c
VSS (t ha1) B 0.29 0.0bx (11.2) 0.1 90.0bx (6.8) 1.4 90.3y (82.0) 1.7 90.3b
C 0.39 0.0bx (28.8) 0.1 90.0bx (11.1) 0.6 90.2y (60.1) 1.0 90.2b
D 0.59 0.1c (14.0) 2.0 90.6c (56.6) 1.1 90.3 (29.4) 3.6 90.8c
TN (kg ha1) B 50.398.4 (36.1) 38.39 5.9b (27.5) 50.7 98.4b (36.4) 139.3 915.6b
C 24.79 2.1x (42.0) 12.891.7cy (21.8) 21.2 91.8cx (36.2) 58.7 91.9c
D 36.896.5 (34.5) 38.89 4.5b (36.3) 31.3 94.1c (29.2) 106.9 99.8b
TP (kg ha1) B 2.990.5x (28.8) 1.6 90.2x (15.7) 5.6 90.6by (55.5) 10.1 90.3
C 4.49 1.0 (42.3) 2.2 90.5 (20.9) 3.8 90.2c (36.8) 10.4 91.4
D 3.190.1x (43.9) 1.8 90.1y (24.6) 2.3 90.3dy (31.5) 7.2 9 0.3
B, limed ponds followed by sequentially complete draining and harvest (treatment B). C, sequentially
complete draining and harvest (treatment C). D, seining fish in partially drained ponds and collecting the
remaining fish in harvesting pits after complete drainage (treatment D). Mean values with different
superscript letters (b, c and d) in the same column for each parameter were significantly different
(PB0.05). Mean values with different subscript letters (x and y) in the same row for different pond water
depths were significantly different (PB0.05). Percentage values are given in the parenthesis.
liming concentrates pollutants in the pond bottom waters, because lime caused
coagulation and precipitation of organic matter and phosphorus (Hansell and
Boyd, 1980; Thomas, 1990; Masuda and Boyd, 1994; Angeline et al., 1995). Hence,
if ponds are limed, careful treatment of bottom water during drainage disposal
should be considered. However, significant higher TN concentrations in sequential
C.K. Lin et al. / Aquacultural Engineering 25 (2001) 125135 133
Table 5
Percentages of decrease in wastes discharged from ponds using different draining schemes (B, modified
B, C, and modified C) compared to normal draining practice (treatment D)
BOD5 37 73 63 76
TSM 56 100 86 99
TS 47 82 61 82
TVS 33 72 51 74
TSS 60 100 82 100
VSS 53 92 72 89
TNa 30 17 45 65
TPa 40 38 44 8
B, limed ponds followed by sequentially complete draining and harvest (treatment B). Modified B,
liming ponds followed by sequentially partial draining to 25 cm above pond bottom and harvest without
further draining. C, sequentially complete draining and harvest (treatment C). Modified C, sequentially
partial draining to 25 cm above pond bottom and harvest without further draining.
a
The negative values mean the increase in percentages in wastes discharged from ponds.
134 C.K. Lin et al. / Aquacultural Engineering 25 (2001) 125135
Acknowledgements
The authors wish to thank Mr D.P. Thakur, Mr Y. Manoj and Mr P. Supat, the
Asian Institute of Technology, for their field and lab assistance. This research is a
component of the Pond Dynamics/Aquaculture Collaborative Research Support
Program (PD/A CRSP) supported by the US Agency for International Develop-
ment, grant no. DAN-4023-G-00-0031-00, and by contributions from the Univer-
sity of Michigan and the Asian Institute of Technology. Dr Madhav K. Shrestha is
a postdoctoral fellow supported by the project. This is PD/A CRSP accession no.
1222.
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