Attachment 1
Page 1 of 2 ______
IALC Proposal No. [IALC use only]
IALC RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT PROJECT PROPOSAL COVER PAGES
TITLE: (maximum of 65 characters)Shrimp Aquaculture and Olive Production – Sustainable Integration
IALC FUNDS REQUESTED: $ [in U.S. Dollars] / PROJECT DURATION: [in months]
Names & Signatures of Investigators AND
Institutional Authorities AND
Israeli or Jordanian RADAC Member (when applicable) / REQUIRED: A Listing of the Each Person’s
Complete Title, Name of Institution, Address,
Telephone, Fax Number, and E-mail address.
Name of Principal Investigator #1 (required)
Kevin Fitzsimmons / Research Scientist, University of Arizona
2601 E. Airport Dr., Tucson, AZ 85706
Phone: (520) 626-3324
FAX: (520) 573-0852
E-mail:
Signature of Principal Investigator #1 (required)
Name of Investigator #2 (when applicable)
Samuel Appelbaum / Aquaculture Laboratory
The Albert Katz Department of Dryland Biotechnologies
The Jacob Blaustein Institute for Desert Research
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
Sede Boker Campus 84990 Israel
E-mail:
Signature of Investigator #2 (required if listed)
Name of Institutional Authority of Principal Investigator #1 (required)
Richard C. Powell / Vice President for Research, University of Arizona
888N. Euclid, #510, P.O. Box 3308
Tucson, AZ 85722-3308
Phone: (520) 626-6000
FAX: (520) 626-4137
E-mail:
Signature of Institutional Authority of Principal Investigator #1 (required)
Name of Institutional Authority of Investigator #2 (when applicable)
Signature of Institutional Authority of Investigator #2 (required if listed)
Name of Israeli or Jordanian RADAC Member (required when applicable)
Signature of Israeli or Jordanian RADC Member (required if listed)
Expansion of a previously-funded IALC project? Yes No x If yes, IALC Project No:______
If yes, what if the title of the existing IALC project and its funding level?
IALC FY2001
Research & Development Project Proposal
I. SUMMARY
Shrimp Aquaculture and Olive Production – Sustainable Integration
The image of shrimp aquaculture around the world has typically been one of environmental devastation and resource waste. In order for the industry to thrive, culture practices designed to alleviate the pressure placed on the environment and management philosophies concerned with the future as well as the present, need to be identified and optimized. The development of new technologies and management practices are improving the sustainability of the aquaculture industry. Recent advances in the understanding of shrimp physiology have led to the introduction of shrimp farming to Arizona, California, Texas and Florida using water with low Total Dissolved Solids (1,000 - 4,000 ppm). Several of these shrimp operations have been integrated into existing field crop farms using groundwater to first grow shrimp and then irrigate conventional crops. If this practice proves to be sustainable, it could be an important new production technology in arid and semi arid regions of the world.
The proposed research will focus on production and sustainability of an effluent irrigated field crop. This will be accomplished via two distinct research foci. One will be a field evaluation of the impacts of using full strength effluent from the shrimp ponds on an olive crop. The second will be a long term monitoring of soil and ground water impacts from the use of these slightly saline effluents.
Over the past three years, any effluent generated by the production of shrimp at a commercial farm in Arizona has subsequently been used for the irrigation of various field crops including, olives, wheat, cotton and sorghum. The volume of nutrient enriched water available is only a small fraction of the total irrigation water used, thereby masking any potential growth enhancing effects or potential detrimental effects. Preliminary water quality data has been collected for one year to develop baseline information. A field study will be conducted over three years with the following objectives:
· determine the benefits of irrigating with aquacultural effluents
· determine any detrimental effects on soils
· quantify any reduction of demand for chemical fertilizers
· demonstrate an efficient utilization of scarce water resources
· organize and conduct an international arid lands aquaculture workshop in Israel
The field trial will examine four possible effluent/well water/fertilizer combinations. Each treatment will be applied to 25 olive trees (Olea europaea var. manzanillo), planted in 18-liter pots. After the plot is laid out and initial measurements made (height, canopy diameter and maximum stem diameter), trees will be randomly assigned to one of the four treatments. Subsequent growth of the trees will be monitored monthly while the shrimp farm is generating a sufficient quantity of effluent. Due to salt content in the water (1,500 – 3,000 ppm) soil salinization is a major concern. Soil samples from each of the four treatments will be analyzed for salt and macro-nutrients prior to potting, mid-way through the summer and at the end of the growing season. Soil samples from the farm at-large will also be collected and analyzed.
The findings of this research will be shared with the public through a variety of channels, each designed to target a specific audience. Extension workshops and bulletins will be produced to report and discuss the findings with local aquaculture and agriculture producers interested in diversification. Additionally, the findings will be published in the scientific literature as well as being made available on the Internet at a Website dedicated to Arid Lands Aquaculture.
Keywords: nutrient recovery, soil salinization
II. PROPOSED RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT
Low-salinity groundwater is an abundant resource under many arid regions. Achieving efficient and non-injurious use of this water would make an important contribution to developing additional agricultural industries in arid regions around the world. Recent advances in the understanding of shrimp physiology have led to the introduction of shrimp farming to Israel, Arizona, California, Texas and Florida using water with Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) of less than 1,500 ppm. Some of these shrimp operations have been incorporated into existing field crop farms that use groundwater to irrigate conventional crops. Inland shrimp farming started as niche production of Specific Pathogen Free broodstock. The broodstock animals were certified to be disease free, usually by the Shrimp Pathology group at University of Arizona. These are highly valued animals and are sold to hatcheries throughout the Western Hemisphere often at prices of $50 apiece. As farmers learned how to rear these animals they realized that they could raise large numbers of shrimp at costs only slightly higher than those grown in Latin America. Some of the competitive advantages of these farms are that they minimize the potential for disease transmission to or from wild shrimp, their effluents do not contaminate the marine environment and most importantly, the nutrient enriched wastewater is being used to irrigate field crops. They are able to market the shrimp as locally grown with same day delivery direct from the pond. Farmers and investors in Israel, California, Arizona, New Mexico, West Texas and Florida have proposed several additional inland shrimp farms. This project will assess the feasibility of irrigation with low-salinity aquaculture effluent and address several of the potential environmental problems associated with aquacultural effluent disposal.
In traditional land based aquaculture, fresh water effluents can be applied to any number of agricultural products. Coastal shrimp farming with brackish water effluents often contribute to the eutrophication of receiving waters (Paez-Osuna et al., 1998; Diergerb and Kiattisimkul, 1996). Shrimp pathogens have also been shown to be transferable in farm effluents (Lightner, 1993). Stringent government regulations and increased awareness of the impacts of effluents on receiving waters have led to the development of new technologies and innovations, helping to ensure that the aquaculture industry is sustainable and economically viable.
Some of the recent innovations concerning effluents include pond based recirculating systems (Rosati and Respicio, 1999), constructed wetlands (LaSalle et al., 1999) and decreased water discharge (Hopkins et al., 1993). These innovations can significantly reduce the load of organics and metabolites in the discharge water. None of these solutions provide an additional use for the limited water resources. This is especially important in arid and semi-arid regions around the world. Inland low-salinity aquaculture addresses many of the environmental concerns plaguing coastal aquaculture.
In recent years, inland saline waters have been used for the commercial production of several marine species including; redfish (Fosberg et al., 1996; Fosberg and Neill, 1997), white shrimp (Samocha et al., 1998) and tiger prawns (Cawthorne et al., 1983: Flaherty and Vandergeest, 1998). In all of these cases, effluents were discharged into large bodies of freshwater that effectively diluted the salinity of the effluent.
Research results obtained by Samocha et al. (1998) indicate that Penaeid shrimp can be cultured in low salinity water (2,000 – 8,000 ppm) with survival reaching 100% and a weekly growth rate up to 1.7 grams. Flaherty and Vandergeest (1998) suggest that with the ability of shrimp aquaculture to utilize low-salinity water, the industry is no longer restricted to coastal regions. This change in location does, however, present the problem of effluent disposal, as concerns over the salinization of soils and contamination of surface water are both valid.
Current research is focused on the characterization and evaluation of effluent from an inland shrimp farm as an irrigation source. This work is currently being conducted by a graduate student at the Wood Brother’s Shrimp Farm in Gila Bend, Arizona. The inflow and effluent from the shrimp farm are monitored on a biweekly basis. The parameters being monitored have been chosen for two reasons, their impact as potential pollutants and their relevance as plant nutrients. Temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen (DO) and pH are monitored at the time of sample collection. Total nitrogen (TN), ammonia (NH3), nitrite (NO2), nitrate (NO3), total phosphorus (TP), reactive phosphorus (RP), alkalinity (ALK), chemical oxygen demand (COD), carbonacious biochemical oxygen demand (CBOD5), total suspended solids (TSS) and volatile suspended solids (VSS) are monitored in the lab. Where practical, all analyses are conducted in accordance with the EPA’s requirements for the reporting of wastewater, and other parameters are monitored using HACH colorimetric methods (HACH Corp., Loveland, CO).
Preliminary results from May-October 2000 suggest that with the exception of COD, DO, TN and temperature, parameters are significantly different (a = 0.05) between the inflow and effluent waters. Alkalinity and COD decrease during the in-pond residency. The other parameters increase while in the ponds. The increase of nutrients available in the shrimp effluent are equivalent to 0.07 g of NH3, 0.321 g of NO2, 21.2 g of NO3 and 0.17 g of TP per cubic meter of water. Coordination of effluent discharges with irrigation and leaching requirements will determine if shrimp and field crop farming can be accomplished in a sustainable manner.
Many of the farmers in southwestern Arizona are watching the existing shrimp farms and would like to know if this multiple-use of water can be profitable and continue without damage to the soils. This project will endeavor to answer these questions and share the results directly with farmers in the local area as well as other arid and semi-arid regions around the world. There are five specific objectives in undertaking this project:
- Determine the benefits of irrigating olives with low-salinity aquacultural effluents by measuring growth of trees
- Determine any detrimental effects on soil caused by the application of saline irrigation water through the monitoring of soil salinity and macro-nutrients
- Reduce the reliance on chemical fertilizers through close monitoring of nutrients applied and through the application of nutrient rich aquacultural effluents
- Efficient utilization of scarce water resources through the multiple use of water for shrimp production and irrigation
- Initiate an integrated aquaculture/agriculture extension program in Arizona by hosting an integrated agriculture field day, distributing a newsletter, developing a bulletin and web site reporting the findings of the research and attitudes of the farmers involved with the trials
Proposed research will focus on production and sustainability of an effluent irrigated field crop. This will be accomplished via two distinct research foci, addressing the five objectives listed above. The first focus will be to conduct a field evaluation of the impacts of using full strength effluent from the shrimp ponds on an olive crop. The second will be a long term monitoring of soil and ground water impacts from the use of these slightly saline effluents.
Over the past three years, any effluent generated by the production of shrimp has subsequently been used for the irrigation of various field crops including, olives, wheat, cotton and sorghum. The volume of nutrient enriched water available is only a small fraction of the total irrigation water used, thereby masking any potential growth enhancing effects. Additionally, the possibility of soil salinization has not been addressed.
1. Determine the benefits of irrigating olives with low-salinity aquacultural effluents by measuring growth of trees
A field study will be conducted during the summer of 2001 to determine the contribution of aquacultural effluents to the growth of olive trees (Olea europaea var. manzanillo). This trial will examine four possible effluent/well water/fertilizer combinations.
The first treatment, the control, will use well water only as an irrigation source. The second treatment will use full strength effluent as the source of irrigation water. Trees in the third treatment will be irrigated with effluent supplemented with chemical fertilizer to achieve a recommended fertilization rate. The fourth treatment will be the commercial control, in which trees will be irrigated with well water and chemical fertilizer will be applied at a standardized rate. Each treatment will be applied to 25 olive trees planted in 18-liter pots.
One hundred potted olive trees (75 – 90 cm tall) will be positioned into 10 rows, 1.5 meters on center. After the plot is laid out, initial measurements will be made (height, canopy diameter and maximum stem diameter) and trees will be randomly assigned to one of the four treatments. Subsequent growth of the trees will be monitored monthly as long as the shrimp farm is generating a sufficient quantity of effluent to irrigate.
2. Determine any detrimental effects to soil caused by the application of saline irrigation water through the monitoring of soil salinity and macro-nutrients
Due to salt content in the ground water (1.5 – 3.0 ppt) soil salinization is a major concern. Additionally, the baseline data that is currently being collected suggests that water salinity is increasing during the in-pond residency. In order to quantify the impact of saline irrigation water on the local soil, soil samples from each of the four treatments will be analyzed for salt and macro-nutrient concentrations.