CGRG Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology
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Author : Clerk, S.; and Smol, J.P.
Date : 2000.
Title : Impacts of aquaculture in the La Cloche Channel of Lake Huron: a paleolimnological assessment.
Publication : 8th International Paleolimnology Symposium, August 20 to August 24, 2000. Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario
Issue :
Page(s) :
Abstract
There is much concern regarding the environmental impacts of caged aquaculture. In particular, these fish farms may increase nutrient levels through excess fish feed and fish feces, and have been linked with accelerated eutrophication in lakes. Most attention to aquaculture operations in Ontario, Canada have focussed on cage farms in the Manitoulin-Georgian Bay region, which account for approximately 60% of the total provincial output of farmed trout. This study will examine the impacts that aquaculture has had in the La Cloche Channel of Lake Huron. In response to public complaints regarding algal growth and water quality changes, an aquaculture operation that had been in place since 1993 was closed in 1998. However, because no long-term data regarding water quality are available, it is not known whether the channel is naturally productive or whether the aquaculture operation was responsible for causing eutropic conditions and anoxia. Chironomids (non-biting midges) are excellent indicators of oxygen levels and will be used in this study to reconstruct past changes in oxygen levels to determine the impact of the aquaculture operation. Preliminary results will be presented. Information from this study will be useful, especially to lake managers in determining the feasibility of caged aquaculture operations.
Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology