A Water Quality Evaluation of Integrated Mangrove Aquaculture System for Water Treatment in Super-Intensive White Leg Shrimp Pond

Background

White leg shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) farming is an integral part of Indonesia’s international market. Economic pressure to expand white leg shrimp aquaculture ponds leads to deforestation and degradation of mangroves. However, integrating shrimp aquaculture with mangroves can be a way to improve pond sustainability and environmental quality, especially in super-intensive aquaculture systems, which are highly controlled, technology-based aquaculture ponds that have high stocking densities to maximize shrimp yields.

Goals and Methods

This study tests the ability of integrated mangrove aquaculture to improve water quality in super-intensive aquaculture ponds, where both the water supply and wastewater pass through mangroves for purification. The study site in Probolinggo Regency, Indonesia includes six ponds, including a river water pond, a reservoir pond, two super-intensive ponds, a wastewater pond, and a mangrove area. Water samples were collected from each pond and tested for temperature, transparency, pH, dissolved oxygen (DO), salinity, nitrate, nitrite, ammonia, phosphate, and total organic matter. The data was assessed with statistical analysis and a water quality pollution index.

Conclusions and Takeaways

The results indicate that temperature, DO, and nitrite levels differed significantly between the six ponds, with high temperatures in the wastewater pond and mangrove area, low DO in the wastewater pond, and high nitrite in the two super-intensive ponds. The variation in these water quality parameters can directly and indirectly impact shrimp health and aquaculture yields. Pollution index values were highest in the super-intensive ponds, which were categorized as moderately polluted, and all other ponds were categorized as lightly polluted. While passing wastewater through mangroves improved water quality, treatment by mangroves alone did not restore water quality to a sufficient standard. The authors recommend combining mangrove-based water treatment with dilution from other water sources or additional purification from a wastewater treatment plant.