Investigating and mitigating the impacts of point-source noise pollution on seabream production in aquaculture settings

Over the last decades, noise pollution has emerged as a pervasive stressor with the potential to impact the welfare of terrestrial and aquatic animals. Numerous studies, which considered a variety of model species, have underscored the deleterious impacts of noise pollution. In fish, more precisely, noise pollution has been associated with deterrence effects, increased susceptibility to diseases, increased stress and mortality, and morphological malformations. Thus, the impacts of this stressor are such that it can harm many fish species and could negatively impact fisheries. In Oman, as in many countries, aquaculture is an economic sector that provides sources of livelihood and contributes to food security. The Omani aquaculture economic sector is currently in expansion; in 2020 it grew 10-fold compared to only three years prior. Aquaculture infrastructures tend to rely on heavy motorized equipment, including pumps that are involved in circulating water. The high-intensity acoustic energy (i.e., noise pollution) that emanates from such devices is orders of magnitude above the acoustic energy of baseline (i.e., silent) conditions. This point-source of noise pollution thus can create significant stress on aquaculture fish. However, few investigations have focused on the effects of noise pollution in aquaculture settings, more specifically, whether noise pollution could affect fish growth and production. This project will be conducted at the Al Mouj aquaculture, whereby fish growth and stress levels (cortisol levels) will be measured in tanks located at increasing distances from a point-source of noise pollution (i.e., decreasing acoustic energy). This project will aim to determine whether a threshold exists at which this point-source of acoustic energy becomes a nuisance to fish growth. These results will allow the formulation of mitigation measures for this problem, which could be applied to other aquacultures that employ such equipment.

Sound pollution affects the growth of aquaculture fish.