13
Integrated Multitrophic Aquaculture
An Overview
Isabel C. Azevedo,
1,
* Tânia R. Pereira,
1
Sara Barrento
2
and
Isabel Sousa Pinto
1,3
Introduction
Aquaculture is generally considered as the cultivation of aquatic organisms in freshwater or saltwater,
from microscopic algae to large fish, mainly for food purposes. It can be viewed from a food system
approach, consisting of a set of activities ranging from production to consumption, which usually includes:
growing, harvesting, processing, packaging, transporting, marketing, consumption, and disposal of food
and food-related items. With global food security becoming an increasing concern, aquaculture is and
will probably remain the most rapidly increasing food production system worldwide.
Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture (IMTA) has the potential to increase the sustainability of
aquaculture across the globe. The basic concept of IMTA is the farming of several species at different
trophic levels, that is, species that occupy different positions in the food chain. This allows one species’
uneaten feed and wastes, nutrients, and by-products to be recaptured and converted into fertilizer, feed, and
energy for the other crops (Chopin 2012). As an example, we can combine the cultivation of fed species
(e.g., finfish, shrimp, etc.) with organic extractive species (e.g., oysters, mussels, and other invertebrates
and inorganic extractive species (e.g., seaweeds or other photosynthetic organisms)). The different types
of aquaculture are integrated, that is, operating in proximity to each other, but not necessarily right at the
same location (Chopin 2006).
This chapter will address IMTA as an aquaculture production system showing the concept shift that
has recently been occurring toward viewing waste nutrients as a resource that can be recycled through
1
Coastal Biodiversity Lab, Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research (CIIMAR), University of
Porto, Novo Edifício do Terminal de Cruzeiros do porto de Leixões. Avenida General Norton de Matos, S/N. 4450-208
Matosinhos, Portugal.
Email: ispinto@fc.up.pt; pereirataniar@gmail.com
2
Department of Biosciences, Swansea University, Wallace Building, Singleton Campus, UK.
Email: s.i.barrento@swansea.ac.uk
3
Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre s/n, 4150-181 Porto, Portugal.
* Corresponding author: iazevedo@ciimar.up.pt
Integrated Multitrophic Aquaculture
An Overview
Isabel C. Azevedo,
1,
* Tânia R. Pereira,
1
Sara Barrento
2
and
Isabel Sousa Pinto
1,3
Introduction
Aquaculture is generally considered as the cultivation of aquatic organisms in freshwater or saltwater,
from microscopic algae to large fish, mainly for food purposes. It can be viewed from a food system
approach, consisting of a set of activities ranging from production to consumption, which usually includes:
growing, harvesting, processing, packaging, transporting, marketing, consumption, and disposal of food
and food-related items. With global food security becoming an increasing concern, aquaculture is and
will probably remain the most rapidly increasing food production system worldwide.
Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture (IMTA) has the potential to increase the sustainability of
aquaculture across the globe. The basic concept of IMTA is the farming of several species at different
trophic levels, that is, species that occupy different positions in the food chain. This allows one species’
uneaten feed and wastes, nutrients, and by-products to be recaptured and converted into fertilizer, feed, and
energy for the other crops (Chopin 2012). As an example, we can combine the cultivation of fed species
(e.g., finfish, shrimp, etc.) with organic extractive species (e.g., oysters, mussels, and other invertebrates
and inorganic extractive species (e.g., seaweeds or other photosynthetic organisms)). The different types
of aquaculture are integrated, that is, operating in proximity to each other, but not necessarily right at the
same location (Chopin 2006).
This chapter will address IMTA as an aquaculture production system showing the concept shift that
has recently been occurring toward viewing waste nutrients as a resource that can be recycled through
1
Coastal Biodiversity Lab, Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research (CIIMAR), University of
Porto, Novo Edifício do Terminal de Cruzeiros do porto de Leixões. Avenida General Norton de Matos, S/N. 4450-208
Matosinhos, Portugal.
Email: ispinto@fc.up.pt; pereirataniar@gmail.com
2
Department of Biosciences, Swansea University, Wallace Building, Singleton Campus, UK.
Email: s.i.barrento@swansea.ac.uk
3
Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre s/n, 4150-181 Porto, Portugal.
* Corresponding author: iazevedo@ciimar.up.pt