Impact of marine fish cage farming on metabolism and sulfate reduction of underlying sediments

Abstract

At the end of the farming period and during winter (no fish farming), sediment metabolism and sulfate reduction rates decreased considerably (33 to 77 mmol CO2 m-2 d-1), but both rates were still elevated compared to the control station, indicating that the impact of fish farming on the anaerobic mineralization was prolonged. Nearly all reduced 35S label was recovered in the acid volatile fraction (AVS). During decreasing sulfate reduction rates, however, the chromium reducible fraction (CRS) became more important in the upper oxidized sediment layers. -from Authors