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Effectiveness of a commercial probiotic for water and sludge management on an inland shrimp aquaculture farm in Thailand Supervisor: Dr. M. Flaherty
Shrimp aquaculture, particularly the culture of Penaeus monodon (black-tiger shrimp), has expanded rapidly throughout Asia in recent decades. Thailand has emerged as the world?s leading producer, placing it at the forefront of a competitive international market that currently gives high value to seafood products. In order to meet this intense demand, new technologies are continually being developed and new farms are being established in areas not previously used for aquaculture. One of Thailand?s most recent innovations includes low-salinity shrimp farming, which allows farms to extend into freshwater areas, and as a result new environmental concerns regarding the industry have arisen. One of the critical issues for shrimp aquaculturists today involves the management of wastewater and the large volume of organic sludge being created within the ponds during rearing periods and later being released into surrounding waterways. Commercially prepared microbial solutions (or probiotics) have been marketed as bioremediation tools for maintaining water quality and reducing the accumulation of organic material in pond sediments, despite a paucity of information available about their effectiveness. The purpose of this study was to document the application techniques of a commercial probiotic (EM-1) by small-scale farmers and investigate the efficacy of the additive in improving water quality and minimizing the creation of organic sludge. This study found that there was no significant difference between treatment and control ponds for in situ water quality variables, biological oxygen demand (BOD), and total percent organic matter over the entire crop cycle and for the final week before harvest. Therefore, the water quality and sludge content of the effluent released during water exchange and for the final harvest were not improved by the probiotic treatment. Final measures of BOD exceeded Thai government standards (<10 mg/L) in all of the ponds. The results indicate that probiotics are not currently an effective management tool for inland shrimp farmers, however, the lack of success in the treatment ponds was mainly due to the application methods adopted by the farmer. While future research needs to explore the possibilities of different combinations of bacteria or different quantities of probiotics in the treatment of ponds, efforts also need to focus on the development of education and training programs for growers utilizing probiotics to ensure the success of this low-cost waste management tool. Examiners: Back _____________________________________________________________ Dr. M. Flaherty, Supervisor (Department of Geography) _____________________________________________________________ Dr. D. Cloutier-Fisher, Departmental Member (Department of Geography) _____________________________________________________________ Dr. R. Nordin, Outside Member (Department of Biology) _____________________________________________________________ Dr. J. Littlepage, Outside Member (Centre for Global Studies) _____________________________________________________________ Dr. N. Turner, External Examiner (School of Environmental Studies) |
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