Integrated Water Quality and Habitat Assessment for Environmental Sustainability and Welfare in Aquatic Animal Production Systems
DOI::
https://doi.org/10.70102/AEJ.2025.17.3.49کلمات کلیدی:
Nutrient accumulation, Sediment organic matter, Integrated monitoring, Semi-intensive aquaculture, Environmental management.چکیده
The configurations of environmental sustainability and animal welfare in aquaculture are completely influenced by the intricate connections of water quality dynamics and habitat configuration. This paper defined a comprehensive environmental surveillance model that incorporates daily physicochemical evaluations and features of the habitat and animal welfare measures in semi-intensive freshwater fish farming systems. Regular records in the variations in time of dissolved oxygen, temperature, pH, conductivity, total suspended solids and nutrient levels were taken together with measurements of sediment organic matter, saprophyte cover and periphyton development. The fish welfare was rated through growth rate, ratio of fed to weight, condition of the gill, frequency of external lesion and reaction to behavioural stress. Multivariate processes revealed that the variability in dissolved oxygen, organic loading of sediment and nutrient accumulation were the principal environmental factors that can lead to the welfare diminishment and production inefficiency. When specific habitat management treatments, including sediment eradication, shore vegetation adjustment, and feeding optimization, were implemented, the oxygen processes, the accumulation of nutrients and the health, growth, and survival of fish were enhanced. On the whole, the results show the paramount role of combined, non-IoT-based water quality and habitat monitoring methods in advancing environment-friendly, welfare-oriented, and sustainable systems of aquaculture production.