Abstract
Liquid wastes from the fish meal and oil processing industries produce serious environmental impacts in coastal embayments on the coasts of Chile and Peru. This article presents an analysis of an environmental monitoring program at Lota Bay, a shallow coastal indentation in central Chile (37°S) exposed to industrial fishing activity. The study of the environmental impact produced by waste effluents permitted making an evaluation of the bay's capacity for seasonal recovery from this impact. Seasonal cruises were carried out during 1994 and in 1996, 1997, and 1998. Variables analyzed included salinity, temperature, dissolved oxygen, ammonium concentration and surface oil and grease. The hydrographic regime of Lota Bay follows a seasonal pattern, where, typical of most SE pacific embayments, waters from subsuperficial oxygen minimum zones moved into the bay. The percentages of dissolved oxygen were critical in the area of organic waste discharge. The impact of wastewater is related to the type and status of the fishery, including: (i) overloads of plant production lines, (ii) maintenance and cleaning of installations, and (iii) degree of shipboard fishing conservation. Major alterations were observed in summer, when the highest discharge of organic load occurred. In winter, an improvement in the re-aeration conditions reduced the impact. Remedial measures implemented beginning in 1997 arose from the monitoring program and had to be separated into two recovery factors including (a) internal management of plants and (b) treatment of plant effluents.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ahumada, R., Rudolph, A. and Martínez, V.: 1983, 'Circulation and fertility of waters in Concepción Bay', Estuarine Coast. Shelf Sci. 16, 95-105.
Ahumada, R., Pinto, L. and Camus, P.: 2000, 'The Chilean Coast', in Ch. R. C. Sheppard (ed.), Seas at the Millennium: An Environmental Evaluation, Regional Chapters: Europe, the Americas and West Africa, Pergamon: An Imprint of Elsevier Science, pp. 699?717.
Ahumada, R. and Rudolph, A.: 1989, 'Residuos líquidos de la industria pesquera: alteraciones ambientales y estrategias de eliminación', Ambiente y Desarrollo 5(1), 147-161.
Ahumada, R.: 1992, 'Patrones de distribución de metales traza (Cr, Ni, Zn, Cu, Cd y Pb) en sedimentos superficiales de Bahía San Vicente', Revista de Biología Marina, Valparaíso 27(2), 265-282.
APHA-AWWA-WPCF: 1992, Standard Methods for Examination of Water and Wastewater, 16th ed., American Public Health Association, Washington, D.C., 1268 p.
Arcos, D., Ahumada, R, Nuñez, S., Furet, L., and Vargas F.: 1992, Evaluación de impacto ambiental entorno al ecosistema de las Bahías de Coronel-Lota, Chile. Informe Técnico, Instituto de Investigación Pesquera, Derechos de Autor No. 83603, 780 p.
Arcos, D., Furet, L., Carrasco, F., Nuñez, S. and Vargas, F.: 1994, 'Eutroficación en el ambiente marino de Chile central: Efectos inducidos por la evacuación de residuos industriales líquidos', Investigaciones Marinas, Valparaíso 21, 51-74.
Burke, C. M.: 1999, 'Molecular diffusive fluxes of oxygen in sediments of Port Phillip Bay in Southeastern Australia', Marine Freshw. Res. 50, 557-566.
Carrasco, F.: 1996, 'The benthic macroinfauna of Concepción bay, Chile: High ecological dominance at the shallow sublittoral off Lirquen', Gayana Oceanol. 4(1), 1-12.
Clark, R. B.: 1991; 'Assessing marine pollution and its remedies', S. Afr. J. Mar. Sci. 10, 341-351.
Instituto Hidrografico de la Armada de Chile: 1992, Derrotero de la Costa de Chile, 5ta Edicion, Instituto Hidrografico de la Armada de Chile, Chile, 685 p.
Epping, E. H. G. and Helder, W.: 1997, 'Oxygen budget calculated from in situ microprofiles for Northern Adriatic sediments', Contin. Shelf Res. 17(14), 1737-1764.
Fröenlich, P., Klinkhammer, G. P., Bender, M. L., Leudlke N. A., Heath, G. R., Cilling, D., Dauphin, P., Hammonrd, D., Hartman B. and Maynard. A.: 1979, 'Early oxidation of organic matter in pelagic sediments of the eastern Equatorial Atlantic: Suboxic diagenesis', Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 43(7), 1075-1090.
Grasshoff, K., Ehrhardt, M. and Kremling, K.: 1983, Methods of Seawater Analysis, Second, Revised and Extended Edition, Verlag Chemie, 419 p.
Oyarzun, C., Carrasco, F. D. and Gallardo, V. A.: 1987, 'Some characteristics of macrobenthic fauna from organic enriched sediments at Talcahuano, Chile', Cah. Biol. Marine 28(3), 429-446.
Pradenas, E. and Rudolph, A.: 1989, 'Comparación del impacto ambiental en Bahía Concepción producido por los residuos de las plantas de harina, aceite y congelados', Biología Pesquera 18, 115-122.
Rudolph, A., Ahumada, R. and Pérez, C.: 2002, 'Dissolved oxygen content as an index of water quality in San Vicente Bay, Chile (36?45?S)', Environ. Monit. Assess. 78, 89-100.
Rudolph, A.: 1995, 'Alteraciones en el ambiente costero producido por material orgánico proveniente de la industria pesquera: Un caso de estudio', Revista Ciencia y Tecnología del Mar, CONA, No. Especial, 69?78.
SERNAPESCA: 1996, 'Anuario Estadístico', 33 p.
Strickland, J. D. H. and Parsons, T. R.: 1972 'A practical handbook of seawater analysis', Bull. Fish. Res. Bd. Can. 167, 311 p.
Weiss, R.: 1970, 'The solubility of nitrogen, oxygen and argon in water and seawater', Research 17, 721-735.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ahumada, R., Rudolph, A. & Contreras, S. Evaluation of Coastal Waters Receiving Fish Processing Waste: Lota Bay as a Case Study. Environ Monit Assess 90, 89–99 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:EMAS.0000003568.37287.ac
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/B:EMAS.0000003568.37287.ac