Effective and Low-Maintenance IMTA System as Effluent Treatment Unit for Promoting Sustainability in Coastal Aquaculture Silva Rocha, Ana Cristina Flores, Juan Estuary Macroalgae Effluent Bioremediation Aquaculture Sustainability Stable isotopes This research was supported by MAR2020, PORTUGAL2020 Partnership Agreement, through IFAP and ERDF (reference MAR-04.03.01-FEAMP-0007). This article is a result of the project ALGADEPUR—Aquacultura Multitrófica Integrada como veículo para a sustentabilidade (reference MAR-04.03.01-FEAMP-0007), supported by MAR2020, PORTUGAL2020 Partnership Agreement, through FEAMPA. The authors would like to acknowledge Nasharyba—Produção e Comérico de Peixe, Lda. for all the support given during this work and the space provided for the IMTA-pilot system. The authors would also like to acknowledge Ana Margarida Bóia and José Almeida for assisting in part of the work performed. Integrated multitrophic aquaculture (IMTA) is a versatile technology emerging as an ecological and sustainable solution for traditional monoculture aquacultures in terms of effluent treatment. Nevertheless, IMTA is still poorly applied in aquaculture industry due to, among other reasons, the lack of effective, low-investment and low-maintenance solutions. In this study, one has developed a practical and low maintenance IMTA-pilot system, settled in a semi-intensive coastal aquaculture. The optimisation and performance of the system was validated using Ulva spp., a macroalgae that naturally grows in the fishponds of the local aquaculture. Several cultivation experiments were performed at lab-scale and in the IMTA-pilot system, in static mode. The specific growth rate (SGR), yield, nutrient removal, N and C enrichment, protein and pigment content were monitored. Ulva spp. successfully thrived in effluent from the fish species sea bream (Sparus aurata) and sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) production tanks and significantly reduced inorganic nutrient load in the effluent, particularly, NH4 + , PO4 3− and NO3 −. The enrichment of nitrogen in Ulva spp.’s tissues indicated nitrogen assimilation by the algae, though, the cultivated Ulva spp. showed lower amounts of protein and pigments in comparison to the wild type. This study indicates that the designed IMTA-pilot system is an efficient solution for fish effluent treatment and Ulva spp., a suitable effluent remediator. 2022-02-10T11:44:13Z 2022-02-10T11:44:13Z 2021-12-31 info:eu-repo/semantics/article Resende, L.; Flores, J.; Moreira, C.; Pacheco, D.; Baeta, A.; Garcia, A.C.; Rocha, A.C.S. Effective and Low-Maintenance IMTA System as Effluent Treatment Unit for Promoting Sustainability in Coastal Aquaculture. Appl. Sci. 2022, 12, 398. [https://doi.org/1Resende, L.; Flores, J.; Moreira, C.; Pacheco, D.; Baeta, A.; Garcia, A.C.; Rocha, A.C.S. Effective and Low-Maintenance IMTA System as Effluent Treatment Unit for Promoting Sustainability in Coastal Aquaculture. Appl. Sci. 2022, 12, 398. https://doi.org/10.3390/ app12010398] http://hdl.handle.net/10481/72782 10.3390/app12010398 eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/es/ info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Atribución 3.0 España MDPI