Consumption of organic wastes from coastal salmon aquaculture by wild decapods

Rock crab Cancer irroratus and American lobster Homarus americanus are important commercial species in coastal areas where intensive salmon aquaculture occurs in eastern Canada. Such aquaculture releases organic wastes, especially feed waste (i.e. food pellets made in part from terrestrial feed ingredients). Terrestrial compounds from feed wastes were used to trace their consumption by the two decapods in the Bay of Fundy, Canada. Both species were collected in farms and reference sites and their fatty acid profiles evaluated. Individuals in close proximity to salmon farms were found to consume waste feed (high proportions of 18:1n-9 and 18:2n-6 and low proportions of 20:5n-3 and 22:6n-3). This consumption is associated with a reduction in diet diversity and a trend of increased lipid content in rock crab, suggesting that this species is more receptive to the waste feed than the American lobster, which did not show evidence of diet diversity loss and of increased lipid content. Fatty acid profiles from rock crab ovaries were also affected by the diet shift toward waste feed (low proportion of long-chain essential fatty acids), suggesting a potential influence on crab reproductive success. However, this remains to be assessed. Resulting effects of diet shifts on the ecosystem (e.g. reduction in the consumption of primary consumers and change of fatty acids transferred to predatory fish or gulls through decapods) should be evaluated to assess the spatial and temporal scales of the salmon aquaculture footprint. If the assessment reveals a strong footprint, measures to reduce wastes could be considered (e.g. pellets with greater buoyancy or with different recipe).