www.elsevier.com/locate/aqua-online Aquaculture 226 (2003) 69–90Integrated mariculture: asking the right questions

Reducing negative environmental impacts from aquaculture activities is a key issue for ensuring long-term sustainability of the industry. This study examines the major findings and methodology aspects from 28 peer-reviewed studies on marine aquaculture systems integrating fed and extractive organisms. All studies include seaweeds as extractive organisms. The main ob-jective was to analyse the degree of relevance these findings have for large-scale implementation of integrated mariculture practices, and to identify necessary research areas for a future research agenda. The following directions for future research were identified: (1) understand in detail the important biological/biochemical processes in closed recirculating and open seaweed culture systems; (2) conduct research into these advanced aquaculture technologies at scales relevant to commercial implementation or suitable for extrapolation; (3) broaden the focus to include factors affecting seaweed growth and uptake capacity; (4) improve experimental design for statistical calculations; (5) attain a detailed understanding of the temporal variability in seaweed-filtered mariculture systems; (6) define numerical design parameters critical for engineers in designin