As aquaculture is still in relative infancy the scientific community is just coming to grips with issues posed by the commercial aspects of so many fish in such a dense cluster. While most of the focus has been local environmental issues and effects to native fish, as the industry matures and we eat whatever wild fish remain, we’ll have to plan carefully as enormous densities of fish may have far reaching effects that eclipse what’s currently attributed to them.

Recent simulations of the effluent plume from a large fish farm suggest the chemicals, fish feces, and uneaten food aren’t dispersing as originally thought, and their taint can follow the coast for some distance.

Sea Lice, and issues with flabby gray flesh, escaped domestic stock, the genetic permutations of triploids and semi-sterile have received quite a bit of press. What’s recently come to light is all that fish pooty in the water is much more concentrated,  doesn’t dissolve very well, and as a result your kids will be drinking it, frolicking in it, and coating themselves and everything else by swimming in it.

While most of the fish yuck is drifting offshore, the dye model presented above suggests the stream of effluvia given off by farming operations will be a complex issue as the industry matures and farm densities increase to replace collapsed wild fish stocks.

Even more of an issue when drinking water sources are used to grow vanished freshwater species.