Quantitative comparison of levels of organic wastes from four major sources at four scales along the Newfoundland coastline

• Main Author: Cull, Deneen Jane
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: Memorial University of Newfoundland 2000
• Subjects: Newfoundland
• Online Access: https://research.library.mun.ca/1115/; https://research.library.mun.ca/1115/1/Cull_DeneenJane.pdf; https://research.library.mun.ca/1115/3/Cull_DeneenJane.pdf

This study compared the levels of organic wastes released along the Newfoundland coastline From four different sources during the period 1992-1996. These sources include offal from fish plants, domestic sewage, aquaculture wastes (wasted feed and faeces) and sawmill wastes (bark, shavings, wood chips, slabs, sawdust). The total amount of organic wastes entering coastal waters had never been quantified before this study, and hence, comparisons of levels of wastes from different sources had not previously been made. The scattered information on sources of organic wastes was assembled in order to determine and compare the four major sources in Newfoundland. This study also determined whether spatial scale is a factor in determining the greatest and smallest sources of organic wastes released. The level of organic wastes released were quantified and compared at four scales along the Newfoundland coastline. Three hypotheses were addressed concern concerning the relative importance of the sources of the wastes: i) The level of organic wastes released from coastal sawmills is lower than that released from the other three sources. ii) At the spatial scale of the entire island the largest levels of organic wastes are from sewage, followed by fish plant offal, and finfish aquaculture. iii) The relative level of organic wastes released from sewage, aquaculture, and offal differs according to spatial scale. As the scale studied becomes smaller (from the entire island, to coastal regions, to fisheries statistical areas, to fisheries statistical sections) either of the three sources could be the major contributor of organic wastes. -- At the largest spatial scale examined, the entire island, offal was the largest contributor of organic wastes, followed by sewage and sawmill wastes, with aquaculture as the smallest contributor of wastes. The region of the island with the greatest amount released into the coastal waters was the Avalon Peninsula, while the Northern Peninsula had the least amount of wastes being released. Two ...