| Settled uneaten feed causes the most intense impact under sea cages, and settling velocity of the feed pellets represents a key parameter for waste dispersion models. Even if some data about physical properties of feed pellets have been published in the framework of salmonid rearing, there is a complete lack of information related to the Mediterranean Sea, as regards typical values of temperature, salinity and feed composition for Gilthead Sea Bream (Sparus aurata L.) and Sea Bass (Dicentrarchus labrax L.). In this study we try to fill this lack, determining dimensions, water adsorption properties, floating times and settling velocities of a typical growing sequence of pellets for the species mentioned above, under defined laboratory conditions reproducing... |
