Aquaculture plays a critical role in food security and sustainable animal production, yet consumer acceptance remains limited in many producing countries, including Türkiye. This study investigates whether selected consumer perceptions toward aquaculture products are associated with consumers’ willingness to recommend these products to others, an indicator of social acceptance.Data were collected through an online survey in Türkiye and analyzed using responses from 443 valid participants. The analysis focused on perceptions related to brand preference, production process control and safety compared with wild-caught products, and preference for internationally recognized safety and sustainability certifications. Likert-type responses were evaluated using descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and ordinary least squares regression.The findings indicate that consumers generally hold favorable perceptions regarding the safety, controllability, and certification of aquaculture products. However, these perceptions account for only a small proportion of the variation in willingness to recommend. None of the examined perceptual variables showed a statistically significant effect at the conventional significance level, although perceptions of greater production control exhibited a marginal positive association. Overall, the results demonstrate that technical and rational evaluations of aquaculture products alone are insufficient to drive active recommendation behavior.These findings suggest that improving consumer advocacy for aquaculture products in Türkiye may require strategies that extend beyond safety and certification claims, incorporating affective and experiential dimensions of consumer decision-making.

Satellite-based monitoring of aquaculture impacts remains constrained by the absence of standardized, reproducible methodologies capable of capturing long-term environmental dynamics. This study introduces a novel framework that integrates Difference-in-Differences (DiD) causal inference with multi-decadal Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite data and Google Earth Engine (GEE) cloud computing to evaluate aquaculture-related changes in coastal ecosystems. Using 20 years of satellite observations (2002–2022) from the Karaburun Peninsula, İzmir, Türkiye, we compared three representative sites: an aquaculture zone, a coastal area influenced by human settlements, and an offshore reference site with minimal anthropogenic activity. The human-impacted coastal site consistently exhibited the highest concentrations of surface parameters, reflecting dominant background anthropogenic influences. However, DiD analysis revealed no statistically significant differences in chlorophyll-a (Chl-a), particulate organic carbon (POC), or other parameters between the aquaculture and control sites, indicating that potential aquaculture-related effects remained below the detection threshold of the 1 km MODIS resolution. Despite these null results, the study demonstrates the feasibility and limitations of combining causal inference and cloud-based remote sensing for aquaculture monitoring. This methodological integration provides a scalable, cost-effective, and transferable framework for detecting and interpreting environmental change across large spatial and temporal domains. By defining the sensitivity limits of satellite-based detection, this work lays a foundation for future applications that merge high-resolution sensors, in-situ validation, and process-based modeling in sustainable aquaculture management.

This study evaluated the effects of three feeding regimens—commercial feed (CF), minced trash fish (MTF), and a 50:50 mixture (MIX)—on the growth performance and tissue composition of the blue crab (Callinectes sapidus) reared in a recirculating aquaculture system (RAS). A total of 96 crabs (8 per tank, four tanks per group) were fed daily at 3% of body weight. Growth was assessed via weight gain, carapace width (CW), and carapace length (CL), while biochemical analyses focused on lipid, fatty acid, and amino acid profiles. The CF and MIX groups exhibited significantly higher final body weights (115.64 ± 3.03 g and 113.53 ± 2.53 g, respectively) and CW (97.88 ± 1.02 mm and 97.16 ± 0.43 mm) compared to the MTF group (p < 0.05), suggesting more frequent or complete molting. The MTF group showed limited growth (102.81 ± 2.25 g; 95.24 ± 1.19 mm), likely due to reduced ecdysis events. Tissue lipid and fatty acid profiles reflected dietary inputs, with significant differences in DHA/EPA and n-3/n-6 ratios among treatments (p < 0.05). Essential amino acid levels decreased across all groups, possibly due to the metabolic demands of molting. These findings highlight the critical role of diet in promoting molting and improving tissue quality in blue crab aquaculture under controlled RAS conditions.

Artificial Light at Night (ALAN) has emerged as a growing environmental concern in coastal regions, where marine aquaculture operations coexist with expanding urbanization and tourism infrastructure. This study presents a decadal satellite-based assessment of night-time radiance dynamics associated with marine aquaculture systems in Çandarlı Bay, a semi-enclosed coastal environment in the Northern Aegean Sea, Türkiye. Monthly composites from the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite Day/Night Band (VIIRS DNB) were analyzed for the period 2014–2024 to examine long-term trends in relative radiance at offshore and near-shore aquaculture sites, alongside marine and terrestrial control zones. Aquaculture installations were classified into two spatial typologies: a near-shore island-associated cluster and an offshore solitary system. To evaluate aquaculture-related radiance independently from broader coastal illumination, an Aquaculture Light Index (ALI) was developed to quantify radiance contrast relative to a dark-water marine reference. Temporal trends were assessed using STL decomposition, the Mann–Kendall trend test, and Theil–Sen slope estimation. The offshore aquaculture system exhibited no significant long-term trend in relative radiance, indicating a stable nocturnal light signature over the study period. In contrast, near-shore aquaculture sites showed a statistically significant decline in relative radiance contrast, coinciding with increasing night-time brightness in the adjacent terrestrial control area. These findings indicate that observed changes in aquaculture-related radiance are primarily associated with intensifying coastal background illumination rather than progressive increases in farm-level lighting. The study demonstrates the importance of spatial context and background radiance when interpreting satellite-derived ALAN signals in coastal aquaculture environments.