Abstract We investigated potential effects of the
fish farms on water column and sediment around
Salih Island in the Gulluk Bay (Aegean Sea,
Turkey) where four seasonal samplings were per-
formed from October 2001 to August 2002. One
measured physicochemical variables in water col-
umnincludingdissolvedoxygen,nutrients(nitrite,
nitrate, ammonium, phosphate and silicate), par-
ticulate organic carbon (POC) and chlorophyll a.
Organic matter, total organic carbon (TOC) and
heavy metals (Zn, Cu and Fe) were measured in
sediment samples. Although occasional increases
in ammonium and chlorophyll a concentrations
wereobservedatthecagestationsascomparedto
the control one, no statistically significant differ-
ences were detected among the stations in terms
ofnutrients,chlorophyllaandPOC.Ontheother
hand,significantdifferenceswerefoundinorganic
matter,TOCandheavymetals(ZnandFe)ofthe
sediments among the sampling stations. Despite
thesedifferences,ourresultsindicatethatconcen-
trations of physicochemical variables and heavy