Fig. 1. Map of the Taranto Sea system (northern Ionian, Mediterranean Sea) including the two sub-basins of Mar Piccolo, Mar Grande, and the nearby Ionian Sea (Gulf of Taranto). Note that the Bellavista and Gennarini wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) closed in the period 2000-2006 whereas ILVA is mainly an industrial discharge. The simulation period of the model concerns the distribution and extension of the mussel farms in Mar Piccolo during 2002-2004. In sub-basin Seno I mussel farms covered 26% of the total area of 8.3 km² whereas in sub-basin Seno II they covered 66% of the total area of 12.4 km².