DEPOMOD Parameter Setting and Validation for Finfish Farms in British Columbia

Description

This project is planned to be carried out over an 18 month period (September 05 - March 07). The first half of the project will involve testing and scoping of experimental techniques in preparation for full scale experiments during summer 06 field season. Model development and evaluation will continue throughout the project period. Further testing/validation of DEPOMOD

• Analysis of predicted waste fluxes and measures or indices of benthic health (e.g. ITI, total abundance) and sediment chemistry observations (sulphides, redox) for other farm sites that have a range of hydrodynamic conditions and bottom types
• Collection benthic samples for biological and chemical analyses along predicted enrichment gradients during WLAP summer monitoring field surveys for testing of DEPOMOD Studies to determine waste feed rates
• Estimation of the two components of waste feed rates experimentally, namely the portion of feed that is abraded and lost as a powder or fine particles in automated feeding devices, and the portion of feed that is lost as intact feed pellets that are uneaten by the fish
• Development of standard method for calculating waste feed portion at marine cage finfish farms. Assessment of the carbon concentration of modeled particles
• Determination, through analytical methods, of the chemical composition and characteristics of faecal wastes and various diet formulations Assessment of the effect of cage movement on footprint
• Determination by differential GPS (Global Positioning System) of the scale of horizontal movement of net cage arrays under varying wind and current conditions and subsequent re-analysis of model outputs using these data.

Program Name

Aquaculture Collaborative Research and Development Program (ACRDP)

Year(s)

2005 - 2007

Ecoregion(s)

Pacific: Vancouver Island West Coast

Principal Investigator(s)

Dario Stucchi
Email: StucchiD@pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca