Quantifying benthic transport of aquaculture waste material for inclusion in predictive models

Description

A national strategy for understanding and predicting aquaculture waste transport is required by Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) Habitat Management and Ecosystems and Fisheries Management. Current models are unable to predict aquaculture waste transport because of the inability to measure the cohesive nature and transport properties of faecal material, waste pellets, and their interaction with sediment in suspension and on the seabed. The purpose of the project is to develop a data set of variables that can be used to initialize sediment transport models to predict aquaculture waste resuspension and transport for use nationally. The first goal is to create a data matrix of transport coefficients of both finfish and bivalve aquaculture waste material to predict the transport capability of the material when resuspended. A variety of feed pellet types and finfish and shellfish faeces will be exposed to a range of seabed types, simple to complex, under controlled hydrodynamic conditions. This matrix will be derived from both laboratory and field studies. The second goal is to collaborate with the Scottish Association for Marine Science to initialize a beta-version of DEPOMOD that will incorporate a flexible resuspension module suitable for Canadian waters and to discuss model parameters and initializations of FVCOM (Finite Volume Coastal Ocean Model) with modellers at DFO.

Findings

N/A

Publications

N/A

Program Name

Program for Aquaculture Regulatory Research (PARR)

Year(s)

2011 to 2013

Ecoregion(s)

National

Principal Investigator(s)

Terri Sutherland
4160 Marine Drive, West Vancouver, BC
Tel.: (604) 666-8537
Email: Terri.Sutherland@dfo-mpo.gc.ca

Brent Law
1 Challenger Drive, Dartmouth, NS
Tel.: (902) 426-8548
Email: Brent.Law@dfo-mpo.gc.ca

Team Member(s)

Mike Foreman, DFO-Pacific Region

Fred Page, DFO-Maritimes Region

Yongshen Wu, DFO-Maritimes Region

March Klaver, DFO-Pacific Region

Chris Cromey, Scotish Association for Marine Science, U.K.

Carl Amos, University of Southampton, U.K.