WWW.WAS.ORG • WORLD AQUACULTURE • SEPTEMBER 2013 55 such as clearance rate, ammonium excretion, oxygen consumption and biodeposit production. These outputs may be useful when assessing environmental effects, such as those associated with shellfish restoration projects or integrated multi-trophic aquaculture. • Hydraulic zone of influence on water quality as affected by surface and bottom culture sites. Through import data functions, ShellGIS can import relevant layers such as pollution closures, existing lease sites, mooring fields, critical habitats and others to provide an overlay of restrictions on available sites relative to good sites in an area (Fig. 7). Future Directions Now that ShellGIS has been developed and demonstrated for Eastern oysters in New England waters, the ShellGIS team is keen to demonstrate its utility at additional locations worldwide, capitalizing on the range of shellfish species for which growth simulations are already calibrated in ShellSIM, including streamlined protocols for calibration of growth rates of new species as necessary (shellsim.com). We are also involved in the development of low-cost coastal monitoring buoys that will improve spatial resolution of collected data of the environmental variables that affect shellfish growth. The ShellGIS team is interested in developing custom solutions for different types of aquaculture gear, such as intertidal oyster culture on rack-and-bag systems (Fig. 6), where the hydrodynamics of the culture system may be characterized (Fig. 7). Notes Carter R. Newell, Anthony J. S. Hawkins, Kevin Morris, John Richardson, Chris Davis and Tessa Getchis Carter@ShellGIS.com 1 ShellSIM, www.shellsim.com 2 www.discoverysoftware.co.uk/STEMgis.htm 3 Maine Shellfish R+D, 7 Creek Lane, Damariscotta, Maine U.S.A. 04543. References Arnold, W.S., M.W. White, H.A. Norris and M.E. Berrigan. 2000. Hard clam (Mercenaria spp.) aquaculture in Florida, USA: geographic information system applications to lease site selection. Aquacultural Engineering 23:203-231. Congleton, W.R., B.R. Pearce, M.R. Parker and B.F. Beal. 1999. Mariculture siting: a GIS description of intertidal areas. Ecological Modeling 116: 63-75. Ferreira, J.G., A.J.S. Hawkins, P. Monteiro, H. Moore, P.L Pascoe, L. Ramos, and A. Sequeira 2008. Integrated assessment of ecosystem-scale carrying capacity in shellfish growing areas. Aquaculture 275:138-151. Hawkins, A.J.S., P.L. Pascoe, H. Parry, M. Brinsley, K.D. Black, C. McGonigle, H. Moore, C.R. Newell, N. O’Boyle, T. O’Carroll, B. O’Loan, M. Service, A.C. Smaal, X.L. Zhang and M.Y. Zhu. 2013. ShellSIM: a generic model of growth and environmental effects validated across contrasting habitats in bivalve shellfish. Journal of Shellfish Research, in press. Longdill, P.C., T.R. Healy and K.P Black 2008. An integrated GIS approach for sustainable aquaculture management area site selection. Ocean and Coastal Management 61:612-624. Nunes, J.P., J.G. Ferreira, S.B. Bricker, B. O’Loan, T. Dabrowski, B. Dallaghan, and T. O’Carroll. 2011. Towards an ecosystem approach to aquaculture: Assessment of sustainable shellfish cultivation at different scales of space, time and complexity. Aquaculture 315:369-383. Warren, I.R. and H.K. Bach. 1992. MIKE 21: a modelling system for estuaries, coastal waters and seas. Environmental Software 7:229-240. FIGURE 7. Overlay of different layers including shellfish lease sites (red), pollution closures (yellow and brown), growth rates of oysters at specified densities (blue, green), and current vectors (light blue arrows) in the upper Damariscotta River, Maine.
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