SAN DIEGO BAY AQUACULTURE PLANNING AND OPPORTUNITY

The U.S. marine aquaculture industry is growing at an unprecedented rate, creating challenges for spatial planning and effective environmental management. As aquaculture continues to develop, spatial planning analyses that include biogeophysical and socio-economic data can be used to conduct exclusion, suitability, and opportunity type analyses.  We performed a series of robust geospatial analyses for aquaculture screening and siting within and around the highly-used San Diego Bay area of California. Using a centralized geodatabase, created from federal and state data, recommendations for aquaculture development were based on needed environmental conditions for likely candidate shellfish and algae aquaculture species and associated gear types. We first analyze practical operational constraints to determine usable area for shellfish and algae aquaculture at the local scale. Within the usable area, we then consider algae and shellfish biophysical and gear-specific factors, providing further specificity to aquaculture opportunity and recommendations. Farm configuration, aquaculture function, variations in structural stress related to hydrodynamic forces, and socio-economic impacts were not included to date.  This future work will increase confidence in estimated aquaculture opportunity. Using the geospatial exclusion and subsequent opportunity analyses approach, we provide a robust example for siting sustainable, resilient aquaculture in the United States.