SHELLFISH AQUAMAPPERS: A NATIONAL ANALYSIS OF DATA, ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN, AND UTILITY

Marine aquaculture in the United States contributes to the nation's seafood supply, provides coastal habitat and species restoration opportunities, and contributes to the economic vitality of coastal communities.  Transparent spatial data analyses and advanced visualizations within a marine spatial planning framework can reduce user conflicts and streamline permitting.  Currently, the majority (two-thirds by value) of the United States' marine aquaculture production is comprised of bivalve mollusks (oysters, clams, mussels) in estuarine and coastal ocean areas.  As the aquaculture industry footprint increases in the U.S., so too does the potential for conflict for space.  To inform opportunity and siting of shellfish aquaculture in state waters, many states have developed shellfish aquaculture online map viewers (AquaMappers) aimed at informing speculation of new aquaculture areas or expansion of existing areas.  These AquaMappers are being used by industry and coastal managers to identify potential conflicts before aquaculture is sited.  In this study, we analyzed all of the existing shellfish AquaMappers in the U.S. to identify the most common data layers, the functionalities of each viewer, architectural design approaches, and size (value) of the shellfish industry relative to complexity of the viewer.  This information is being used by industry and coastal managers to inform development of new shellfish aquaculture map viewers and to revise and update existing viewers.