Farm-Scale production models

Abstract

Farm-scale production models of bivalves have been used for site selection, optimization of culture practices, and the estimation of ecosystem goods and services. While all farm models require physical forcing through hydrodynamic models, the input of measured or modelled bivalve growth drivers, and a bioenergetic growth model which predicts individual growth and farm yield as a function of husbandry practices, some models are also embedded in a GIS system to allow for a "point and click" ability to test different locations and production strategies at various locations within the modeled domain. More generic Web-based models such as the Farm Aquaculture Resource Management are relatively simple to use, provide a link to larger ecosystem models, and provide direct estimates of ecosystem services. More detailed models, such as ShellGIS, may be more data intensive and require detailed bathymetry, spatial velocity fields, information about boundary layer and aquaculture structure hydrodynamics and particle depletion. However, these models provide the detailed spatial and temporal results that can optimize farm productivity and assess benthic impacts. New approaches using high resolution remote sensing satellites and powerful physical-biogeochemical models using unstructured grids to link farm scale models with ecosystem models in a GIS platform have potential to provide improvements in the utility of farm scale models for the estimation of bivalve aquaculture ecosystem goods and services.