Modeling hydrodynamics and aquaculture waste transport in coastal maine

Net-pen aquaculture results in the introduction of excess fish food and fecal matter in coastal waters. These wastes may modify the benthic environment. Mathematical models are developed in this study to simulate tidal and wind-driven currents, waves, and the resulting dispersion of fish food and fecal matter in coastal Maine, a region where limited modelling studies have been performed. Cobscook Bay and Toothacher Bay in Maine are studied in detail through the use of mathematical models and field data. We find that a systematic, site-specific, step-by-step modeling strategy involving the use of numerical models to simulate the overall hydrodynamic environment in combination with a waste-particle transport model can be an extremely powerful method of determining a priori whether aquaculture operations will cause high rates of net-pen waste accumulation at a particular site.

Overview