Determination of potential aquaculture fields by evaluation of morphometric, hydrodynamic and environmental parameters in Çandarlı Bay, Eastern Aegean Sea

Abstract

The main objective in the spatial planning process of marine areas is to provide a sustainable decision-making, and it is very important to have an integrated approach for this purpose. Some of the coastal marine areas consist of stakeholders with different functions. The increase in aquaculture activities can cause intense impacts in coastal areas. The optimal place for aquaculture is an optimalist way to minimize the pressures on the ecosystem, increase productivity and reduce conflicts among users in the coastal marine area. The aim of this study was to determine the potential areas for aquaculture as well as providing a local-oriented approach in which morphological and hydrodynamic properties were investigated. It makes possible to select suitable places for aquaculture by conducting multi-criteria decision analysis by taking into account the obtained spatial data and environmental factors. This study presents the morphometric and dynamic features of the Çandarli Bay, which has a maximum depth of 90 m and an area of 180 km2, based on the bathymetric data. The openness, form factor, dynamic ratio, the areas of erosion, transport and accumulation of fine particles used to estimate the subdynamic conditions were determined according to the morphometric properties. The predictions of the areas of erosion, transportation and accumulation of the fine material, erosion/transport and accumulation of fine particles determined by acoustic surveys in the field were evaluated together, and the most suitable aquaculture areas were mapped without the impact of the marine traffic, residential and industrial areas.