Abstract
Abstract. The Marine Institute, Ireland, runs a suite of operational regional and coastal ocean models. Recent developments include several tailored products that focus on the key needs of the Irish aquaculture sector. In this article, an overview of the products and services derived from the models are presented. The authors give an overview of a shellfish model developed in-house and that was designed to predict the growth, the physiological interactions with the ecosystem, and the level of coliform contamination of the blue mussel. As such, this model is applicable in studies on the carrying capacity of embayments, assessment of the impacts of pollution on aquaculture grounds, and the determination of shellfish water classes. Further services include the assimilation of the model-predicted shelf water movement into a new harmful algal bloom alert system used to inform end users of potential toxic shellfish events and high biomass blooms that include fish-killing species. Models are also used to identify potential sites for offshore aquaculture, to inform studies of potential cross-contamination in farms from the dispersal of planktonic sea lice larvae and other pathogens that can infect finfish, and to provide modelled products that underpin the assessment and advisory services on the sustainable exploitation of the resources of marine fisheries. This paper demonstrates that ocean models can provide an invaluable contribution to the sustainable blue growth of aquaculture and fisheries.
Highlights
According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, aquaculture is the fastest-growing foodproducing sector in the world (FAO, 2014)
The above measures can be effectively supported by mathematical models, which can vary in complexity The examples include highly aggregated tools with low data requirements (e.g. ASSETS, Bricker et al, 2003), tools addressing the production and ecological sustainability at a finer spatial scale (e.g. Ferreira et al, 2007), and more detailed and complex research models
Numerical models used in studies on aquaculture and fisheries can themselves vary in complexity, from general ocean circulation models to sophisticated coupled physical–biogeochemical–shellfish ecophysiological models, such as that presented in Dabrowski et al (2013)
Summary
According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, aquaculture is the fastest-growing foodproducing sector in the world (FAO, 2014). Aquaculture is one of the five sectors targeted for further development under the European Union (EU) Blue Growth Initiative (European Commission, 2012); the fisheries sector has been identified as crucial for jobs and value under this agenda. Since sustainable growth across various marine sectors requires timely delivery of high-quality oceanographic products and services, the aim of this Special Issue is to inform the reader about the existing and ongoing developments in this regard. Within this context, the authors present the research results and the products and services that are at the different stages of advancements; some have already been published or are being published, as indicated throughout the paper, whereas others are still preliminary
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