By Julia Robins, Staff Writer
Who would suspect that in a bay with as much shallow water as the Chesapeake there would be competition for space in its shallow water habitat?
Shallow water can be home to submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) or shellfish aquaculture. SAV filters runoff and provides food and habitat for blue crabs, striped bass, and birds, while clam and oyster aquaculture provide a sustainable and lucrative industry.
The conflict? The two often can’t share the same habitat, because Virginia and Maryland policies protect existing SAV over other uses of the space.
“It’s a classic example of a shallow water use conflict,” says Marcia Berman, Program Manager of the Comprehensive Coastal Inventory Program at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS). Berman and researchers at the Center for Coastal Resources Management are looking at spaces where resources and activities in the bay overlap and keeping an eye on such conflicts.
With funding from Virginia Sea Grant, the program has been developing a geospatial model it calls the Aquaculture Vulnerability Model. It’s an interactive map that identifies optimal areas for aquaculture as well as vulnerable areas–areas where conflicts, such as existing SAV beds, or environmental conditions, like poor water quality, could make it difficult to grow shellfish. If the model can predict where conflicts or poor growing conditions could occur, then they can be avoided.
“The idea is to try to create resources for the industry that include environmental and regulatory considerations that are a little more visible and available—kind of like a ‘where-to’ guide for getting started in the industry,” says Berman.
Over the years, applications for private leases to grow shellfish in shallow water environments have continued to increase, and the time it takes for these leases to be issued has gotten longer. If a grower applies for a lease in an area of conflict, months of waiting could go by, only to find that the application gets denied.
“That’s where these tools become particularly useful,” says Berman. “If people use them, the opportunity to avoid these kinds of problems as they move through the permitting and leasing phase would absolutely help them.”
While the model addresses state policies, “it also leans toward the physical requirements of aquaculture, so that shellfish growers aren’t trying to grow shellfish in unsuitable areas,” says Berman.
To find suitable areas for aquaculture, Berman and her staff went straight to the source. VIMS scientists and aquaculture experts helped them to determine aquaculture requirements such as salinity thresholds, water depth, and lower wave energy.
Putting this kind of data into a map wasn’t new for Berman. Her program already used GIS mapping technology to manage wetlands and shorelines. But, she says, “We wanted to challenge the use of GIS to begin doing something bigger than we were already doing and to expand it into an area where it hadn’t really been done before.”
Berman’s next step is to finalize the model and make it publicly available online May, 2015. Once online, the model can provide guidance to those wishing to expand current aquaculture operations or be used as an educational resource for anybody interested in learning more about aquaculture.
“It’s important for the public to have access to this information,” Berman says, “not only to understand the value of this resource for the community, but also to gain an appreciation for it themselves.”
