Monitoring methods to support area-based bivalve aquaculture management in the Pacific region

Abstract

The Pacific Shellfish Aquaculture Management Division (AMD) of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) requested recommendations regarding monitoring methodologies along with associated field and laboratory protocols that can be used by regulatory, industry and science personnel when carrying out environmental assessments. The sampling methods put forward in this report are intended to support a wide variety of approaches ranging from general area based monitoring programs or local emerging issues associated with a significant knowledge gap. A suite of environmental variables that support bivalve aquaculture assessments was selected based on the following: 1) recommendations arising from government advisory processes and/or the scientific community; and 2) the ability of the indicator to detect potential shifts in ecosystem conditions and processes. The benthic variables selected include sediment texture, geochemical (e.g. organic, redox), macrofaunal, meiofaunal, and epifaunal attributes, while pelagic variables consist of both physical (temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, light) and biotic characteristics (phytoplankton, zooplankton). Relevant bivalve attributes include cultured and wild density, diversity, and condition indices. The pelagic and bivalve indicators represent a nutrient-seston-plankton-bivalve loop that can support a high-resolution, spatially explicit, hydrodynamic-biogeochemical coupled model capable of evaluating ecological bivalve carrying capacity.