TY - JOUR
T1 - Ecosystem services of geoduck farming in South Puget Sound, USA: a modeling analysis
AU - Cubillo, Alhambra Martínez
AU - Ferreira, João Gomes
AU - Pearce, Christopher Michael
AU - Marshall, Robert
AU - Cheney, Dan
AU - Hudson, Bobbi
N1 - Support was from the PESCA project under NOAA grant NA100AR4170057.
PY - 2018/12/1
Y1 - 2018/12/1
N2 - Provisioning and regulatory ecosystem services of Pacific geoduck clam (Panopea generosa) culture were simulated for an intertidal shellfish farm in Eld Inlet, South Puget Sound, Washington, USA. An individual geoduck clam growth model was developed, based on a well-established framework for modeling bivalve growth and environmental effects (AquaShell™). Geoduck growth performance was then validated and calibrated for the commercial farm. The individual model was incorporated into the Farm Aquaculture Resource Management (FARM) model to simulate the production cycle, economic performance, and environmental effects of intertidal geoduck culture. Both the individual and farm-scale models were implemented using object-oriented programming. The FARM model was then used to evaluate the test farm with respect to its role in reducing eutrophication symptoms, by applying the Assessment of Estuarine Trophic Status (ASSETS) model. Farm production of 17.3 t of clams per 5-year culture cycle is well reproduced by the model (14.4 t). At the current culture density of 21 ind m−2, geoduck farming at the Eld Inlet farm (area: 2684 m2) provides an annual ecosystem service corresponding to 45 Population-Equivalents (PEQ, i.e. loading from humans or equivalent loading from agriculture or industry) in top-down control of eutrophication symptoms. This represents a potential nutrient-credit trading value of over USD 1850 per year, which would add 1.48% to the annual profit (USD 124,900) from the clam sales (i.e. the provisioning service). A scaling exercise applied to the whole of Puget Sound estimated that cultured geoducks provide a significant ecosystem service, of the order of 11,462 PEQ per year (about USD 470,600) in removing primary symptoms of eutrophication, at the level of the whole water body. The modeling tools applied in this study can be used to address both the positive and negative externalities/impacts of shellfish aquaculture practices in the ecosystem and thus the trade-offs of the activity.
AB - Provisioning and regulatory ecosystem services of Pacific geoduck clam (Panopea generosa) culture were simulated for an intertidal shellfish farm in Eld Inlet, South Puget Sound, Washington, USA. An individual geoduck clam growth model was developed, based on a well-established framework for modeling bivalve growth and environmental effects (AquaShell™). Geoduck growth performance was then validated and calibrated for the commercial farm. The individual model was incorporated into the Farm Aquaculture Resource Management (FARM) model to simulate the production cycle, economic performance, and environmental effects of intertidal geoduck culture. Both the individual and farm-scale models were implemented using object-oriented programming. The FARM model was then used to evaluate the test farm with respect to its role in reducing eutrophication symptoms, by applying the Assessment of Estuarine Trophic Status (ASSETS) model. Farm production of 17.3 t of clams per 5-year culture cycle is well reproduced by the model (14.4 t). At the current culture density of 21 ind m−2, geoduck farming at the Eld Inlet farm (area: 2684 m2) provides an annual ecosystem service corresponding to 45 Population-Equivalents (PEQ, i.e. loading from humans or equivalent loading from agriculture or industry) in top-down control of eutrophication symptoms. This represents a potential nutrient-credit trading value of over USD 1850 per year, which would add 1.48% to the annual profit (USD 124,900) from the clam sales (i.e. the provisioning service). A scaling exercise applied to the whole of Puget Sound estimated that cultured geoducks provide a significant ecosystem service, of the order of 11,462 PEQ per year (about USD 470,600) in removing primary symptoms of eutrophication, at the level of the whole water body. The modeling tools applied in this study can be used to address both the positive and negative externalities/impacts of shellfish aquaculture practices in the ecosystem and thus the trade-offs of the activity.
KW - Aquaculture
KW - Carrying capacity
KW - Ecosystem services
KW - FARM model
KW - Geoduck
KW - Panopea generosa
KW - Puget sound
KW - Shellfish farming
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85052622568&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s10499-018-0291-x
DO - 10.1007/s10499-018-0291-x
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85052622568
SN - 0967-6120
VL - 26
SP - 1427
EP - 1443
JO - Aquaculture International
JF - Aquaculture International
IS - 6
ER -