PARR-2011-CA-06
Refinement of DEPOMOD validations for freshwater finfish sites

The project objective is further validation of DEPOMOD as an environmental management tool for the trout cage culture industry in Ontario, and builds on work funded through the Aquaculture Collaborative Research and Development Program (ACRDP).  DEPOMOD is a dispersion model designed for marine aquaculture that is increasingly used in several countries, but has never been validated in freshwater.  Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) Habitat Management and the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources want to develop a defensible dispersion modelling tool to assess new site license applications and to assist regulatory decisions regarding applications for changes to feed quotas.  Additionally, predictions of the spatial extent of the deposition footprint will be used for a new aquaculture sediment monitoring program in Ontario.  The purpose of this project is to continue validation of DEPOMOD, but to focus on means of improving data collection and model parameterization to improve model agreement.  The initial focus will be on data from sites that are fixed to shore and thus provide minimal uncertainty in cage location, but will also try to improve estimates of feed digestibility and dispersion rates.  In addition, augmentative field validation data directly under cages for two of the farms with the most comprehensive data set (sediment chemistry and benthos) will be collected in the field.  Comparison of model predictions with surface sediment chemistry and benthic invertebrate community structure may provide a stronger agreement with model outputs than short term sediment traps because these parameters will integrate the effects of waste deposition and cage movement over time.

Principal investigator: Cheryl Podemski, Freshwater Institute - 501 University Cr., Winnipeg, MB; Tel.: (204) 984-1775; Email: Cheryl.Podemski@dfo-mpo.gc.ca

Team members: Paula Azevedo, DFO-Central and Arctic region; Doug Geiling; Jian Zhang, Central and Arctic region; Cyndi Wlasichuk, DFO-Central and Arctic region

2-year project (2011/12, 2012/13)