Assessing the capacity for sustainable finfish aquaculture in the vicinity of seagrasses

Globally, aquaculture accounts for over 50% of fish production. However, it brings with it an environmental risk associated with eutrophication and organic enrichment of the seabed, adversely affecting marine coastal ecosystems. A major spatial constraint on aquaculture in nearshore areas around much of Australia is the potential for dispersed nutrients to negatively affect seagrass communities. There is a need to develop a process to determine the likelihood of seagrass growth (or loss) due to aquaculture derived nutrient inputs. Responding to this need, the current project will determine cost-effective approaches to assessing the influence of finfish aquaculture derived nutrients on seagrasses and from this develop a predictive modelling ability to allow scenario analysis of future aquaculture development and how it might affect seagrasses. This would provide managers with the ability to make informed decisions about where to place future developments or let existing developments to expand. The project with use developments in Fitzgerald Bay, South Australia as a case study to document seagrass changes.