Storm Bay Biogeochemical Modelling & Information System: Supporting sustainable aquaculture expansion in Tasmania

For the Tasmanian Salmon Industry to expand into new coastal and offshore areas it must demonstrate responsible stewardship and sustainable use of natural resources. Government agencies assessing the environmental implications of the Salmon Industry need to understand the environmental footprint of the industry and appropriate impact mitigation strategies. An information system is required that can report and compare current water quality conditions from models and observations, provide short-term forecasts, analysis of scenario projections of plausible future conditions for planning purposes and link to decision support tools to optimise management response and monitoring programs. This investment will evaluate the performance of existing hydrodynamic models in Storm Bay and will characterise primary sources of nutrients to deliver a validated model of water quality in Storm Bay suitable for assessing future salmon farm expansion.