Hard clam (Mercenaria spp.) aquaculture in Florida, USA: geographic information system applications to lease site selection

The aquaculture industry continues its worldwide growth pattern, and in Flo rida USA development of this industry is fully supported by state governmen tal entities. The information base for husbandry and marketing of aquacultu re products is well established, but less information is available for dete rmining appropriate locations for aquaculture operations. A Geographic Info rmation System (GIS)-based approach for identifying appropriate sites for a quaculture grow-out, derived from the work on hard clam (Mercenaria spp.) a quaculture lease site selection in Florida but applicable to any aquacultur e product requiring field grow-out, is described. First the application of the methodology in the Indian River lagoon on the east central coast of Flo rida, where clam aquaculture operations have been extant for over a decade, is discussed. It is then shown how this technology can be transferred to C harlotte Harbor, Florida, an estuary where hard clam aquaculture operations are in the incipient phase of development. in Charlotte Harbor, a 6321 ha subset of the estuary is identified that appears suited for hard clam aquac ulture, dependent upon additional surveys that can be specifically targeted to the sites identified. Thus, the effort required for site-specific surve ys is considerably reduced by eliminating much unsuitable area. In summary the biological and management implications of this approach to lease site a llocation for hard clams and other suitable species are considered. Publish ed by Elsevier Science B.V.