AQUACULTURE AND THE BENTHIC HABITAT: BAY-SCALE VARIABILITY IN RESPONSE TO ORGANIC LOADING AND NOVEL APPROACHES TO INFORM REGULATORY MONITORING PRACTICES

Abstract

Frequent assessment and revision of environmental regulatory methods is necessary to promote a sustainable approach to ecosystem management. This thesis focused on benthic monitoring practices presently utilized by the Nova Scotian government for regulating aquaculture sites and proposes enhanced and novel approaches for consideration during method revisions. The first study analyzed geochemical response of the sediment to organic loading from intermittent aquaculture activity at three sites within Shelburne Bay. Results showed notable distinctions between the sites when analyzed at both annual and multiweek timescales, as well as differences between the dissolved sulfide and redox potential relationships presented in regulatory documentation. The second study expanded on the first by utilizing monitoring data from the sites to development a benthic diagenesis model, focusing on the accumulation of dissolved sulfides in response to organic loading. Model results fit well with provincial monitoring data, but future use will require parameter tunings for individual sites.