The United Arab Emirates (UAE) government has set a strategic objective to develop a competitive and sustainable aquaculture industry for Abu Dhabi, that considers the broader economic and social benefits to the region, while meeting best-practice environmental targets (Fig. 1). To support this ambitious objective, Environment Agency Abu Dhabi (EAD) commissioned a project to develop a short list of sites in the southern Arabian Gulf, supported by stakeholder engagement workshops, GIS and integrated numerical modelling. Stage 1 of the project used a multi-criteria analysis (MCA) to select suitable zones following an analysis of local social, economic and environmental values. Both the inputs and the constraints used in the MCA were identified in a workshop attended my multiple government agencies, consultants and academics. Multiple data sets were examined including optimal growing conditions, local water quality, depth, current speeds, and proximity to shipping, power station and marine park resources, to produce a ‘heat map’ of optimal sites under a range of scenarios.
Stage 2 of the project examined the carrying capacity of the sites using an integrated numerical model, with coupled hydrodynamic, water quality and sediment diagenesis modules. The intent of model was to determine the volume of fish that could be farmed safely, without compromising local environmental and/or social values, while supporting the regions’ economic and social objectives.
The MCA used in this example is commensurate with international best practice approaches to aquaculture site selection and serves as a good template, for application to other parts of the world; particularly those lacking social and environmental governance frameworks.