Shellfish aquaculture operations can provide a variety of beneficial environmental services. Cultured shellfish have been increasingly incorporated into nutrient management strategies due to their ability to assimilate nutrients into their tissue and shell. Shellfish aquaculture gear also creates complex structure, and a variety of recreationally and commercially important fish species have been observed exhibiting habitat-related behaviors such as foraging, shelter seeking, and reproduction around aquaculture gear. Other environmental, economic, and social benefits associated with shellfish aquaculture have also been documented.
Despite the growing body of evidence that aquaculture can consistently provide beneficial services, the current aquaculture permitting framework largely focuses on possible adverse effects to various environmental and socioeconomic factors. Engagement with resource managers suggests this is likely because adverse effects are often easier to quantify and document than beneficial effects, and variability in aquaculture production practices can limit manager’s ability to make defensible assumptions on the types and extent of beneficial effects a proposed operation may provide. In addition, not all aspects of the current aquaculture review/permitting framework allow for, or easily lend themselves to, a synergistic evaluation of adverse and beneficial effects during the aquaculture review/permitting process.
We will discuss the results from initial outreach with resource managers to share information on existing regionally relevant research and literature related to nutrient and habitat provisioning from shellfish aquaculture and data gaps, and the existing regulatory mechanisms and the types of tools/end-products that may support greater consideration of beneficial services associated with shellfish aquaculture in the aquaculture permitting and review process.