The use of scientific-based assessments and tools has become increasingly important to address concerns and evaluate impacts from marine aquaculture development. A primary concern is the potential for negative ecological and genetic impacts when farmed fish escape and encounter wild stocks. NOAA and ICF jointly developed the Offshore Mariculture Escapes Genetics Assessment (OMEGA) model as a tool to assess risks from escaped cultured fish (ICF 2012; Gruenthal et al. 2014). OMEGA identifies and evaluates ways cultured fish associated with marine aquaculture operations, escape, disperse into wild populations, and potentially affect wild population fitness and viability. NOAA Fisheries is using the OMEGA model to identify and evaluate the risks associated with marine aquaculture operations, recommend management practices for responsible and sustainable aquaculture programs, explore the effects of regulatory and technical advances, and identify research priorities.
OMEGA is a mathematical model with inputs that include the size and growth characteristics of the cultured fish, the frequency and magnitude of escape events, survival rates of escapees in the wild, probability of escaped organisms encountering wild counterparts and interbreeding, and the dynamics of the wild population. Outputs from OMEGA describe the influence these aquaculture escapees may have on the fitness and population dynamics of the mixed population over time.
OMEGA analyses have been used to inform management decisions for several aquaculture projects (e.g., EPA response to Velella Epsilon, NOAA Biological Opinion consultation, NOAA Office of Policy NEPA EIS for permitting of a single operation). This presentation will provide a brief overview of OMEGA and other tools under development to support assessments of genetic risk for marine finfish aquaculture.