A simulation and decision-support software product for aquaculture facility design
and management planning is described (AquaFarm, Oregon State University��), including
comprehensive documentation and applications to practical problems. AquaFarm
provides (1) simulation of physical, chemical, and biological unit processes, (2)
simulation of facility and fish culture management, (3) compilation of facility resource
and enterprise budgets, and (4) a graphical user interface and data management
capabilities. These analytical tools are combined into an interactive, decision support
system, for the analysis and development of facility design specifications and
management strategies. Intended user groups include aquaculture research, engineering,
education, and production. As guided by the user, aquaculture facilities can be of any
type, configuration, and management objectives, for purposes of broodfish maturation,
egg incubation, and/or growout of finfish or crustaceans in cage, single pass, serial reuse,
water recirculation, or solar-algae pond systems. User-accessible specifications include
(1) site climate and water supplies, (2) components and configurations offish culture
systems, (3) fish and facility management strategies, (4) unit costs for budget items, (5)
production objectives (species, time schedules, and fish numbers and weights), and (6)
parameters of unit-process and fish performance models. Based on these specifications,
aquaculture facilities are simulated, resource requirements are compiled, and operation
schedules are determined so that production objectives are achieved. Facility performance
is reported to the user as management schedules, summary reports, resource and
graphical compilations of time-series data for unit process, fish, and water quality
variables. If unsatisfactory resource requirements or unattainable production objectives are
found, procedures of iterative design and management refinement are supported. To
provide this analytical capacity, a wide range of existing and newly developed, quantitative
methods and models are assembled and synthesized into an integrated analytical
framework, including aquatic chemistry, aquatic biology, fish biology, aquacultural
engineering, and simulation techniques. Unit-process and system-level validation exercises
are demonstrated for a wide range of aquaculture facilities, in which (1) facilities are
constructed according to reported studies, (2) simulation trials are accomplished, and (3)
good agreement between predicted performance and empirical observations is
demonstrated, given that sufficient specification of site-specific variables is provided. / Graduation date: 2000
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ORGSU/oai:ir.library.oregonstate.edu:1957/33224 |
| Date | 17 April 2000 |
| Creators | Ernst, Douglas H. |
| Contributors | Bolte, John P. |
| Source Sets | Oregon State University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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