Marine spatial planning techniques with a case study on wave-powered offshore aquaculture farms

Abstract

As emerging marine technologies lead to the development of new infrastructure across the ocean, they enter an environment that existing ecosystems and industries already rely on. Although necessary to provide sustainable sources of energy and food, careful planning will be important to make informed decisions and avoid conflicts. This paper examines several techniques used for marine spatial planning, an approach for analyzing and planning the use of marine resources. Using open source software including QGIS and Python, the potential for developing wave-powered offshore aquaculture farms using the RM3 wave energy converter along the Northeast coast of the United States is assessed and several feasible sites are identified. The optimal site, located at 43.7{\deg}N, 68.9{\deg}W along the coast of Maine, has a total cost for a 5-pen farm of \$56.8M, annual fish yield of 676 tonnes, and a levelized cost of fish of \$9.23 per kilogram. Overall trends indicate that the cost greatly decreases with distance to shore due to the greater availability of wave energy and that conflicts and environmental constraints significantly limit the number of feasible sites in this region.