DEPOMOD’s regulatory role
NewDEPOMOD and AutoDEPOMOD are models, developed by SAMS, which predict the impact of fish farm discharges on the seabed in order to optimise the operation of aquaculture sites to match the environmental capacity.
Fish farms discharge waste (fish faeces, food waste and chemical treatments) which accumulates on the seabed, causing organic enrichment and changes in the chemistry and biology of the marine environment.
The size of marine fish farms is determined to a large extent by the scale and degree of the associated impacts.
DEPOMOD particle tracking modelling software is used by both aquaculture regulators and the industry to manage environmental impacts, while optimising stocking densities, and providing guidance on the selection of farm sites.
NewDEPOMOD (version 1.0) was released by SAMS for purchase in August 2017, replacing AutoDEPOMOD.
This version of the software presents a number of significant advances from its predecessor, including:
• An updated and characterised re-suspension process using data from an extensive set of field measurements of erosion, re-suspension and transport at farm sites;
• A new model framework for sediment deposition which allows the mod
el to include varying bathymetry;
• A completely redesigned user interface using new file formats for ba
thymetry, flow and farm discharges;
• Improved predictive abilities at the more exposed sites that the global marine fish farming industry is increasingly looking to develop;
• A simple and intuitive user interface to generate models of farm sites using standard scenarios quickly and easily;
• A model that produces conservative estimates of the holding capacity of a proposed site and which can be tuned using data collected once a farm enters production to improve predictions – useful, for example, when planning expansion of an existing farm;
• The capacity to use hydrodynamic flow field data to incorporate more realistic flow patterns in comparison with a reliance upon a single location.
In April 2018, SAMS released a further updated version of the software, NewDEPOMOD Version 1.1. This includes:
• Creation of a full user manual for GUI and CMD version of NewDEPOMOD;
• Addition of per cage group feed inputs;
• Addition of over treatment factor to the inputs panel;
• Improvements to tidal ellipse graph, feed inputs graph and surface
deposition map;
• General operation and functional improvements to benefit the user experience.