Thesis Defense: A Site Suitability Analysis for Regenerative Ocean Farming in Long Island Sound

In the coming weeks, UW master's students will defend their theses. The subjects are varied and the students are from both master's programs, Coastal Marine Management and Coastal Communities and Regional Development. The defenses are accessible to everyone through zoom links but they are also open to the public, at the University Centre of the Westfjords in Ísafjörður.

Student: Mallorie Iozzo

Date & time: Tuesday September 10th at 13:00

Thesis title: A Site Suitability Analysis for Regenerative Ocean Farming in Long Island Sound

Program: Coastal Marine Management

Zoom link: https://eu01web.zoom.us/j/67988684832

Abstract: Regenerative, or 3D Ocean farming has emerged as an aquaculture method that prioritizes environmental remediation by way of efficiency. This entails both mitigating the ecological effects of global climate change while maximizing economic prosperity. Within the Long Island Sound, an area along the coast of the Northeastern United States, there are several aquaculture operations with the potential to incorporate Regenerative Ocean farming principals and methods. Within the context of Global climate change, multiple organizations including the United Nations, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and the United States National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration have issued a call to increase efforts surrounding sustainable aquaculture practices. Long Island Sound is an intersection of potentialities; the potential for marked impacts resulting from climate change and the potential of an expansive ocean-based economy or “Blue Economy.” This study aims to examine the factors that determine the suitability of a given area for Regenerative Ocean farming in the current context of global climate change. Geospatial analysis was conducted using QGIS to develop various sub models that inform the major limitations to aquaculture in the area. For the development of the sub models, target species for co-cultivation in the Long Island Sound were identified during a review of the literature. This put L. saccharina, U. lactua, and C. Virginica as the target organisms. Species selection was based upon their ecological compatibility with the typical environmental conditions found in Long Island Sound and gear required to develop a Regenerative Ocean farming operation. To capture climate change in the model, the IPCC- identified Shared Socioeconomic Pathway 2 was used to generate the parameter changes to the model. This illustrates the restrictions climate change may pose to Regenerative Ocean farming operations. Finally, a series of recommendations based on Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis were provided based on the maps generated from the analysis. Given the SSP2 scenario, the viability of commonly cultured seaweed species is impaired. This study reveals the potential extension of Site Suitability Analysis for Marine Spatial Planning. Additionally, this provides a data-driven model for furthering Blue Economy activities/development. The use of Regenerative Ocean farming will provide potential climate change mitigation in an area deemed susceptible to both ecological and economic impacts.

Defense schedule for this defense season: