Modeling shellfish production
In September 2013 the RAAK PRO project ‘Saline production’ has been granted. This project involves a 4 year study in optimizing various near shore shellfish culture in Lake Grevelingen, Lake Veere and Oosterschelde in the South West Delta Region. Focus of the project is off bottom (in cages) oyster farming, bottom culture of manila clams and cockles, and rope culture of mussels, all in close cooperation with local producers, companies and research institutes (a.o. IMARES). Main goal of the project is to increase on site (farm-scale) shellfish production, based on local (farm-scale) conditions.
One of the activities of this project is the development of a mathematical production model that can be used as a decision support tool for farmers. In a previous phase of this project, a 0-D farm model has been developed in R. The model is based on an generic growth model (the Dynamic Energy Budget model) and a model describing the population dynamics. The input to the model are the starting conditions (species, amount and size) and the environmental conditions (temperature and food). The output of the model is the development and production of the shellfish. By varying input, users can run different scenarios and evaluate the effect of management options. In a previous phase, simulations were made with data on temperature and food availability from fixed monitoring locations of RWS.
Since July 2014, on-site data on food availability (chlorophyll-a) and temperature from the actual farms is available. With the model, the student(s) will perform model simulations in order to get insight on density dependent food uptake and describe the relations for the different shellfish species (mussels, oysters, clams and cockles) between stocking density and food uptake, and between food transport/flow rate and food availability/uptake. The challenge is to pre-process the measured data on temperature and food availability and analyze the model output using different input. The student will learn to work with dynamic models using the open source software R. Student(s) will work closely together with researchers from IMARES and research group Aquaculture in Delta Areas.
Research type: literature/desk study
Research level: minor/internship (BSc.)
Prerequisite: good understanding of ecology, biology of shellfish and hydrology; good analytical and mathematical skills; good planning skills
Partners: local shellfish famers, national and international knowledge partners
Researcher involved: research group aquaculture (Tony van der Hiele) and IMARES
Period: 1st semester 2016-2017
