FINAL PROJECT [GIS5050L]: Expanding Aquaculture Awareness and Utilization in Brevard County, Florida

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Expanding Aquaculture Awareness and Utilization in Brevard County, Florida

ABSTRACT: Aquaculture is a general term encompassing the farming of aquatic organisms (animals, plants, and algae) in coastal and inland waterways. In the United States, the State of Florida ranks as one of the most highly diverse aquafarming states with sales of products for human consumption totaling millions of dollars annually. However, the economic benefits of this industry come with the risks associated with dependence on waterways that may be contaminated in both known (permitted pollution) and unknown ways (e.g., seasonal changes in water quality). Given foodborne illness risks and the demand for aquaculture expanding globally as one possible solution to food insecurity, GIS-based tools to assess the suitability of potential aquafarming selection are invaluable, especially when balancing varied stakeholder interests in managing disease spread, impact on sensitive habitats, contributions to regional tourism, and related economic interests of permitted point source polluters in an area. This project specifically examined current types of aquaculture in Brevard County, Florida, and the proximity of these sites to identified polluted waterways or sources of ongoing, permitted water pollution. Possible strategies for increasing awareness and utilization of the aquaculture resources in different parts of the county were proposed based on best practices from existing literature on marine spatial planning to present and map environmental, social, and economic interests. The project was successful in terms of its goal take into account the benefits and risks of aquaculture and design intervention strategies targeting specific demographics of the residents of areas adjacent to aquaculture sites. One of the seven maps generated to achieve the project goals is linked above. Additional maps are summarized in the final project PowerPoint presentation provided here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/16zzku6MA7ytBMc0d-eSLyksCYdZ7gces/view?usp=sharing

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