Ž . Aquaculture 187 2000 319–349 www.elsevier.nlrlocateraqua-online Application of a comprehensive modeling strategy for the management of net-pen aquaculture waste transport Robert W. Dudley a , Vijay G. Panchang b, ) , Carter R. Newell c a Water Resources DiÕision, U.S. Geological SurÕey, 26 Ganneston DriÕe, Augusta, ME 04330, USA b National Sea Grant Office, SilÕer Spring, MD 20910, USA c The Great Eastern Mussel Farms, Inc., PO Box 141, Tenants Harbor, ME 04860, USA Received 22 July 1998; received in revised form 20 October 1999; accepted 7 January 2000 Abstract An efficient mathematical modeling package called Aquaculture Waste Transport Simulator Ž . AWATS provides first-order estimates of the physical dispersion of finfish aquaculture wastes for regulatory purposes. The modeling strategy entails the utilization of a vertically averaged, two-dimensional flow model to produce flow-field information. This information is input to a particle-tracking waste transport model to simulate the resulting transport of wastes. Since earlier studies have shown that the transport modeling results are sensitive to the threshold shear stress at which settled fish-pen wastes are resuspended, fieldwork was conducted to improve the parameter- ization of erodibility in the transport model. Application of AWATS to aquaculture sites in coastal Ž . Maine selected by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection shows that it is a convenient tool in the regulatory process. q 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Modeling; Transport; Waste; Management; Benthos 1. Introduction Regulators invest considerable effort to monitor hydrodynamic, water quality and benthic conditions, and to evaluate environmental impacts of net-pen aquaculture ) Corresponding author. Tel.: q 1-301-713-2435; fax: q 1-301-713-0799. Ž . E-mail address: vijayp@hq.oar.noaa.gov V.G. Panchang . 0044-8486r00r$ - see front matterq 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. Ž . PII: S0044-8486 00 00313-6