Site Selection, Acquisition, and Planning for Aquaculture in Dredged Material Containment Areas

High land and construction costs hinder development of pond-based aquaculture in the United States. A partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) may reduce these constraints. The dredged material containment areas (DMCA) operated by the Corps are structurally similar to aquaculture po...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Wilson, Jonathan, Homziak, Jurij, Coleman, Richard E
Format: Report
Language:English
Subjects:
Agronomy, Horticulture and Aquiculture
AQUICULTURE
ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS
COMPATIBILITY
CONSTRUCTION
CONTAINMENT(GENERAL)
COSTS
DESIGN CRITERIA
DIKES
DISPOSAL
DMCA(DREDGED MATERIAL CONTAINMENT AREAS)
DREDGED MATERIALS
DREDGING
ECONOMICS
ENGINEERING
PONDS
PRODUCTION RATE
PUMPS
SITE SELECTION
SOILS
STRATEGY
SURVEYS
TOPOGRAPHY
UNITED STATES
WATER
WATERWAYS
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Summary:High land and construction costs hinder development of pond-based aquaculture in the United States. A partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) may reduce these constraints. The dredged material containment areas (DMCA) operated by the Corps are structurally similar to aquaculture ponds and typically are used by the USACE only once every 3 to 10 years. With the Corps and navigational interests contributing to dike construction and land acquisition, the costs of aquaculture may be reduced while providing the Corps with the additional disposal areas needed to maintain our nation's waterways. The Containment Area Aquaculture Program was established to investigate the feasibility of DMCA aquaculture from biological, economic, engineering, and legal perspectives. The technical feasibility of DMCA aquaculture was demonstrated in 42- and 47-ha DMCA's near Brownsville, TX. Pumps, filters, and drainage structures were added to these DMCA's to accommodate aquaculture operations and a 1.6-ha nursery pond was constructed. During a 3-year period, four crops of penaeid shrimp were raised. Production rates averaged 670 kg/ha of whole shrimp (range: 338 to 1,143 kg/ha) with 51 percent survival (range: 23 to 74 percent). Total production for the four crops was 116,088 kg of whole shrimp (71,878 kg tails) which was sold for over $475,000. This report gives a general overview of site selection considerations when colocating a DMCA and an aquaculture facility. Checklists are given to provide aquaculturists, USACE personnel, regulatory agencies, and others with a summary and quick reference to important factors in choosing a site. Site selection is the most important decision made in any large-scale pond aquaculture operation, regardless of whether the operation will be in a DMCA. Prepared in Collaboration with Jackson State Univ.,