Application 124771 - Ministry of Fisheries

CAWTHRON INSTITUTE | REPORT NO. 2134 MAY 2012
Unless they are used to calibrate ongoing wider-scale monitoring efforts (Inglis et al.
2000), it is generally considered that, due to significant temporal and spatial variability
in water column properties, one-off synoptic samples are of little benefit to
understanding the effects of aquaculture on the environment. In future, the synoptic
data collected as part of this study may be used to validate wider scale water column
modelling efforts. For example, an unvalidated model (courtesy of MetOcean
Solutions Limited), shows depth averaged velocities across the study area and
potential processes affecting mixing and water characteristics during incoming and
outgoing tides (Figure 12). Peak velocities are estimated at in the main channel areas
and inshore of small island groups to the north of Coromandel Harbour (red arrows
Figure 12). In conjunction with the data collected here, future, long term and widerscale
monitoring could be used to validate such models and assist in detecting widerscale
and longer term trends in water column properties.
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