Optimizing shellfish aquaculture in nitrogen and fisheries management

Water quality and the invasion of weeds due to nutrient eutrophication have been a concern in major lakes and coastal areas. Scholars have advocated the cultivation of some species of shellfish as a new potential to facilitate the bioremediation of the polluted environment due to excessive nutrients. In this paper, our objective is to determine the optimal area that must be dedicated to shellfish aquaculture relative to the level of nitrogen pollution, other fisheries activities, and the performance of wild catch. The optimal size also depends on the effort outside the water body to control pollution from the point source. We set up transition equations that describe the system’s state based on pollution reduction efforts, nitrogen concentration level, and the size of shellfish cultivation. We show that the impact of the nitrogen concentration level in the habitat can be minimized by allocating optimal management efforts to reduce nitrogen waste from the source and setting aside an area for shellfish cultivation. We found the optimal steady-state solutions and analyzed the optimal solutions based on biological and economic parameters.