aquaZone: An Integrative Tool for Sustainable Fish Farm Zoning

Aquaculture is the fastest-growing animal food production sector and expected to become increasingly important meet future demands. As a landlocked country, Austria’s self-sufficiency rate for fish rather low with 6% in total 48% freshwater fish. Therefore, order enable sustainable growth of while avoiding negative impacts on aquatic ecosystem other uses, we developed aquaZone, decision support tool trout farm zoning. Thereby, 30 spatially explicit criteria related environmental prerequisites, land use, legal constraints water quality/quantity were defined, collected classified according their suitability production. Criteria combined an integrative GIS-based modelling approach perform first countrywide spatially-explicit zonation suitable areas aquaculture Austria. 7920 mean size 8.2 ha located 1129 out 5011 sub-basins (23%) identified. The tree assigned highest variable importance temperature, slope, agricultural unit, geology, nitrate retention capacity, region, minimum flow pollution risk. These results should making investors authorities avoid conflicts stranded investments at early stage.