Coastal Farming
Coastal farming is considered to be farming located in shallow coastal water or coastal wetlands, such as saltwater marshes and intracoastal waterways. This location is common for the farming of species such as shell fish and seaweed, as well as shallow water net pens and cages for fin fish.
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Shellfish such as oysters, clams, and mussels are grown in rectangular cages on the floor of bays, coastlines, and other shallow waterways with high water exchange where they would naturally grow in the wild. This allows them to feed on the naturally occurring organic matter in the water column by filter feeding. Algae and seaweeds are grown on ropes secured to buoys or posts in similar environments to shellfish. Part of site and species selection for coastal farmers is ensuring the waterway has enough water flow and nutrient availability to make sure these extractive species do not deplete the surrounding area of nutrients.
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Hugh Venables / Oyster farming
Historically, this method of aquaculture has been riddled with environmental concerns when used for shrimp production. Many mangrove habitats across the globe have been destroyed to make room for coastal shrimp ponds. These farms leveled the mangrove forest to create the ponds by dredging channels and pumping sea water into the newly dug ponds. While this gave farmers easy access to fresh seawater for their production, the negative impacts of environmental destruction have taken a toll on coastal erosion and water quality in the surrounding areas. New shrimp farms are moving inland to more sustainable RAS production by using innovative technology to increase bio-security and decrease disease and water usage.
Planet Labs, Inc. / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)