Cage Aquaculture Particulate Output and Transport (CAPOT)

The Cage Aquaculture Particulate Output and Transport (CAPOT) model is an easy to use and flexible farm-scale model that can be used to rapidly estimate particulate waste deposition from cage production. CAPOT is a suitable initial, rapid assessment model to give an overview of potential impact of particulate waste from new or expanded fish cage farms, with little operator expertise by a wide range of stakeholders. The model is wholly encapsulated within standard spreadsheet format (.xlsm). Visualisation of the output is achieved using proprietary contour plotting software, such as SurferTM (Golden Software. CA, USA) and open-source Geographic Information System (GIS) software, such as QGIS, but can be achieved in a more limited form within the spreadsheet itself. Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) macro scripts within the spreadsheets perform calculations and data formatting to produce outputs in Surfer and ESRI (GIS) grid formats. The model should not be used for environment regulation/licensing purposes without checking with the relevant regulatory authority. Disclaimer: This model is distributed in good faith as a work in progress and potentially subject to error. As such, the authors and the University of Stirling do not accept any liability for inaccurate predictions or their consequences. This model is employed at the users own risk.