Enhanced Subtidal Infrastructure Assessment to Support Inland Finfish Aquaculture

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Scotian Halibut is an inland fish farm located in Clark's Harbour, in southwest Nova Scotia. Scotian Halibut fills its onshore tanks with water from the ocean via a pipe extending approximately 1000' offshore in 20' of water. The exact location of the intake pipe is not known, nor is the surrounding morphology of the seabed and materials (rock, sand, mud) known. Therefore, they are not sure that the pipe is in the ideal location, which is important for potential expansion. Currently, the size and location of the pipe limits the intake capacity of water into Scotian Halibut's onshore tanks, thus limiting the company's ability to expand its operations. High resolution data collection in the coastal nearshore is difficult as the shallow nature of the nearshore makes it dangerous for boats to come close enough to shore to collect multibeam bathymetry, and traditional lidar systems are capable of surveying the topography of the land only. Nova Scotia Community College's Applied Geomatics Research Group (NSCC-AGRG) own a Chiroptera II topo-bathymetric lidar sensor, acquired through funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI), which is capable of surveying the topography of the land as well as the nearshore bathymetry. In addition to obtaining elevation data for the topography and nearshore bathymetry, the sensor collects valuable metrics such as intensity of the reflectance which can be used to interpret the presence of vegetation in the area. This information is valuable when assessing the location of the pipe and the impact to the nearshore environment if the pipe is to be extended, enlarged, or moved. In addition, information from the survey can be used to plan for the deployment of a larger pipe to further expand its operations.