Data Management Plan

Aquaculture, also known as aquafarming, is the farming of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, mollusks, and aquatic plants. The presence and location of aquaculture sites were derived from multiple state websites and include only those in coastal and marine saltwater areas. The following states are included in this layer: Alaska, California, Connecticut, Florida, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Virginia and Washington. The MarineCadastre.gov data team is continuing to work with aquaculture coordinators in each coastal state to fill current data gaps and improve the accuracy of existing data sets. As such, these data should be considered a work in progress. The user is encouraged to read the metadata of each individual state's data carefully, since geometry, attribute details, and timeliness are not necessarily consistent among data sets used to develop this layer. The naming conventions for the type of aquaculture site (license versus lease) were retained as they are defined and administered by the individual states. The layer is shown by the area type: finfish, shellfish, and other (algae, crustacean, or unknown farming). Details of each state's data source are described in the data-processing section. The data are not a complete collection of aquaculture locations within the U.S., nor are the locations to be considered exact. These data are intended for coastal and ocean planning.

Process Steps:

• 2016-06-01 00:00:00 - + Download datasets from each specified source (some are not available online, and must be obtained from source contact) + Project datasets into NAD 83 and import into a file geodatabase + Alaska data initially contained 2 polygon feature classes and 1 line feature class. The line feature class was converted to polygon and the three were merged. + California data was obtained via email, as well as Catalina Sea Ranch bounding coordinates. After converting the Catalina point feature class to polygon, it was merged with the other California data. + Connecticut data was obtained through ArcGIS online. The Connecticut Sea Grant Extension Program with University of Connecticut Center for Land Use Education and Research hosts a REST page for shellfish data, which was saved, uploaded, and then converted to multiple feature classes. Commercial Shellfish Beds (Municipal Waters - 2014) (9), Commercial Shellfish Beds (State Waters - 2014) (10), Recreational Shellfish Beds (2014) (11), and Designated Natural Shellfish Beds (2014) (12) were Merged and Unioned, and any gaps/ overlaps were corrected. This data layer was then overlaid with Shellfish Classification (Areas) (14), and boundary lines were cleaned up and shellfish classification information was added to data layer. + Florida data initially was 3 separate feature class downloads from Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute. These three were merged and attributes were cleaned up. + Maine data was obtained via email from the Maine DMR. + Massachusetts data was obtained by downloading the Aquaculture Sites in Planning Area layer from the Massachusetts DMR and dissolving features based on available attributes. + New Hampshire data was obtained via email, but is also available online from the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services. + New York data was downloaded from the Northeast Ocean Data Portal and was overlaid with the Shellfish Map Service created by the Suffolk County Department of Economic Development and Planning. The Temporary Marine Area Use Assignments (2), Oyster Grants (3), and 10 Acre Lease Area (4) layers were the focus, and the coordinates from the Temporary Marine Area Use Assignments (2) and 10 Acre Lease Area (4) were used to plot the data. + Rhode Island data was downloaded from the Northeast Ocean Data Portal and was overlaid with the shellfish13 shapefile downloaded from Rhode Island Geographic Information System, and boundary lines were cleaned up and shellfish classification information was added to data layer. + Washington data was thinned down by selecting only coastal Washington areas where type in ('Marine Bedland', 'Marine Tideland') or designation in ('Oyster Reserve', 'Oyster Tract'). + The Marine Farm Culture Area layers from the Approach, Coastal, General, and Harbor scale bands were downloaded from the NOAA OCS ENC Direct to GIS. These were Merged and Unioned, and any gaps/ overlaps were corrected. + The Aids to Navigation layer was downloaded from the Marine Cadastre and data was thinned by selecting features that contained "aquaculture", "pen", "mussel", or "oyster" in the Aid Name or Structure Remarks field. + All feature classes were Merged and Unioned. Shapes of overlapping features were adjusted to include geometries from multiple sources and the info from the multiple source attributes were retained. + Delete all superfluous fields. + Check geometry and project data into WGS 1984 Auxiliary Sphere
• 2016-12-01 00:00:00 - Deleted personally identifiable information and other sensitive information from attributes in Contact and Status fields per NOAA NCCOS request. Due to needed updates to the spatial data, the Washington state aquaculture layer has temporarily been removed.
• 2018-07-24 00:00:00 - Added features to West Coast from Pacific Shellfish Institute, Oregon and Washington.