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Abstract
To understand the influence of laver aquaculture facilities on the current system and sediment transport in Ariake Bay, field experiments to measure the hydraulic resistance and velocity distribution of a compartment of an aquaculture facility were conducted with numerical simulations of the hydrodynamic environment and suspended particulate matter (SPM) dynamics in local areas around aquaculture facilities and those in the bay scale. The results of the field experiments showed that the resistance coefficient of laver aquaculture nets varied from 0.01 to 0.02, depending on the quantity of laver. The resistance of the nets and poles per a compartment of laver aquaculture facility was of the same order of magnitude as bottom friction, but differences in temporal variation were observed during a tidal cycle. The surface velocities were reduced downstream from the aquaculture facility because of the resistance of the laver nets, and the thickness of this surface boundary layer was approximately 1 m at the downstream end of the facility. The numerical simulation of the head of Ariake Bay showed that the tidal currents and SPM concentrations were reduced in the laver farming ground area, whereas they were increased in the water channel regions because of the relative differences in hydraulic resistance.