FISHFATE Users Guide: Spacially Temporally Explicit Population Simulation Model

The evaluation of alternative environmental windows for dredging operations, which represent a broad spectrum of project and site specific conditions e.g., type of dredge plant, local hydrodynamics, bathymetry, etc. requires development of a spatially and temporally explicit population simulation model. Unless spatial dynamics are accounted for, exploration of spatial andor temporal alternatives is impractical and is of limited effectiveness Pelletier and Magal 1996. Ultimately, an integrated biophysical and population modeling package is needed that contains coupled population-dynamic, hydrodynamic, fate-and-transport, and bioenergetic models that can be applied in spatially-explicit formats. This Users Guide details a population-dynamic model that provides a quantitative biological foundation for such an integrated modeling package.