Simulating emergency response for large-scale fish welfare emergencies in sea-based salmon farming

Abstract

This paper presents a simulation model for analyzing emergency response for fish welfare emergencies in sea-based fish farming. The model enables decision-makers to evaluate the emergency preparedness level against incidents harming fish welfare and the benefit of additional measures such as dedicated emergency response vessels. The proposed model simulates how the vessel operations of a sea-based fish farming system develops over time and tests the emergency preparedness at regular intervals by simulating the emergency responses. The progress of each emergency response is logged and is used to establish first response time, response progression, and response completion duration. A case study is performed assessing the emergency preparedness of two sea-based fish farming systems, and the effects of adding a dedicated emergency response vessel. The results indicate that when there are fewer vessels that can contribute to the emergency response, a dedicated emergency response vessel represents a higher relative capacity increase, and can have a more significant impact on the response completion.