PacIOOS Water Quality Sensor Partnership Program 009: Nomilo Fishpond, Kauai, Hawaii

However, it has been underutilized in the past 100 years and is undergoing a renaissance. To reduce excessive phytoplankton and prevent oxygen depletion events, the seawater channel between the pond and ocean has been restored and shellfish farming has been introduced. A research project is also expected to introduce native sea cucumber aquaculture to better cycle nutrients along the pond bottom.

The PacIOOS water quality sensor has been utilized to measure changes in four areas of the pond throughout the 10-month deployment to assist with spatial planning and optimization of aquaculture activities and to determine potential impacts of these activities on the aquatic environment of the fishpond. The instrument is a Sea-Bird Scientific SBE 16plus V2 SeaCAT CTD coupled with a Sea-Bird Scientific ECO FLNTU optical sensor.