• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.21-29
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• 2010

The concept of carrying capacity for bivalve culture of an area can be classified into four hierarchical categories, according to their level of complexity and scope, such as physical, production, ecological and social carrying capacity. Most scientific efforts to date have been directed towards modelling production carrying capacity and some of the resultant models have been used successfully. But, the modelling of ecological carrying capacity is still in its infancy, because it should consider the whole ecosystem and all culture activities. A more holistic approach is needed to determine the influence of bivalve aquaculture on the environment and ecological carrying capacity. As an alternative, we can use a set of ecological indicators which can show the environmental performance of bivalve farms and assess ecological carrying capacity. Clearance efficiency and filtration pressure indicators show the value of 0.331 and 0.203, respectively, and these indicators suggest that the present level of culture in GeojeHansan Bay is above the ecological carrying capacity of 0.05. Consequently, these indicators can provide a guidance on the present level of culture in regard to production and ecological carrying capacity in GeojeHansan Bay.