Understanding causal relationships within complex business environments represents an essential component in a decision-maker's toolset when evaluating alternative aquaculture production technologies. This article assesses the utility of employing signed digraph qualitative modeling to support technology selection decision-making through evaluating the adoption of three alternative production expansion strategies (offshore production, IMTA, or land-based RAS) by the Atlantic salmon industry. Results underlined the benefits of strategically understanding the dynamics of demand growth, emphasized the requirement to address societal concerns early; and indicated that levels of ambiguity are lowest with expansion offshore and highest with land-based RAS growout. The research suggests that signed digraph modeling can provide an objective perspective on the levels of uncertainty and causal linkages within a business environment when exploring aquaculture adoption technology scenarios.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Keywords:	aquaculture, digraph modeling
Research Division:	Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences
Research Group:	Fisheries Sciences
Research Field:	Aquaculture
Objective Division:	Animal Production and Animal Primary Products
Objective Group:	Fisheries - Aquaculture
Objective Field:	Fisheries - Aquaculture not elsewhere classified
UTAS Author:	King, A (Mr Andrew King)
UTAS Author:	MacLeod, CK (Associate Professor Catriona MacLeod)
UTAS Author:	Dambacher, JM (Dr Jeffrey Dambacher)
ID Code:	131779
Year Published:	2018
Deposited By:	Sustainable Marine Research Collaboration
Deposited On:	2019-04-04
Last Modified:	2019-07-30
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