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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Aquac.
Sec. Production Biology
Volume 3 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/faquc.2024.1427168
This article is part of the Research Topic Differentiating and defining ‘exposed’ and ‘offshore’ aquaculture and implications for aquaculture operation, management, costs, and policy View all 3 articles

Utilisation of the site assessment energy indices for aquaculture in exposed waters: Biology, technology, operations and maintenance

Provisionally accepted
Kevin G. Heasman Kevin G. Heasman 1*Tyler Sclodnick Tyler Sclodnick 2Nils Goseberg Nils Goseberg 3,4Nicholas D. Scott Nicholas D. Scott 1Michael Chambers Michael Chambers 5Tobias Dewhurst Tobias Dewhurst 6Samuel Rickerich Samuel Rickerich 6Heidi M. Føre Heidi M. Føre 7Bela H. Buck Bela H. Buck 8,9
  • 1 Cawthron Institute, Nelson, New Zealand
  • 2 Innovasea Systems Inc., Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
  • 3 Leichtweiß-Institute for Hydraulic Engineering and Water Resources ,Technische Universität Braunschweig, Braunschweig, Bavaria, Germany
  • 4 Ludwig Franzius Institute of Hydraulic Engineering, Estuary and Coastal Engineering, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geodesy, Leibniz University Hannover, Hannover, Germany
  • 5 School of Marine Science and Ocean Engineering, University of New Hampshire, Durham, California, United States
  • 6 Kelson Marine, Inc., Portland, Maine, United States
  • 7 SINTEF, Trondheim, Sør-Trøndelag, Norway
  • 8 Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI), Bremerhaven, Bremen, Germany
  • 9 Bremen University of Applied Sciences, Bremen, Bremen, Germany

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    When moving from a very sheltered aquaculture site to a very exposed oceanic aquaculture site, the energy increases proportionally in a continuum. Lojek et al. (in review) considered the primary influential parameters (water current, wave height, wave period, wavelength and water depth) which influence the species, structure, technology, methods, and operational aspects of any aquaculture endeavour and investigated six possible indices which cover these variables. Added to advanced computer modelling, assisted by detailed and constant environmental monitoring, it may be possible to refine site selection, structure selection and design, species selection, equipment and logistic requirements and health and safety requirements. This manuscript has selected two indicative indices: Specific Exposure Energy (SEE) index and Exposure Velocity (EV) index from the potential equations provided by Lojek et al. (in review) and compared them with known operational aquaculture sites highlighting present structural capability and limitations. The two indices are also utilized to reflect on their suitability for assessing sample sites with respect to biological, technological, operational or maintenance aspects of aquaculture activities.

    Keywords: mussels, Seaweed, Exposed aquaculture, energy index, Site selection, Marine finfish

    Received: 03 May 2024; Accepted: 11 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Heasman, Sclodnick, Goseberg, Scott, Chambers, Dewhurst, Rickerich, Føre and Buck. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Kevin G. Heasman, Cawthron Institute, Nelson, New Zealand

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.