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METHODS article

Front. Aquac.
Sec. Production Biology
Volume 3 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/faquc.2024.1444186
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 11 articles

Variations of aquaculture structures, operations, and maintenance with increasing ocean energy

Provisionally accepted
Kevin G. Heasman Kevin G. Heasman 1*Nicholas D. Scott Nicholas D. Scott 1Tyler Sclodnick Tyler Sclodnick 2Michael Chambers Michael Chambers 3Barry Costa-Pierce Barry Costa-Pierce 4Tobias Dewhurst Tobias Dewhurst 5Wolf Isbert Wolf Isbert 6Bela H. Buck Bela H. Buck 7
  • 1 Cawthron Institute, Nelson, New Zealand
  • 2 Innovasea Systems Inc., Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
  • 3 School of Marine Science and Ocean Engineering, University of New Hampshire, Durham, California, United States
  • 4 ecological aquaculture international, LLC, Biddeford, United States
  • 5 Kelson Marine, Inc., Portland, Maine, United States
  • 6 Marine Aquaculture, Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI),, Bremerhaven, Germany
  • 7 Applied Marine Biology, University of Applied Sciences, Bremerhaven, Germany

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

    Aquaculture in exposed and/or distant ocean sites is an emerging industry and field of study that addresses the need to improve food security along with the challenges posed by expansion of urban and coastal stakeholders into nearshore and sheltered marine waters. This move necessitates innovative solutions for this industry to thrive in high-energy environments. Some innovative research has increased understanding of the physics, hydrodynamics, and structural requirements enabling the development of appropriate systems. The blue mussel (Mytilus edulis), the New Zealand green shell or green lipped mussel (Perna canaliculus), and the Pacific Oyster (Magallana gigas), are the primary targets for commercial exposed bivalve aquaculture. Researchers and industry members are actively advancing existing structures and developing new structures and methodologies for these and alternative high-value species suitable for such conditions. For macroalgae (seaweed) cultivation, such as sugar kelp (Saccharina latissimi), oar weed (Laminaria digitata), or kelp sp. (Ecklonia sp.), longline systems are commonly used, but further development is needed to withstand fully exposed environments and improve productivity and efficiency. In marine finfish aquaculture, three primary design categories for open ocean net pens are identified: flexible gravity pens, rigid megastructures, closed pens, and submersible pens.As aquaculture ventures into more demanding environments, a concerted focus on operational efficiency is imperative. This publication considers the commercial and research progress relating to the requirements of aquaculture's expansion into exposed seas, with a particular focus on the cultivation of bivalves, macroalgae, and marine finfish cultivation technologies and structural developments.

    Keywords: Aquaculture structures, Marine bivalves, macroalgae, Seaweed, exposed ocean, Marine finfish

    Received: 05 Jun 2024; Accepted: 16 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Heasman, Scott, Sclodnick, Chambers, Costa-Pierce, Dewhurst, Isbert 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.