Successful commercialization of open ocean finfish aquaculture will depend on developing new, presently unavailable methods of transferring and harvesting fish from submerged containment structures. Ocean Farm Technologies, LLC will conduct research on developing a method to safely and efficiently transfer and harvest fish from submerged pens, using the patent pending AquaPodTM containment system as a platform. Phase I will involve scale model feasibility studies of several fish transfer methods using facilities at the University of Maine Center for Cooperative Aquaculture Rwswarch (CCAR) in Franklin, Maine. Analysis will include real time video monitoring of fish behavior, feeding activity and measurement of stress indicators in fish being transferred. Results of this study will be used to determine the economic and operational feasibility of implementing the fish transfer technology on a commercial scale, and if feasible, to design a full-scale fish transfer system for Phase II.
Potential Commercial Applications: Harvesting and fish transfer for submersible offshore finfish aquaculture containment structures which are affordable, operationally safe, and efficient will eliminate a substantial barrier to investment in and expansion of this industry. A successful system will have a domestic and foreign market, which will grow for many years
