Archive for the ‘Innovation’ Category


New Open Ocean Aquaculture Cage Design

Open Water Systems Ltd. has spent the last 5 years designing,testing and patenting a 50′ X 50′ X 36′  2500 cubic meter steel submersible cage for the aquaculture industry.  The new cage, designed by a fish farmer with 12 years experience, was carefully planned to provide a reliable rugged rearing unit that was both fish and farmer friendly.  The cage can be operated at surface in the same fashion as traditional surface cages allowing purse seine harvesting, stock inventory and inspection WITHOUT the need of diving.  The cube design allows the entire net to be secured from top to bottom providing a consistant rearing volume in high current and when towing.  The upper hinged walkway is repeated at the base of the four 36′ deep spars allowing the continuous netting attachment points.  The rubber insert torsion hinge design absorbs any movements between the spars and walkways minimizing metal fatigue.  The lack of horizontal plannes allows wave energy to pass through the structure minimizing the forces on the structure.
The Fish and Farmer Friendly Submersible Cage (Source: Open Water Systems Inc.)

The Fish and Farmer Friendly Submersible Cage (Source: Open Water Systems Ltd.)

Other advantages include:

1.) A bouyancy control system that allows a fully controlled ascend and descend through the water column.  The cage can be suspended at any depth in the water column in any depth of water.

2.) Top portion of cage can be raised 14′ to allow net inspection and cleaning.

3.) Cage cube allows various net designs and configurations.

4.) Capable of larger rearing volumes at reduced cost/cubic meter.

5.) Full scale open water tested in 5 meter seas.

Open Water Systems Ltd. is currently seeking companies  or individuals that are interested in using this cage in real production conditions.  The cage can be seen at www.openwatersystems.com.  We can be contacted @ 705 377 4044 or by email @ jefftuerk@hotmail.com.  The full size cage can be dismantled and container shipped worldwide.


Robotic Offshore Cages – The Future of Fish Farming?

Aquapod© (Source: Ocean Farm Technologies)

Aquapod™ (Source: Ocean Farm Technologies, Inc.)

Sometime ago we posted about heading towards automation self propelled aquaculture cages. Since then, Cliff Goudey, director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Offshore Aquaculture Engineering Center, has been working on a project funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which is testing these cages with cobia farming operations in Puerto Rico.

Goudey has equipped an Aquapod™ cage, produced by Maine-based Ocean Farm Technologies, Inc., with a set of propellers, which act as big screws that churn their way through the ocean.

Self Propelled Cage (Source: www.wickedlocal.com)

Self Propelled Cage (Source: www.wickedlocal.com)

Goudey’s technology gives fish farmers a way to rotate cage locations without towing cages behind boats. The cages become mobile fish farms, making ocean depth less of an issue and fouled water quality and low dissolved oxygen content less of a threat by transferring the fish to areas of the ocean never before accessible to fish farming.

Working recently at Snapperfarm Inc., the cobia operation in Puerto Rico, Goudey’s cage has proved itself capable of moving on its own.

For footage of the sea trials in action click here to watch a video.

Click here for more information on this topic.


Reducing Fishmeal in Aquaculture Feeds

Fishmeal (Source: www.nofima.no)

Fishmeal (Source: www.nofima.no)

According to the Nofima website, salmon can grow well on feeds utilising far less fishmeal than is currently standard.

Whilst fishmeal is a valuable source of protein, a combination of price, sustainability and flexibility factors are leading feed producers to source alternatives.  Plant proteins cannot completely replace marine ingredients without affecting the performance of the farmed fish.  Therefore, Nofima is investigating the issue from a different perspective – by increasing the nutritional value of the fishmeal, less product is required.  

Some of the substances that make raw marine ingredients valuable are separated with water in the production of fishmeal.  The water is referred to as ’stickwater’ and in order to exploit it, the stickwater is highly concentrated and returned to the fishmeal.   Examples of substances in the stickwater include: free amino acids, peptides, small proteins, minerals and soluble vitamins.  The production of low value fishmeal for non-aquaculture feed purposes does not include the transfer of the stickwater back to the fishmeal.  This creates a surplus of stickwater that Nofima believe can be utilised in fish feed for the aquaculture industry.

For further information, please click here.


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