WORLD AQUACULTURE 35 During that time, a series of engineering and biological studies were conducted, advancing the state-of-the-art and science of offshore aquaculture. The mooring grid required minimal maintenance over the deployment duration. The submerged platform survived numerous storms and other extreme environmental conditions. The pretension mooring arrangement and depth below the surface minimized wear between components from relative motion. In addition, no marine mammal entanglements were observed during the mooring deployment, although minke and fin whales were seen nearby. The submerged grid mooring proved to be a reliable, stable working platform for a variety of ocean structures. The success of the sevenyear deployment, with no structural integrity issues and no loss of fish cages or surface feeding buoys, can be attributed to a sound engineering design approach. Research conducted at the site is now being transferred to aquaculture and alternative energy industries, with collaborators in the United States, Chile, Cyprus, Turkey, Norway, and Spain. The UNH site is now being used as a test bed for emerging alternative energy devices, such as wave energy converters, for possible use with aquaculture-related gear. Notes 1 Center for Ocean Engineering, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824 USA 2 Mechanical Engineering Department, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824 USA 3 Atlantic Marine Aquaculture Center, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824 USA 4 Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA, 02543 USA Corresponding Author: * Jud DeCew is a research assistant professor at the University of New Hampshire Center for Ocean Engineering. Jud DeCew, PhD, 24 Colovos Rd., Center for Ocean Engineering, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824 USA; jud.decew@ unh.edu; +1.603.862-0273 (ph), +1.603.862.0241 (f). References Celikkol, B., J.DeCew, M.R. Swift, I. Tsukrov, K. Baldwin, A. Risso, R. Despins and J. Irish.2007. Construction and deployment of an OCAT cage in the Gulf of Maine. Final report submitted to the ASAIM and USSEC for Activity 7515. Celikkol, B., J. DeCew, A. Drach and M. Chambers. 2009. Construction and deployment of an OCAT fish cage with copper alloy netting. Final report submitted to the ASAIM, USSEC and ICA. (CONTINUED ON PAGE 36) FIGURE 6. Feed buoys of different feed capacity were deployed at the site: (left) 0.25-t, (middle) 1-t, and (right) 20-t. FIGURE 7. Grid lines had some wear around thimbles near the rope rings. Lines must have been in contact with rope rings, fraying the line over the seven-year deployment.
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