SBIR Phase IB: Launching Velella: Testing the Commercial Potential of Mobile Offshore Fish Farming In Ocean Gyres

SBIR IB 阶段：启动 Velella：测试海洋环流移动式近海养鱼的商业潜力

• 批准号: 1003339
• 负责人: Neil Sims
• 金额: $ 4.91万
• 依托单位: Kona Blue Water Farms, LLC
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2010
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2010-01-01 至 2010-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1003339&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SBIR; Phase; IB; Launching; Velella

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project explores expanding open ocean mariculture by using mobile, drifting fish pens entrained in regional oceanic gyres. Offshore fish farming offers tremendous growth opportunities, but faces constraints: lengthy permit processes for leases or expansion and concerns for impacts on water quality, benthos, wild fish health and view planes. Velella drifter cages resolve these regulatory concerns, reduce potential for environmental impacts, and improve fish health and productivity. Velella cages are entrained within offshore gyres, using remotely-controlled sails or deployable sea-anchors for vector forces. Research must develop predictive models of the Kona gyre, test this by deployment of GPS-tracked drogues, and then deploy a drifting cage from the existing farm and track its movement. Satellite links for video-monitoring and feeding controls will also be tested. The broader impacts of this research are development of sustainable, scalable technology for open ocean mariculture. NOAA aspires to increase aquaculture production fivefold by 2025. The need is pressing: America?s seafood trade deficit is $9 billion. Domestic seafood demand is increasing, yet capture fisheries face declining stocks, closures, and increasing regulation. Open ocean aquaculture presents the best opportunity for meeting NOAA's goal and global seafood needs in a sustainable, environmentally-sound manner. Kona Blue already produces up to 100,000 lbs/month of sashimi-grade Kona Kampachi® offshore in Hawaii, but expansion opportunities are limited by leases and permits. Broader technologies developed for Velella could also be licensed to existing farm operations, to increase automation, reduce labor, and increase efficiencies. This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).

这个小型企业创新研究第一阶段项目探索通过使用区域海洋环流中的移动式漂流鱼栏来扩大开放海洋海水养殖，提供了巨大的增长机会，但面临着限制：租赁或扩张的许可程序冗长以及对影响的担忧。 Velella 漂流网箱解决了这些监管问题，减少了对环境影响的可能性，并利用近海环流提高了鱼类的健康和生产力。研究人员必须开发科纳环流的预测模型，通过部署 GPS 跟踪的锥套进行测试，然后从现有的农场部署一个漂流笼并跟踪其移动。这项研究的更广泛影响是开发用于公海海水养殖的可持续、可扩展的技术，以将水产养殖产量提高五倍。 2025 年。需求紧迫：美国的海鲜贸易逆差为 90 亿美元，国内海鲜需求不断增加，但捕捞渔业面临库存下降、关闭和日益严格的监管，这为实现 NOAA 的目标和全球海鲜提供了最佳机会。 Kona Blue 已在夏威夷海上每月生产高达 100,000 磅的生鱼片级 Kona Kampachi®，但扩张机会有限。为 Velella 开发的更广泛的技术也可以授权给现有农场运营，以提高自动化程度、减少劳动力并提高效率。该奖项由《2009 年美国复苏和再投资法案》（公法 111-5）资助。 。