The University of New Hampshire (UNH) recently acquired an aquaculture permit from the Army Corp of Engineers and New Hampshire Fish and Game to culture shellfish and macroalgae offshore. The 53-ha site is located 4.4 km offshore Rye Harbor, NH in 35 m water depth. This site is totally exposed to Northeast storms with seas over 10 m in height and currents up to 0.6 m/sec. This research and demonstration farm will evaluate new ocean aquaculture technologies that minimize the risk of marine mammal entanglement . Wave energy converters will be field tested for durability and efficiency and power production. Instrumentation will be deployed to transmit real time information back ashore to monitor wave height, current speed and direction, temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, turbidity and chlorophyl.
UNH has a rich history develop ing offshore farming equipment and practices with industry partners [1, 2]. They have established world class facilities including the Jere Chase Ocean Engineering Lab (https://marine.unh.edu/facility/judd-gregg-marine-research-complex ). They have numerous research vessels and marine operational staff that can dive, deploy and recovery equipment.
This site will be available to researchers, fishermen farmers, and industry members that are interested in building the blue economy.
[1] Chambers, M.D., R. Langan, W. Howell, B. Celikkol, K., W. Watson, R. Barnaby, J. DeCew and C. Rillahan. 2007. Recent Developments at the University of New Hampshire Open Ocean Aquaculture Site. Bull. Aquacul . Assoc. Canada 105-3. http://aquacultureassociation.ca/wp-content/uploads/bsk-pdf-manager/2022/02/25-Cod-Aquaculture-105-3.pdf
[2] 19. Fredriksson, D. W. J. DeCew, M. R. Swift, I. Tsukrov, M. D. Chambers and B. Celikkol. 2004. “The Design and Analysis of a Four-Cage Grid Mooring for Open Ocean Aquaculture”. Aquacultural Engineering 32 (2004) 77-94.