Development in marine aquaculture is necessary to avoid overfishing and other ecological damage among a rise in growing demand for seafood. Our team at MIT Sea Grant worked with a local shellfish aquaculture company, Ward Aquafarms, to increase the productivity of oyster farming. To prevent biofouling and ensure water flow in oyster baskets, a worker in a kayak periodically flips thousands of baskets. This is a physically demanding and slow to complete process due to baskets that weigh up to 30 kg (60 lbs). The Oystermaran is a catamaran style surface vessel designed to autonomously maneuver through rows of oyster baskets and flip each basket.
In 2021, version 1 of the Oystermaran was developed in response to this problem. Oystermaran v1 was able to successfully flip baskets. However, field testing revealed key limitations with the design such as the critical ability to autonomously navigate through oyster fields. It would get stuck between the crowded rows and slide on top of the baskets. The flipping mechanism was also unreliable due to the baskets slipping off the flippers and lacked any ability to shake the oyster baskets to redistribute the oysters.
In 2023, version 2 of the Oystermaran was developed to improve upon the maneuverability and flipping reliability issues of version 1. To address the snagging issues, all of the components were inset into the hulls. Oystermaran v2 also added two lateral thrusters to enable side to side movement to navigate through other rows blocking its forward motion. Additionally, new nose geometry was developed to prevent rising over the baskets. The flipping mechanism was also altered to increase flipping reliability by preventing slipping and an ability to shake the baskets.
In 2025, version 3 of the Oystermaran is being designed to build upon the successes of version 2 and create a more final design. Another new vessel, the hull is being made thinner to reduce interference with other rows through a redesign of the upper frame. Further iterations of the forward thruster channels will improve hydrodynamic efficiency. Furthermore, Oystermaran v3 will improve basket flipping reliability by moving components to prevent interference with other baskets in the same row.