ENGINEERING FEASIBILITY OF RAPID CHANGE REPLACEABLE PANELS FOR OFFSHORE FISH PENS

THE PROSPECT OF LARGE-SCALE OFFSHORE AQUACULTURE HAS COME A LONG WAY TOWARD FRUITION, AND SYSTEMS, INCLUDING LARGE AQUACULTURE PENS CAPABLE OF WITHSTANDING THE OPEN OCEAN ENVIRONMENT, HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED AND PROVEN. ACTUAL ECONOMIC FEASIBILITY IS VERY CLOSE, BUT HAS BEEN LIMITED BY THE NECESSARY SIZE OF THE ENCLOSURES AND THE EQUIPMENT NECESSARY TO HANDLE THE ENCLOSURE COMPONENTS. THE PROPOSED RESEARCH IS DESIGNED TO DETERMINE THE NECESSARY ENGINEERING CHARACTERISTICS OF AND FEASIBILITY OF CANDIDATE ATTACHMENT SYSTEMS FOR A RAPID CHANGE REPLACEABLE PANEL (RCRP) CONFIGURATION CONCEPT. APPLICATION OF THIS CONCEPT WOULD ALLOW MANAGMENT OF THE AQUACULTURE ENCLOSURE COMPONENTS WITH READILY ACCESSIBLE EQUIPMENT AND ECONOMIC FEASIBILITY. THE RESEARCH WILL ENTAIL LABORATORY TESTS OF ATTACHMENT MATERIALS AND SYSTEMS AND FIELD TESTS OF MANIPULATION FEASIBILITY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SURVIVABILITY.