SBIR-STTR Award

Farm efficiency and commercial competitiveness for multi-species mariculture will be meaningfully enhanced through successful completion and deployment of novel technology that Hood Canal Mariculture (HCM) is proposing to research develop and ultimately deploy at scale. In addition to improvements in production efficiencies and creation of a significant marketing advantage the technology base once developed can lead to the capability to franchise to other farmers and create a drive towards more sustainable and commercially viable broad-based mariculture in the United States.HCM is proposing to develop a novel semi-rigid growing support framework that will replace and ultimately eliminate conventional plastic line in the farm's marine environment. The macro-algae (seaweed including kelp) growing support system will have the capability to easily accommodate structures for shellfish and other aquaculture species with potential for significant improvements in efficiency. The approach would allow marine biofouling cleaning to occur with just high-pressure/high- temperature steam and be able to return the cleaning effluent directly back to a marine environment with no harmful entrained micro-plastics. The semi-rigid structure eliminates flexible "plastic" (e.g. polypropylene dacron etc.) rope in the farm system and can be designed so that marine mammal entanglement is physically impossible. Longevity is improved by an order of magnitude resulting in lower operating and maintenance costs. The semi-rigid structure will be manufactured from recycled high-performance structural carbon fiber materials that have exceptional fatigue properties and can achieve initial cost parity to high-performance poly-rope such as Spectra® and Dyneema®. Similar materials have been developed and are in use in the off-shore oil and gas exploration and production systems in yacht rigging and in marine- environment cable-stayed bridges thus providing a basis for our confidence in achieving the ultimate goals of this project. The project team is led by a successful small-business currently in aquaculture production and supported by their highly-skilled partners in materials manufacturing aquaculture research and species selection and growth optimization. The project has a 10-acre sea-bed lease on which to test new systems alongside existing commercial state-of- the-art systems. This will provide USDA with solid scientific data and to enable regulators other farmers and interested entities to evaluate the efficacy of this approach. Anticipated results will be an evaluation and determination of the viability of multi-species growth and farming on a semi-rigid lattice of recycled carbon composite cables including:1. Comparison of ease of seeding and harvesting with data on labor and machinery efficiency; 2. Comparison of the required marine biofouling cleansing with data on cost-effectiveness of high-pressure steam cleaning versus mechanical/chemical poly-rope cleaning; 3. Research into designs for farm systems automation and cost analysis of automating a semi- rigid system versus a highly flexible support system; 4. Research into farm systems manufacturing and capability to achieve rapid deployment of scaled systems in a turn-key solutions business model; and 5. Research on using the new system with multiple species farming and estimation of the limits on applicable species and recommendations for preferred species. The commercial potential if fully realized could impact all aquaculture farms as we drive to reduce and eventually eliminate plastics introduced via marine farming systems. In 5 years we anticipate having 25 large-scale farms deploying this system in the US.

PROJECT SUMMARY: Farm efficiency and commercial competitiveness for kelp farming and multi-species mariculture (kelp plus shell-fish) will be meaningfully enhanced through successful final development and commercialization of novel technology that Blue Dot Sea Farms (BDSF) has significantly demonstrated/advanced under Phase 1 SBIR. In addition to improvements in production efficiencies and creation of a significant marketing advantage the technology base leads to the ability to franchise to other farmers and create a drive towards more sustainable and commercially viable broad-based mariculture in the United States. BDSF is proposing a novel semi-rigid growing support framework based on using recycled carbon fiber(rCF) cable that will replace and ultimately eliminate conventional plastic line in the farm marine environment. The macro-algae growing support system will have the capability to easily accommodate structures for shellfish and other aquaculture species with demonstrated potential for significant improvements in farm systems efficiency. The approach enables:"¢ A semi-rigid structure that eliminates flexible "plastic" (e.g. polypropylene nylon etc.) rope and is designed so marine mammal entanglement is physically impossible."¢ Significantly closer line spacing to gain 4-6X yield improvements as the semi-rigid rCF cables hold their position during storms/severe currents eliminating entanglement between lines and thus abrasion of developing kelps which is common with poly-rope."¢ Improvements in longevity by an order of magnitude over poly rope resulting in lower capital replacement operating and maintenance costs."¢ Faster and easier seeding with inoculated twines that is very simple to automate."¢ Marine biofouling cleaning to occur with either a light abrasive pad cleansing(demonstrated) or with high-pressure steam (postulated) greatly improving labor productivity and removing contamination by harmful micro-plastics."¢ Combined performance improvements that result in multi-cropping (we demonstrated in- situ harvest cleaning reseeding and re-placing lines in one day) without having to remove the system disconnect anchors etc. which was not feasible with poly-rope. Anticipated results will provide a basis for commercial launch including:1. Completing optimization of line spacing for the rCF lines;2. Completion of systems development for in-situ line cleaning;3. Research and demonstration into automation and cost analysis for a semi-rigid system including multi-line harvest clean and re-seeding;4. Research into farm systems manufacturing and capability to achieve rapid deployment of scaled systems in a turn-key solutions business model; and5. Research on multiple species farming and annual kelp multi-cropping farming and estimation of the limits on applicable species and recommendations for preferred species. The commercial potential if fully realized could impact all aquaculture farms as we drive to reduce and eventually eliminate plastics introduced via marine farming systems. The improved yields and annual multi-cropping show an excellent business case. In 5 years we anticipate having 25 large-scale farms deploying this system in the US as well as developing an international export sales potential.