Open ocean aquaculture

Aquaculture is the farming of aquatic organisms such as fish, shrimp, shellfish and aquatic plants. Open ocean aquaculture is defined as the ‘rearing of marine organisms under controlled conditions in the EEZ—from the three-mile territorial limit of the coast to two hundred miles offshore.

Open Ocean farming is conducted in areas that are not sheltered by land and have exposure to extreme sea conditions.

Open ocean waters offer a tremendous potential for expansion of the marine farming sector and developments to date indicate that it is indeed feasible to install, maintain and operate culture systems for fish and shellfish high-energy offshore waters to produce high quality seafood.

Open ocean aquaculture employs less control over organisms and the surrounding environment than do inshore and land-based aquaculture, which are often undertaken in enclosures, such as ponds.

Open ocean aquaculture facilities consist of systems (e.g., cages, net-pens, longline arrays) that can be free-floating, secured to a structure, moored to the ocean bottom, or towed by a vessel.

Favorable features of open ocean waters include ample space for expansion, tremendous carrying capacity, high water quality, less visual concern, reduced conflict with many user groups, greater dispersion of nutrients, lower exposure to human sources of pollution, the potential to reduce some of the negative environmental impacts of coastal fish farming.
Open ocean aquaculture