Results of Environmental Monitoring at an Experimental Offshore Farm in the Gulf of Maine: Environmental Conditions after Seven Years of Multi-Species Farming

The University of New Hampshire, in partnership with local fishing cooperatives and a commercial marine fish hatchery, and with collaboration from several regional research institutions, established an offshore aquaculture research and development facility in the Gulf of Maine in 1999. The offshore platform, located 9.66 km (6 miles) off the New Hampshire coastline in 56.39 m (185 feet) of water, is fully permitted for commercial production. It consists of a submerged

grid mooring system that can accommodate four submersible cages for finfish culture, two submerged longlines for suspended molluscan shellfish culture, and surface structures that include remotely operated feeders, acoustic biotelemetry systems, and oceanographic instrumentation.
The facility serves as the field site for applied research and technology development, evaluation, and technology transfer for the Open Ocean Aquaculture Project funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The goal of the project is to stimulate the development of an environmentally sustainable offshore aquaculture industry, thereby increasing seafood production, creating new employment opportunities, and contributing to regional and national economic and community development. To date, fish species cultured at the site have included summer flounder (Paralichthyus dentatus), Atlantic halibut (Hippoglossus hippoglossus), haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinis), and Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua). In addition, blue mussels (Mytilus edulis) and Atlantic sea scallops (Placopecten magellanicus) have been grown on the adjacent submerged longlines.