Physical Engineering and Environmental Aspects of Ocean Kelp Farming - Final Report 1982

The physical aspects of ocean kelp farming were studied in the context of farms sited in nearshore coastal waters. Analyses and models were employed to investigate the physical oceanographic and ocean engineering problems underlying conceptual designs of nearshore kelp farms. The areas addressed include interactions between ocean coastal currents and kelp farms, distribution and transport of fertilizer in and around the farm, interactions between surface water waves and kelp farms, effects on adjacent shorelines of wave field modifications due to the farm, and wave forces on kelp plants.

For the range of coastal conditions and farm configurations examined, it was found that the flow of ocean currents is significantly retarded within the farm and flows are deflected in a narrow band around the farm; substantial losses from the farm of applied fertilizer result from advection within the farm; water wave heights can be significantly reduced within the farm due to the kelp, and a shadow zone of reduced waves may extend significantly shoreward of the farm; the shadow zone may, under certain conditions, result in shoreline modification; and wave forces on the kelp have inertial components of the same order of magnitude as buoyancy forces.