Has anyone seen a farm design that catches loose kelp if they break free of their grow line?
A cage system, at least on the perimeter, might do the trick. If it could double as a way of preventing propeller entanglement- very useful in open ocean farm installations.
@ian_mcfarland I have not seen any systems designed to catch loose kelp breaking off the farm. I have seen systems, floating lines around the outside of the grow area, used to prevent debris for floating into the farm and tangling with the lines. Are you losing large amounts of kelp from your farm? If so, you might be able to address that issue directly rather than adding more gear into the water.
@david_bailey Thanks for the reply David.
No farm at the moment, but I've been working on design concepts for open ocean aquaculture. Lots of Issues to troubleshoot- entanglement with animals and ship traffic, unintended afforestation, etc.
Good food for thought for the catch lines. Appreciate it!
@david_bailey Thanks for the reply David.
No farm at the moment, but I've been working on design concepts for open ocean aquaculture. Lots of Issues to troubleshoot- entanglement with animals and ship traffic, unintended afforestation, etc.
Good food for thought for the catch lines. Appreciate it!
here is Seafield’s concept for containing sargassum:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cq7pWAbgWBO/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
@ian_mcfarland Hi Ian, personally I don’t see this as a problem (seaweed breaking off the lines) as it’s bound to happen (and happens in the wild) and unless you have a massive failure some loose kelp won’t hurt anything. Plus, any such “cage system” would introduce more lines/nets than you want/need in the water. I don’t claim to be an expert (I’m still awaiting the approval of my permits and have never actually farmed yet) but in my opinion what you’re describing is a non issue with “solutions” actually creating problems.
if you’re worried about spooring issues (if you were to leave some in the water thru its reproductive stage) if that is a real concern I would say you haven’t selected an appropriate farm site.