Engineering procedures for design and analysis of submersible fish cages with copper netting for exposed marine environment

• We discuss the established engineering procedures for offshore fish cages.
• We propose modifications to the design/analysis steps for systems with copper nets.
• We illustrate the proposed modifications by considering two case studies.
• We discuss the performance of two offshore systems after field deployments.

Novel design and analysis procedures are needed for engineering of the offshore fish farms utilizing copper alloy netting. Existing technologies developed for fish cages with polymer nets are not directly transferrable to the fish cages with copper netting. In particular, the structural integrity of fish cage/mooring systems, and initial high costs of fish cages with copper netting are two major concerns in the engineering for open ocean aquaculture. We propose the modified engineering procedures, which address these concerns and allow for retrofitting of existing fish farming systems with polymer nets. These procedures are illustrated by considering two case studies: design of a rigid-frame and flexible gravity-type fish cages. Performance of both designs is analyzed after the field trials in the North Atlantic and South Pacific oceans, correspondingly.