Ocean Era’s Off-Shore Technologies Projects.
Building upon the research initiated by Kona Blue at our Kona, HI research facility, our founder Neil Sims CEO has expanded upon the offshore aquaculture vision with several new projects. Launching an offshore Seriola farm in the Sea of Cortez, Mexico. As well as, pioneering the permitting process for aquaculture in U.S. Federal waters in the Gulf of Mexico, and the Pacific.
Velella Projects
Ocean Era has successfully conducted two state-of-the-art offshore aquaculture trials in Federal waters around Hawaii. These trials tested numerous technologies necessary to take aquaculture “over-the-horizon.” The Velella Beta test involved use of an unmoored, copper-alloy meshed Aquapod®, stocked with around 2,000 kampachi, attached only to a feed barge / tender vessel, which drifted with the currents, between 3 – 75 miles offshore of the Big Island. This was the world’s first unanchored net pen trial and was awarded one of TIME Magazine’s “25 Best Inventions of the Year” for 2012.
The Velella Gamma test used the same net pen, species and number of fish, but included a single-point mooring located in 6,000 ft deep water, some 6 nautical miles offshore of the Kona Coast. This trial used a remotely-controlled, unmanned feed barge to facilitate “over-the-horizon aquaculture”. Technicians could run the farm remotely, using an iPhone or iPad, and only needed to visit the site once a week to top up the feed in the hopper and the fuel in the generator.
The Velella Beta and Gamma demonstrated the potential of open-ocean aquaculture to produce outstanding finfish, while having no significant impact on ocean ecosystems.
As part of a national initiative to increase U.S. aquaculture production in the next four years, Ocean Era has been awarded a grant in partnership with Florida Sea Grant to trial a new Velella net pen pilot project in the Gulf of Mexico. Read more about the Velella Epsilon project.
Offshore Macroalgae Research—the Blue Fields Project
Graphic of the proposed macroalgae array by our partners, Makai Ocean Engineering.
The Ocean Era MARINER (Macroalgae Research Inspiring Novel Energy Resources) team is proposing a three-year permit for the Blue Fields Offshore Macroalgae (limu) Demonstration Project. This initiative aims to deploy a seaweed cultivation system in the offshore waters near makalawena beach Kailua-Kona, Hawaiʻi. Our submersible growing platform will be situated approximately 1.5 nautical miles offshore, typically below the water's surface. The demonstration array will be anchored at a depth of about 120 meters (400 feet), minimizing any potential impacts on water quality, coral reefs, or dolphin resting areas.
BlueFields Offshore Algae Farm VR model video.
This demonstration seeks to validate technologies for cultivating macroalgae using only natural environmental energies—wind, wave, current, and solar. The project will focus on growing native or endemic Hawaiian macroalgae species. Currently, we are testing the suitability of several native species through on-shore trials at Ocean Eras’ research facility at the Natural Energy Laboratory in Kona, Hawaiʻi.
‘ewa Beach Aquaculture Farm
The Ocean Era ‘Ewa beach fish farm will serve as a commercially viable model for environmentally and socially responsible aquaculture, with minimal reliance on forage fish fisheries (such as anchovies and sardines), and minimal impact to the surrounding environment. The project's design incorporates an innovative approach to farming that combines fish and seaweed, which will promote nutrient cycling and enhance water quality. This approach will also increase biodiversity by providing habitat for a range of marine species. The farm will provide healthful, locally-grown seafood from native species, thereby increasing food self-sufficiency for the islands. The project will also increase employment opportunities for the local community. The primary target market for the fish and limu will be consumers on O‘ahu.
