Aquaculture and Mariculture in the Philippines is I believe on its very late infancy period. With several private and public sectors aiming to provide and innovate technologies to be shared among the aquaculture enthusiasts and entrepreneurs alike, the industry is still gearing up for the start of the booming period.
There are various culture systems and containers available where one could cultivate finfishes. Among the list of those, the sea cage and fish pens prove to be best when it comes to maximizing the culture area and the stocking density of the fish, of course for higher profit. With these also, culture of high-value fish species such as grouper, seabass, pompano and others are more favorable since most of them are marine finfishes which are usually more profitable than mass market species like milkfish.
Sea cages and fish pens, though permits you to stock a high volume of fish per cubic meter, the risks in using these culture containers are great specially when typhoon season comes, because these two containment are prone to breakage due to strong waves or gusts of winds.
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Sea cages in the open sea
Aquapod seems to be an ecologically friendly gadget which makes it possible for Ocean Farm Technologies to turn fish farms into open oceans so that ideal conditions of aquaculture could be guaranteed. This submersible net pen is designed for open ocean usage which is constructed from sustainable recycled materials.
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Aquapod Concept
Ocean Farm Technologies which is based in main is now developing 2 projects off South Korea and Mexico. Their projects are supposed to be capable to help them to move fish farms from nearby protected shorelines. Called Aquapod, these environmentally conscious constructions with most of them made from hundreds of panels constructed from reinforced recycled polyethylene of high density.
The whole construction is designed to be used in rough ocean conditions while its volume of 3, 625 cubic meters and 20 meter diameter, the Aquapods are situated some kilometers away from sea shore in a depth of about 60 meters. These intelligent Aquapods are capable to reduce a potential environmental impact while improving growing conditions.
Directed by Okwang Fisheries Union, South Korea and Pesquera Delly, Mexico, these sustainable marine farms are expected to be delivered this summer. The Aquapods appears to have a beneficial influence on many species. Some of these constructions are covered with galvanized steel to be suitable for such features as feeding, harvesting, access etc.
This appears to be the first fish pen which is easily handled both on the surface or when submerged. Deep water fish farming seems to have a good future due to these clever Aquapods. Additional features include its safe submersion with no risk to be collided. Its vertical location is quite easy owing to its buoyancy. Its shape will not be deteriorated if towed or exposed of high currents.
Aquapods are expected to be available in sizes ranging from 115 cubic meters and 8 m in diameter to 11, 000 cubic meters with 28 m diameter. Its containment system makes it possible to easily inspect it including containment quality control, net inventory control etc. That means that no diving is needed for its maintenance.
Another good feature is that due to its construction, an idea predator control is guaranteed. Feeding is also well organized with net pen’s function to get and provide supplied feed from a special barge. This intelligent construction is capable of being rotated within its mooring grid, providing an easy cleaning and other handling.
Well then, let’s hope for the best for this project and maybe sooner or later, it would be applicable for usage in our country since there is a lot of unutilized possible mariculture zone in the country.
(Reference: https://www.gadgets-reviews.com)
