Environmental monitoring has been a critical component of the Open Ocean Aquaculture Project’s work since the demonstration site was constructed. Before any cages were installed and stocked with fish, a detailed environmental assessment established a baseline of water column and bottom habitat conditions. A dilution/dispersion model, based on current speed and direction and the settling velocity of particles was used to establish monitoring stations to represent potential impact, nearfield and farfield zones.

Water column conditions are measured continually by a suite of in-situ environmental located on a monitoring buoy. Twice a year, box core samples and camera “tows” of the ocean bottom gauge the abundance and diversity of the local marine life and test the sediment. Researchers have not detected a measurable impact on the surrounding environment since the project began.

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