scale, for spatial efficiency and conflict resolution, and for the development of
innovative policies and financial instruments.
There are few interdisciplinary departments or learned academic R&D centers
focused on the multiple disciplines that intersect with open ocean aquaculture, and
even fewer looking into multiple uses of offshore structures. Education and training
networks are needed to provide the required multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary
expertise for the safe and professional operations of multi-use systems. Aquaculture
and energy production should align with planned ocean monitoring networks since
these systems have significant potential to serve as oceanic environmental quality
monitoring stations. Ecological design, engineering, and ecosystem based management approaches to develop open ocean aquaculture research and education
innovation centers would produce design and performance optimizations that could
potentially benefit all stakeholders plus increase research and development funding
and boost the regional innovation economy. The Bremerhaven Declaration on
Offshore Aquaculture clearly states that these priorities can only be met by the
example of Germany who is funding an internationally important offshore experimental platform (Rosenthal et al. 2012).
Offshore aquaculture developments, alone or in conjunction with other uses will
require much higher inputs of capital and new levels of cooperation from a wide
range of social, technological, economic, and natural resource users, and a greater
degree of cooperation and collaboration with other industry sectors. Transparent
strategies need to be developed with the strong participation of all affected stakeholders interested in the social-ecological design and engineering of innovative
offshore multi-use systems. In this context, multi-use systems if intelligently
designed can be incorporated into programs for cooperative fisheries restoration and
aquatic ecosystem management strategies. In this regard, multi-use systems that
incorporate aquaculture development need to be guided by international policy
instruments such as the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries (FAO 1995)
and the FAO Guidelines for an Ecosystems Approach to Aquaculture (FAO 2010).
The Editors and authors of this volume are among a select group of pioneers
who over the past 20+ years have studied, spoke about, and practiced open ocean
aquaculture, and have recognized the many opportunities for combining uses of the
ocean such as energy and food production. They have garnered wisdom from direct
experiences, from many a day operating aquaculture systems on the rough waters
of the Northwest Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, and elsewhere. They have gathered
in this volume a diverse group of interdisciplinary aquaculture scientists and
engineers to discuss what they consider are the most important recent science and
policy developments. Their views as thought leaders are globally important for the
future of protein and nutrient-rich foods on Earth, not only for the future of open
ocean aquaculture in combination with other offshore uses. It is our desire that this
volume stimulate further research and development into the combined production
of energy and seafood in open ocean environments. Success in this endeavor is
paramount to the sustainability of systems critical to maintaining healthy oceans,
Preface
vii
innovative policies and financial instruments.
There are few interdisciplinary departments or learned academic R&D centers
focused on the multiple disciplines that intersect with open ocean aquaculture, and
even fewer looking into multiple uses of offshore structures. Education and training
networks are needed to provide the required multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary
expertise for the safe and professional operations of multi-use systems. Aquaculture
and energy production should align with planned ocean monitoring networks since
these systems have significant potential to serve as oceanic environmental quality
monitoring stations. Ecological design, engineering, and ecosystem based management approaches to develop open ocean aquaculture research and education
innovation centers would produce design and performance optimizations that could
potentially benefit all stakeholders plus increase research and development funding
and boost the regional innovation economy. The Bremerhaven Declaration on
Offshore Aquaculture clearly states that these priorities can only be met by the
example of Germany who is funding an internationally important offshore experimental platform (Rosenthal et al. 2012).
Offshore aquaculture developments, alone or in conjunction with other uses will
require much higher inputs of capital and new levels of cooperation from a wide
range of social, technological, economic, and natural resource users, and a greater
degree of cooperation and collaboration with other industry sectors. Transparent
strategies need to be developed with the strong participation of all affected stakeholders interested in the social-ecological design and engineering of innovative
offshore multi-use systems. In this context, multi-use systems if intelligently
designed can be incorporated into programs for cooperative fisheries restoration and
aquatic ecosystem management strategies. In this regard, multi-use systems that
incorporate aquaculture development need to be guided by international policy
instruments such as the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries (FAO 1995)
and the FAO Guidelines for an Ecosystems Approach to Aquaculture (FAO 2010).
The Editors and authors of this volume are among a select group of pioneers
who over the past 20+ years have studied, spoke about, and practiced open ocean
aquaculture, and have recognized the many opportunities for combining uses of the
ocean such as energy and food production. They have garnered wisdom from direct
experiences, from many a day operating aquaculture systems on the rough waters
of the Northwest Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, and elsewhere. They have gathered
in this volume a diverse group of interdisciplinary aquaculture scientists and
engineers to discuss what they consider are the most important recent science and
policy developments. Their views as thought leaders are globally important for the
future of protein and nutrient-rich foods on Earth, not only for the future of open
ocean aquaculture in combination with other offshore uses. It is our desire that this
volume stimulate further research and development into the combined production
of energy and seafood in open ocean environments. Success in this endeavor is
paramount to the sustainability of systems critical to maintaining healthy oceans,
Preface
vii