Planning Grant: Engineering Research Center for Technologies and Design for Sustainable Offshore Aquaculture (SOA)

这笔ERC规划赠款将汇集来自大学、海洋赠款项目、水产养殖创新中心、协会和行业的科学家和工程师，参加一系列面对面和在线规划会议，他们将在会上建立信任、工作关系、共同的框架和语言，以制定一项全面的ERC提案，重点是在美国发展可持续的近海综合多营养水产养殖(O-IMTA)。海鲜是蛋白质的重要来源，也是结束饥饿和培养健康公众的关键，无论是在美国还是在全球。美国国内消费的海产品有90%以上是进口的，自20世纪90年代中期以来，野生捕捞渔业产量一直处于停滞状态。创新近海养鱼战略的关键技术进步和协作方法对于以可持续和经济可行的方式满足美国对海鲜的需求以及使美国海鲜产业更加独立和安全是必要的。将近海水产养殖转移到更深的水域提供了进入不那么拥挤、更清洁和更富营养的环境的机会；然而，在更深的水域定位可能会增加运营成本和技术挑战。我们的团队将努力为专注于解决O-IMTA的关键技术挑战的具有凝聚力的ERC制定路线图：包括开发新技术、材料和传感器，以确保水产养殖场能够经受住环境力量(如海浪)和条件(如温度和不断变化的水质)，减少近海系统的环境影响，并增加系统自主性，使其只需最少的人类交互，同时保持经济上可行的健康生产产出。履行O-IMTA的承诺带来了多种科学和技术挑战--社会技术、基础设施系统和使能技术--并要求生物物理、社会和工程科学在一个跨学科框架内融合。我们将重点关注三个初步研究重点：(1)循环性、可持续性和系统分析与设计；(2)水产养殖设施和运营的结构和设备，包括自动化、能源和通信；(3)传感、监测和数据分析，包括物联网(IoT)、大数据和人工智能(AI)，用于选址和运营。规划赠款将促进一系列面对面和在线规划会议，以及对区域水产养殖中心的实地访问，来自大学、海洋赠款项目、水产养殖创新中心、协会和行业的参与者可以在那里建立信任、工作关系、合作以及共同的框架和语言。会议的成果将包括关于O-IMTA的共同愿景，确定使O-IMTA可持续和在经济上可行的关键挑战，以及克服这些挑战所需的明确研究推动力。其他成果将包括制定教育、劳动力发展、包容性和多样性的计划和路线图，以及考虑行业和社会需求和限制的创新生态系统；招募更多的调查人员和实践者合作者；为专注于O-IMTA创新的ERC设计组织结构。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This ERC planning grant will bring together scientists and engineers from universities, Sea Grant programs, aquaculture innovation centers, associations, and industry in a series of in-person and online planning meetings where they will establish trust, working relationships, and common frameworks and language to develop a full ERC proposal focused on developing Sustainable Offshore Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture (O-IMTA) in the US. Seafood is a crucial source of protein and key to ending hunger and fostering a healthy public, both in the US and across the globe. The US imports over 90% of seafood consumed domestically, and wild capture fisheries production has plateaued since the mid-1990s. Key technical advances and collaborative approaches to innovative offshore fish farming strategies are necessary to satisfy the U.S. demand for seafood, in a sustainable and economically viable manner, and to make the U.S. seafood industry more independent and secure. Moving aquaculture offshore into deeper waters presents the opportunity to access less crowded, cleaner, and more nutrient-rich environments; however, locating in deeper waters can increase operational costs and technical challenges. Our team will strive to develop a roadmap for a cohesive ERC focused on addressing key technical challenges for O-IMTA: including the development of novel technologies, materials, and sensors to ensure aquaculture farms withstand environmental forces (e.g., waves) and conditions (e.g., temperature and changing water quality), reducing environmental impact of offshore systems, and increasing system autonomy to require minimal human interaction, all while maintaining economically viable and healthy production output. Fulfilling the promise of O-IMTA poses multiple scientific and technological challenges - socio-technical, infrastructure systems, and enabling technologies - and requires the convergence of biophysical, social, and engineering sciences within a transdisciplinary framework. We will focus on three preliminary research thrusts: (1) circularity, sustainability, and system analysis and design; (2) structures and equipment for installation and operation of aquaculture, including automation, energy, and communications; and (3) sensing, monitoring, and data analysis, including IoT (Internet of Things), Big Data and AI (Artificial Intelligence) for site selection and operations. The planning grant will facilitate a series of in-person and online planning meetings, and site visits to regional aquaculture centers, where participants from universities, Sea Grant programs, aquaculture innovation centers, associations, and industry can establish trust, working relationships, collaborations, and common frameworks and language. The outcomes of the meetings will include a shared vision for O-IMTA, identification of the key challenges for making O-IMTA sustainable and economically viable and the crystallizing research thrusts needed to overcome these challenges. Additional outcomes will include developing programs and road maps for education, workforce development, inclusion and diversity, and an innovation ecosystem that considers the needs and constraints of industry and society; recruiting additional investigators and practitioner collaborators; and designing an organizational structure for an ERC focused on O-IMTA innovation.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.