The purpose of this proposal is to analyze the monitoring requirements for near shore aquaculture installations and determine the best technical solution to continuously monitor these growing sites

Tridentis Advanced Marine Vehicles LLC and the Watershed Innovation Laboratory at Washington College will develop technology and monitoring solutions for near-shore aquaculture installations under a $149,865 project grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Specifically, the awardees will establish baseline water quality and shellfish testing for aquaculture farms, then develop an efficient and cost-effective material solution to continuously monitor environmental conditions in real-time. Tridentis will create monitoring technology for its Advanced Coastal Monitor vehicle, while the laboratory will supply basic monitoring buoys. This work supports the goals of the NOAA Small Business Innovation Research Program to stimulate private sector innovation addressing federal research needs. By enhancing aquaculture monitoring capabilities, the project aims to infer shellfish and finfish quality for consumers.

By providing continuous monitoring of the water quality, shellfish/finfish quality can be inferred and then transmitted to the consumer as an enhanced food security certification. Tridentis advanced marine vehicles (AMV) in conjunction with the washington college watershed innovation laboratory (WIL) intend to establish a baseline testing regimen for a near-shore shellfish aquaculture farms and develop a material solution to monitor the environmental conditions efficiently, in real time, accurately, and in a cost-effective manner within aquaculture installations. AMV intends to develop technology for use on our advanced coastal monitor (ACM) to provide a cost-effective solution to improve monitoring capabilities. The watershed innovation lab will supply basic observation buoy (BOB) monitori