The authority has already tested the wandering cages in Puerto Rico which turned successful. It is said that fish farms in the open ocean offer an alternative to conventional fishing, which is on track to wipe out all commercial stocks by 2050. But there are concerns that installing large, static farms could damage local ecosystems. Cliff Goudey from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, told that depending on the size of the stock, large residues of fish faeces could catch under the cages and degrade the seabed. He also said that anchoring cages against the battering of storms would also be a challenge.
Keeping all these factors in mind Goudey came up with the idea of wandering cages. These wouldn’t stay in any one place long enough to damage local wildlife, and could drift with storm waves to avoid feeling their full force. He added that the test of the first self-propelled cage at a sea farm in Culebra, Puerto Rico. Existing near-shore farm cages are moved only occasionally, using large tugboats.
According to him the cage mostly follows the sea’s natural currents, but if it drifts too far off course, the propellers can provide 12.4-horsepower propulsion to guide it back onto the planned route. He reports that the propellers are driven by electricity from a diesel generator on a small boat tethered above the cage. The prototype managed to propel itself at a steady rate of roughly 0.3 metres per second, with good manoeuvrability.
