Containment pens for finfish aquaculture

A method of cultivating aquatic life forms in an aquaculture containment pen, the aquaculture containment pen including a plurality of panels configured to form a substantially spherical containment volume suitable for cultivating aquatic life forms, each panel of the plurality of panels including at least three substantially rigid beams and a discrete piece of netting attached along its perimeter to the at least three substantially rigid beams, the method comprising:

• disposing the aquaculture containment pen in an offshore location suitable for cultivating aquatic life forms;
• disposing a plurality of fish in the containment volume;
• submerging the aquaculture containment pen;
• raising the aquaculture containment pen to the surface after a period of time;
• accessing the containment volume;
• and
• harvesting at least a portion of the plurality of fish.

A method of transferring at least a portion of fish from a first aquaculture containment pen to a second aquaculture containment pen, each of the first containment pen and the second containment pen including a plurality of panels configured to form a substantially spherical containment volume suitable for cultivating aquatic life forms, each panel of the plurality of panels including at least three substantially rigid beams and a discrete piece of netting attached along its perimeter to the at least three substantially rigid beams each of the first aquaculture containment pen and the second aquaculture containment pen submerged below a surface of water, the method comprising:

• coupling a first end of a conduit to a first panel of the first aquaculture containment pen, and coupling a second end of the conduit to second panel of the second aquaculture containment pen;
• opening an occlusion device included in at least one of the first panel, the second panel, and the conduit;
• urging at least a portion of the fish to travel from the containment volume of the first aquaculture containment pen to the containment volume of the second aquaculture containment pen under their own locomotion via the conduit;
• and
• closing the occlusion device.

A method of assembling an aquaculture containment pen, the aquaculture containment pen including a plurality of panels configured to form a substantially spherical containment volume suitable for cultivating aquatic life forms, each panel of the plurality of panels including at least three substantially rigid beams and a discrete piece of netting attached along its perimeter to the at least three substantially rigid beams, the method comprising:

• slipping a U-shaped retainer over an exterior flange of mating beams of each of the adjacent panels of the plurality of panels such that a hole in the retainer is adjacent to and substantially matches a hole in each of the mating beams;
• inserting a pin through the hole in the retainer and the hole in each of the beams;
• and
• rotating a spring clip to lock the pin in place.

A method of removing organic detritus collected at the bottom of a finfish aquaculture containment pin, the aquaculture containment pen including a plurality of panels configured to form a substantially spherical containment volume suitable for cultivating aquatic life forms, each panel of the plurality of panels including at least three substantially rigid beams and a discrete piece of netting attached along its perimeter to the at least three substantially rigid beams, the method comprising:

• coupling a collection tube to at least one of the plurality of panels which is located at a bottom of the aquaculture containment pen relative to a surface of water in which at least a portion of the aquaculture containment pen is submerged;
• creating a vacuum in the collection tube;
• and
• removing the organic detritus from the bottom of the aquaculture containment via the collection tube.