What?s that? UNH?s latest fish experiment
PORTSMOUTH — A small crowd gathered at the state pier on Market Street Extension to watch as a prototype aquaculture tank was lowered into the Piscataqua River.
Looking like a gigantic black, mesh and steel geometric ball, the tank will be evaluated for possible use by the University of New Hampshire's aquaculture program.
Professor Richard Langan is the project director for UNH's aquaculture program.
He said it isn't yet known how the new tank will fare.
"We are fortunate to have the resources and funding to have built our offshore laboratory," said Langan. "It was built with the intention of testing new cage designs and new fish species, so this fits right in."
The tank's purpose is to farm fish and rebuild stocks. Langan said the tank will eventually be used for cod because its design best serves a free-swimming type of fish as opposed to a bottom-dwelling fish like halibut.
"We are not going to put anything in it right away," said Langan. "We?ll see how it behaves in the ocean sea before putting fish in it. We certainly want to see how it fares under winter conditions."
"We are changing the face of aquaculture," said Steve Page. His company, Ocean Farms Technology, out of Searmont, Maine, designed and constructed the new tank.
Page said the net-type pen will be submerged about 50 feet, to meet the right conditions to grow fish.
"This is brand new technology," said Page. "We have tested some in water, but this is the first one that is going in the ocean."
What makes the new prototype better than its predecessors is that it should prove to be stronger, said Page.
"It's a bit of a different structure that what is used now," said Page. "It has a lower risk of damage in the ocean. Instead of wire netting, this one uses galvanized wire mesh that makes it escape-proof and predator-proof."
Page's wife, Cynthia, had the honor of christening the tank. She used a bottle of champagne, wrapped in a burlap bag, and it only took two tries to break the bottle.
"I christen you Tethys," she said.
Page said Tethys is a Greek goddess, the mother of all rivers. According to Greek mythology, she married her brother Oceanus and had more than 3,000 children, the springs, lakes and rivers of the world.