AQUACULTURE ENGINEERING

CHAPTER 15:
Net Pens and Cages
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FACILITIES
DESIGN

NET PENS
Introduction
World Cage Culture
Started in 1950s in Thailand and Indonesia, 1960s in Japan and
Cambodia, 1970s in Europe and USA, and 1980s in Africa
Cage can be placed in pond, reservoir, canal, river and seashore.
Cage made from bamboo, wood, polyethylene or metal net. Modern
cage is now well equipped.
Yield can reach to 200 kg/m3
Philippine Cage Culture
Year Producti
Introduced in 1965 when the Bureau of Fisheries first tried them out on
for the culture of common carp, tawes and goby in Cardona, Rizal 1985 7,187 mt
one of the towns along Laguna de Bay 1993 35,362 mt
maximum allowed by law is 10,000m 2
1997 43,000 mt
NET PENS AND CAGES
are floating structures in open water and are usually located
within a pond, lake, reservoir, river, estuary, or open ocean
environments.
Netting or plastic mesh material is used around a frame to
form an enclosure for aquatic organisms intended for
production.
2 TYPES OF NET ENCLOSURE
Net pen - employed in relatively shallow waters (usually less
than 10 m). Range in size from 1 m2 to several hectares in
surface area
Cages - generally smaller than net pens and range in size
from 1 m2 to over 1000 m2 in surface area.
Benefits, Risks and
Disadvantages
Benefit
Occupy a small area of river, canal or seashore
Cage can be made from available and cheap materials
Poor farmers can manage small cage culture
Fish can be stocked with high density, fast growth
Yield and profit are high
Easy to manage and harvest
Risk and Disadvantages
Disease outbreak is common because of high density contamination from other
farms and quick changes of environment
Can cause environment pollution in the long run because waste and nutrients
can not be treated and discharged directly to water body
Culture cycle depends much on season and culture cage is affected by floods,
storms and strong wave
In some cases, cages become obstacles for transportation and landscape
Principle of Cage Culture
Site Selection
Water depth:
At least 5 m, from lowest level or tide
To ensure cage bottom-bottom of water body: 2-3 meters
Water current, wave and wind
Avoid strong wind, wave and current
Marine: bay
Freshwater: river, canal, reservoir

Current
River and reservoir: 20-50cm/s

Sea: below 75cm/s

Wave: lower than 2 m

Site Selection
Water quality
DO: 4-6mg/l
Temperature: 25-30oC
Salinity
Sea cage: 27-33%
Fresh water cage: depends on species

pH: 6.5-8.5
Others
River/canal wide, distance from river bank to cage, between cages: depends on regulation
Far from discharge from agriculture activities, crowd inhabitants, industrial areas, ports
Far from estuary, gate of canal or bendy part of river or canal: bring high effluents and
nutrients
Sandy bottom is preferred
Avoid Acidic and red tide water
Far from other cages (certain buffer, carrying capacity)
Easy transportation, available electricity, near fingerling and feed sources and market
Check all above conditions before setting cages
 Fixed
Structure and Design
Cage type:
Floating
Surface fixed
Bottom cages/submersible and submerged
Materials
Frame and wall
Can be bamboo, wood, zinc coated iron, stainless steel, aluminum,
fiberglass Estuaries (Bukana) , Lake
Number of bars for frame and wall depends on the size of cage or River
Bouys Floating
Can be bamboo, plastic barrel, oil drum, sponge

Number of these bouys depends on the size and structure of cage

Net
Metal, knotless polyethelene, polyamide

Weight to fix net bottom

Fixing cage
Anchor: Iron, concrete

Anchor rope:

Others: air pump, electric generator, water compressor, feed counter, Open Sea, Coves
camera, feeding frame, connecting bridge, boat, house and office and Bay
(Mariculture Park)
Draft design of floating net
cage
Structure and Design
Cage Design
Shape: rectangular: single or group, circular, hexagon
Size: several m3 to hundreds m3
Rectangular:
Area: 3mx2m - 10mx20m
Depth: 1.5m - 4.5m

Circular: stand strong wind, huge wave and strong current

Diameter: 25m-35m
Depth: 4m

Mesh net Mesh Size

Depends on size of fish stocked Juvenile 24-28mm
Normally dont change during culture cycle Grow out 42-56mm
Outside 200mm
Structure and Design
Making a floating wooden cage installed in river
Wood and bamboo are well dried
Good quality woods are used. Woods are polished before used.
Cage side: wood
Bar surface of 10cm x 20cm or 4cm x 6cm normally used for
large or small cages
Wooden bar interval is smaller than the size of fish

Cage front and back: mesh net can use smaller mesh net or
plastic bag to reduce water current
Cage bottom: wooden, close bottom
Top cage: wooden bar or bamboo, leave some feeding doors
Buoy: to ensure cage floating and stand for weight of human
and equipment
Modern cage in Norway
Circular cage
Frame made from 2-3 polyethylene pipes, surface and
bottom pipes connected by polyethylene stand
Size: 25-35m in diameter; depth 40meters
Equipped with computer program for feeding and
management: air pump feeder, excess feed collector,
fish behavior/health
Culture Species
Fresh water
Tilapia
Carp
Pangasius
Snake head
Marine
Grouper
Cobia
Lobster
Bangus Cage Culture
Site Selection
Sheltered coastal area
Free from floods
Adequate water exchange
Salinity: 30-35ppt
Temperature: 27-30C
pH: 7.5 8.5
Dissolved oxygen: >4.0 ppm
Design
Square (5mx5mx4m, 10mx10mx4m)
Circular (10-15 meters diameter)
Cage frames can be made of bamboo, anahaw,
wood, HDPE, GI, plastic
Marketable size - 400g-500g in 4-8 months
Important Consideration in Marine
Fish Cage Project
Availability of good quality fingerlings and feeds

Availability of supplies such as nets, floaters, ropes, etc.

Accessible to transport; good farm-to-market road

Advantages of Fish Cage
Culture
Disadvantages of Fish Cage
Culture
Design of Marine fish Cage:
Fabricated GI Pipe (10mx10mx4m)
Design of Marine fish Cage: HDPE
pipe frame with anahaw catwalk
(10mx10mx4m)
Design of Marine fish Cage:
Anahaw frame and Bamboo
catwalk (10mx10x4m)

Utilized anahaw slabs as frame instead

of bamboo
Cage Construction Materials

Plastic Drums
(food-grade)
Bamboo

Mooring blocks,-
1,500 kls
PE rope;
6mm, 24mm
Mononylon , 160
Net Cage Construction
Materials

PE rope; 8mm,
1mm

PE net
Pamato/Tom
Weight (3-
5kls/pc)
Cage Frame Construction
(10mx10m)

Bamboo Frame Anahaw HDPE Frame

Installation of Plastic Drums
(10mx10m; Anahaw Cage Frame)

Plastic drums must be

properly clense, clean and
wash with fresh water
before installation to
remove any toxic
substances or
contamination

Stopper of
Plastic Drum for
greater stability
Installation of Plastic Drums
(10mx10m; Anahaw Cage Frame)

5 plastic drums per side = 20

drums plus 2 drums in
Other Accessories

Installation of Cover net, Small Caretakers/

Feed Storage Cottage
Construction of Net Cage
(10mx10mx4m)
Construction of Mooring
Blocks
Dimension: 1.5mx0.8mx
0.8m
Weight: 1,500 kls
Pangasius Cage Culture
Site Selection
River/canal or reservoir: freshwater and salinity below 10%
Current: 0.1-0.6 m/s
pH: 7.0-7.5
DO: 4.3-9.7 mg/l
Meet other criteria mention
Pangasius Cage Culture
Cage type: floating bamboo or wooden cage
Cage wall
Can be bamboo; wood; metal; knotless polyethylene and
polyamide nets
Others: feeding frame, connecting bridge, house and
office
Stocking
Size and stocking density: 60-80 g/fish, density 100-250
Mono or Polyculture
Normally mono
Polyculture in some cases, at 5-10% of carps