Computer aided design of an aquaculture equipment for the durable development of the marine ecosystem’s biodiversity

Abstract Modern aquaculture represents a major innovation in the field of fish production and has been the fastest growing food production sector, reaching an average worldwide growth rate of 6-8% per year. Aquaculture offers important possibilities and generates significant challenges, especially regarding the ecological sustainability of the production, as well as the quality and safety of the products. The epibiont encompass all marine invertebrates that, during the juvenile stages, attach themselves to hard natural supports (rock, submerged rocky platforms) and carry out their entire life cycle [1]. Through the “Strategic guidelines for the sustainable development of aquaculture in the EU”, the European Commission emphasizes the strategic nature of aquaculture production (as well as other productions in the primary sector), so that it can respond to future challenges related to food, natural resources and territories. In order to establish the design parameters of the aquaculture equipment intended for the expansion in space of the group of filtering organisms whose food value and ecological role in maintaining adequate physical, chemical and biological qualities of the seawater are well known, a specialized software was used in order to enable the optimal design and numerical simulation of the conditions in which the equipment operates.