**AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** ACCORDING TO THE UNITED NATIONS FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION (FAO), 76% OF THE 600 FISH STOCKS THEY TRACK ARE EITHER FULLY EXPLOITED, OVEREXPLOITED, OR DEPLETED. THE FISHING INDUSTRY HAS BEEN FORCED TO TURN TO AQUACULTURE, AN ALTERNATIVE MEANS OFPRODUCTION. AQUACULTURE HAS BEEN THE FASTEST-GROWING SOURCE OF ANIMAL PROTEIN SINCE 1990. IN 2018, GLOBAL FISH PRODUCTIONREACHED 179 MILLION TONS, 45% OF WHICH, VALUED AT $250 BILLION, CAME FROM AQUACULTURE PRODUCTION. THE FAO HAS PREDICTED THAT BY 2030 THE GLOBAL AQUACULTURE MARKET IS PROJECTED TO BE MORE THAN $529 BILLION. AQUACULTURE PRODUCTION HAS INCREASEDDRAMATICALLY TO FIVE TIMES THE LEVEL OF PRODUCTION IN THE 1990S, WHILE WILD FISH PRODUCTION HAS DECREASED. COMPARED WITH COASTALINSHORE AQUACULTURE, OFFSHORE FISH FARMING MAY YIELD 10-100 TIMES THE FISH PRODUCTION, AND IS AN EFFECTIVE STRATEGY TO DECREASEPRESSURE ON WILD NATURAL RESOURCES, WITH LOWER ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT.HOWEVER, THE U.S. GLOBALLY REMAINS A RELATIVELY MINOR AQUACULTURE PRODUCER, RANKED 16TH IN 2018 ON A GLOBAL SCALE, ALTHOUGH IT ISTHE LEADING GLOBAL CONSUMER OF AQUACULTURE PRODUCTS, IMPORTING 90% OF ITS SEAFOOD FROM ABROAD. BLUE OCEAN MARICULTURE INC.(HI) REMAINS THE ONLY FFSHORE AQUACULTURE FARM IN OPERATION IN THE USA. IN 2020, PRESIDENTIAL EXECUTIVE ORDER 13921 ONSEAFOOD WAS SIGNED TO BOOST THE INFANT US AQUACULTURE INDUSTRY. THIS EXECUTIVE ORDER PRIORITIZED AQUACULTURE DEVELOPMENT INOCEAN WATERS, ESPECIALLY IN THE U.S. EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC ZONE. IT IS PIVOTAL TO DEVELOP AND IMPLEMENT ADVANCED TECHNOLOGIES TOACCELERATE DOMESTIC AQUACULTURAL PRODUCTION.HUGE CHALLENGES EXIST FOR OFFSHORE AQUACULTURE OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE. PRELIMINARY RESEARCH WAS PERFORMED BY THE PROJECTTEAM BY INTERVIEWING OFFSHORE FISH FARM INDUSTRY LEADERS AND REVIEWING THE AVAILABLE LITERATURE ON OFFSHORE FISH FARMS. AMONG THEMOST LABOR-INTENSIVE AND HIGH-RISK TASKS ARE CLEANING AND DEAD FISH REMOVAL. ACCORDING TO OPEN BLUE SEA FARMS, INC., HUMANDIVERS ARE SENT TO FISH PENS TO REMOVE DEAD FISH EVERY DAY, SINCE DEAD FISH WILL ATTRACT SHARKS AND MARINE MAMMALS, ANDDAMAGE THE FISH PENS. THEY ALSO CONDUCT MONTHLY CLEANING WORK TO MITIGATE BIOFOULING OF THE METAL FENCING COMPRISING THE PENS.NEEDLESS TO SAY, THE OFFSHORE ENVIRONMENT IS SUBJECT TO HIGH WAVES AND MORE AGGRESSIVE SEA CREATURES, WHICH INCREASE BOTH THEWORKLOAD AND DANGER OF HUMAN DIVERS.THESE CHALLENGES MOTIVATE US TO DEVELOP A SUSTAINABLY POWERED AUTONOMOUS ROBOTIC SYSTEM, INCLUDING BOTH AN AUTONOMOUSSURFACE VEHICLE (ASV) AND AN AUTONOMOUS VARIANT OF A TETHERED REMOTELY OPERATED VEHICLE (WHICH WE TERM AROV), TO IMPROVETHE OPERATION, MAINTENANCE, AND MONITORING PROCESSES AND INCREASE OVERALL FISH PRODUCTION AT OFFSHORE FISH FARMS.