**AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** AQUACULTURE IS THE FASTEST-GROWING PROTEIN SECTOR IN THE WORLD, AND AN EXISTING &ASYMP;$14 BILLION SEAFOOD DEFICIT IN THE US IS DRIVING EFFORTS TO DEVELOP NEW, LARGER NEARSHORE MARINE AQUACULTURE SYSTEMS TO MEET NATIONAL DEMAND. WITHOUT TECHNOLOGICAL INTERVENTION, THIS INEVITABLE GROWTH IS POSITIONED TO REPLICATE OUTDATED AQUACULTURE PRODUCTION MODELS, WHICH WILL LIKELY POLLUTE RESERVOIRS, DEGRADE FRAGILE COASTAL ECOSYSTEMS, AND THREATEN COASTAL WATERS DUE TO IMPROPERLY MANAGED SYSTEMS. ALTERNATIVELY, THE AQUACULTURE INDUSTRY IS BETTER POSITIONED TO EMBRACE AND PURSUE NOVEL AUTOMATED SOLUTIONS CENTERED AROUND ROBOTICS TO MONITOR PRODUCTION AND SUSTAINABLY INCREASE YIELD WHILE DECREASING PRESSURE ON WILD STOCKS. A MAJOR CHALLENGE, HOWEVER, IS THAT A MAJORITY OF MARICULTURE OPERATIONS ARE NEAR THE COAST, AND WATER QUALITY CAN QUICKLY BECOME UNFAVORABLE DUE TO DYNAMICS IN THE SYSTEM, WHICH ALSO PRESENTS SERIOUS CONCERNS FOR FOOD SAFETY AND HEALTH. IN PARTICULAR, THE OPENING AND CLOSING OF PRODUCTION AREAS - SUCH AS OYSTER REEFS - FOR FOOD SAFETY CONCERNS ARE PRIMARILY DEPENDENT ON WATER QUALITY, AND SPECIFICALLY THE LEVELS OF FECAL COLIFORM IN THE WATER. THESE TEMPORARY CLOSURES ON THE EAST COAST NEGATIVELY IMPACT INDUSTRY ECONOMICS AND CAN CAUSE MORE THAN 25% TOTAL REVENUE LOSS. GIVEN THE PRACTICAL CHALLENGES OF MANUALLY MONITORING NEARSHORE COASTAL ENVIRONMENTS FOR DEGRADED WATER QUALITY, TEAMS OF COLLABORATIVE ROBOTS THAT WORK TOGETHER PROVIDE A PROMISING SOLUTION TO MONITORING WATER CONDITIONS AND INFORMING WHEN HARVEST CLOSURES ARE NEEDED IN MARICULTURE OPERATIONS.THE VISION OF THIS PROJECT IS TO TRANSITION NEARSHORE MARICULTURE TO AN EFFICIENT AND SUSTAINABLE INDUSTRY THROUGH DEVELOPING AN ADAPTABLE AND CUSTOMIZABLE, SURFACE AND AERIAL VEHICLE FLEET FOR SMART MONITORING, INTEGRATED WITH AFRAMEWORK FOR ACCELERATED ROBOTIC SOFTWARE PROTOTYPING, USING OYSTER PRODUCTION IN NORTH CAROLINA AS A CASE STUDY AND TESTBED. TO ACHIEVE THIS VISION, WE WILL PURSUE THE FOLLOWING RESEARCH THEMES: I) INTEGRATE HYDROLOGIC AND HYDRODYNAMIC MODELS WITH ROBOT TASK-PLANNING STRATEGIES; II) DEVELOP AUTOMATED SOFTWARE TESTING REGIMES THAT LEVERAGE KNOWLEDGE OF THE CODE AND PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENTS IN THE REAL WORLD; AND III) EXPLORE AERIAL AND SURFACE VEHICLE CO-ROBOT TEAMING STRATEGIES WITHIN OUR HETEROGENEOUS FLEET. THIS PROPOSED RESEARCH WILL LOWER BARRIERS TO ENTRY FOR DEVELOPING AND DEPLOYING ROBOTICS FOR MARICULTURE MONITORING AND WILL FACILITATE SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT AND ECONOMIC GROWTH IN NEAR-SHORE AQUACULTURE PRODUCTION, WHICH HAS YET TO SEIZE ON ADVANCES IN ROBOTICS. THE DEVELOPMENT OF A CO-ROBOTIC SYSTEMHASENORMOUS POTENTIAL FOR COLLECTING MUCH-NEEDED WATER QUALITY DATA IN NEARSHORE COASTAL ENVIRONMENTS THAT WILL IMPROVE OUR SKILLS IN BOTH PREDICTION AND MODELING, AS WELL AS PROVIDE VALUABLE DATA FOR AQUACULTURE MANAGEMENT DECISIONS TO ENSURE FOOD SAFETY, INCREASE YIELDS, AND UNLOCK SUSTAINABLE GROWTH.