Marine aquaculture is playing an increasingly important role in the global food supply chain. Data from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO, 2020b) indicates that harvested fish account for at least 20% of the animal protein intake of 3.3 billion people, and global marine aquatic products are expected to grow by 155% from 2020 to 2050 according to the Marine Aquatic Forecast Report of DNV (2021). As the scale of mariculture grows in nearshore areas, severe environmental pollution and resource utilisation conflicts with competing users such as shipping, tourism, fishing and conservation are inevitable. Therefore, some companies or organisations, for example, Blue Economy Cooperative Research Centre in Australia, are considering moving the fish farms to offshore areas. Because of the lack of theoretical research and empirical practise, such as the determination of environmental loads and the mechanism of hydroelastic interactions between waves and flexible net structures, offshore fish farming still faces tremendous risks and challenges. This also means that cutting-edge science and technology in this field are gaining research traction from both academia and industry. At offshore sites, aquatic facilities exposed to high-energy environments will be subjected to more significant wave loads. Therefore, it is one of the core design considerations for engineers to effectively and accurately predict the hydroelastic behaviour of fish cages under the action of ocean waves.

Based on this background, the present Ph.D. thesis will investigate the hydroelastic interaction between ocean waves and open-net fish cages. The specific objectives include: 1. Undertaking a systematic literature review to identify research trends and gaps in this field; 2. Establishing an innovative semi-analytical solution for the research question; 3. Simulating and analysing the hydroelastic behaviour of the net cage under wave action; 4. Conducting parametric studies on the mechanical characteristics of the cages. These tasks provide references and experience for engineers when designing offshore aquaculture systems. […]