Great potential may exist in the development of abalone aquaculture in underutilized, exposed marine
environments. Abalone is a shellfish that feeds on kelp and as a product, can often render high market
value. In this study, the development of a commercial-size, submersible abalone cage grow-out system
with a modular box structure is described. The flow field characteristics within the abalone containment
structure were analyzed with computational fluid dynamic software. The hydrodynamic response of
the moored containment structure was investigated with a Morison equation type finite element model
that simulates fluid-structure interaction. Environmental forcing input to the model consisted of loading
conditions representing combinations of currents with a magnitude of 1.0 m/s and irregular seas with
a significant wave height of 8.01 m and peak period of 12.52 s. Simulations were performed with the
abalone cage model in both surface and submerged configurations. From the simulations, the attachment
loads were determined and used in a structural model to calculate local stresses. Structural analysis of
the deployment and recovery operation was also investigated. The results indicate the importance of
including a combination of detailed structural/hydrodynamic/flow analyses into the design framework
to avoid catastrophic failures of abalone farming systems.