In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth and the Spirit of God hovered over the waters, everything was aquaculture. God was creating out of a watery chaos an ordered and good world. For six days God created before saying, "Let us create A'dam in our image, male and female let us create them." Over the course of history, humans have been fruitful, but other creatures' fruitfulness has been reduced by the deeds of nearly 10 billion humans on the planet. Among problems are energy use, reduction of habitat, loss of species, and the harmful results of producing food. In God's Good World-Reclaiming the Doctrine of Creation, Jonathan Wilson articulates a "doctrine of creation" that invites Christians to consider what justice for all God's creation might entail, including all humans and other species. At this juncture, how can we approach restoration of order and goodness? Genesis 2:15 tells us to shmar and abad-protect and serve-creation. Jesus the great restorer charges us to care for "the least of these" (Matt. 25:40): people with limited food, water, and housing. Wilson would want us to add caring for the least of the newts, nutrients, and neutrons. In this article, we explore aquaculture for food, including species such as alligators and sturgeon; ecosystem restoration, including aquaponics coupling fish and plants; and reef systems that host many species. We contend that wisely managed restoration can provide for humans while also caring for creation, enhancing justice for this interconnected and intricate creation that isn't just good but is very good.

Aquaculture, commonly conceived as "fish farming," includes the culture of animals, plants, or other species in water. Although about 70% of Earth's surface is covered by water, aquaculture often uses much smaller spaces such as tanks, ponds, raceways, or aquatic enclosures to grow aquatic food, fiber, and other resources. Theologically, humans are called to "protect and serve" (Gen. 2:15), and throughout the Bible, there are calls to good stewardship and cultivation while allowing for fruitfulness of other creatures. Biblically, fish are seen as God-created aquatic creatures, often used as food, with implications for wise stewardship (e.g., Psalm 8). *At the present, many fisheries around the world are overfished. Sustainable aquaculture should address environmental, economic, and health concerns, and it could help reduce the stress on natural fisheries. As the fastest-growing protein sector, aquaculture now produces more seafood than the wild harvest of all the world’s oceans (now approximately 120 million metric tons per year). This promising and expanding field (approximately 6–8% growth per year over the last 50 years) includes extremely efficient converters of protein, micro- and macro-algae (seaweeds) that can absorb unwanted wastes and clean the water, and filter feeders such as oysters and clams that clear the water of algae and other particles, simultaneously contributing various ecosystem services and habitat. Ongoing problems include pathogenic and related disease issues, environmental pollution in surface waters, food safety, increasing automation utilization, potential genetic concerns, and the relatively recent start of modern aquaculture (most aquaculture growth has occurred since 1970). This article addresses each of these hurdles, identifies areas of theological and ethical concern, and clarifies matters of interest to Christians and others, suggesting possible ways forward in this fast-growing but challenging field.

Aquaculture of aquatic plants and animals is the fastest growing protein sector in the world. However, concerns about sustainability have been raised including potential impacts on nutrients (eutrophication); disease, and impacts on wild fish/fisheries. Conversely, with wild fisheries already at or beyond sustainable catch in many areas, aquaculture may be the most efficient and sustainable way of producing more aquatic foods and resources. Smart systems include both automated electronic systems and smart management of resources – e.g. waste treatment and value added. Automation in aquaculture already includes many commercially available water quality sensors. Autonomous and semi-autonomous flyers (e.g. multicopters, ‘drones‘), boats and underwater vehicles can help sense water quality parameters in open (e.g. estuary, ocean) systems. With further development, these systems may also allow active interventions to reduce the impacts of storm events, toxicity and other environmental impacts. Smart management of “wastes” – e.g. nutrients – should use current knowledge to add value, perhaps with multitrophic aquaculture systems. For example finfish wastes may be used to produce macro and microalgae; some of which may be fed to shellfish, enhancing water quality, producing food, energy and other resources. Truly wise management of these sectors may allow increased aquacultural productivity as well as optimal focus and protection of critical conservation areas. Much future work should focus on smart thinking to add value; and corobotics, where robots provide people with more information, allowing wiser decisions, resulting in more sustainable and productive aquaculture systems.

Engineered aquacultural systems are increasing around the world, and now exceed wild caught fisheries as the primary source of seafood (FAO). Much aquaculture is done in freshwater systems including ponds and recirculating aquaculture systems. However, both near shore and offshore marine systems are on the increase, with some 356,000 km of coast worldwide (CIA World Factbook). The water area within 200 miles of a country (exclusive economic zone) is about 71 million square kilometres, which exceeds the 49 million square kilometres of agricultural land worldwide, implying a great potential for productivity. There are, however, a number of challenges with these systems, and engineers can and must contribute to enhancing productivity while simultaneously improving sustainability. Among these challenges are: 1) salinity; 2) wave energy; 3) coastal storms; 4) distance; 5) waste management; 6) nutrient efficiency; 7) impacts on natural fisheries; and 8) competition with other human uses. Both reality and perception are very important for expansion of coastal aquaculture. There are huge areas but finding ways to minimize impacts on both natural and human systems, technical, economic and aesthetic are critical to aquacultural success. Our team is working on addressing these issues which will be needed as fish consumption increases and population continues to rise toward 10 billion.

A fleet of Autonomous Surface Vehicles (ASVs) has been created at Louisiana State University in the Department of Biological & Agricultural Engineering. These robotic devices operate on the surface of water bodies and have been used to reduce bird predation on aquaculture ponds, gather floating biomass, and collect environmental data. Previous research has focused on single ASVs performing given tasks. Examples of this type of research are discussed including a single ASV measuring the depth of the surface of the sediment beneath the water’s surface with an accuracy of <1 cm and a single ASV patrolling an aquaculture pond and scaring predatory birds away. After a brief introduction into single ASV guidance algorithms and some of the difficulties that occur in this relatively simple environment, this paper examines the complex issues that arise when performing guidance planning for multiple vehicles on a single body of water. Trials where the ASVs are acting independently with no ability to communicate with each other while performing a task are compared with trials where the ASVs are acting in a cooperative manner (with inter-vehicle communications) to collectively perform the task are discussed. Specific applications considered include mapping of water quality parameters; capture of aquatic plant biomass and tracking of pollutant gradients in water bodies. Each of these are important and in each case, multivehicle cooperation can enhance the speed or efficiency of success in the given task, allowing enhanced sustainability in environmental and water systems.

Measurement of sediment deposition and erosion in coastal areas is a challenge due to soft shifting sediments, but is critical to assessing loss or restoration of coastal sediments and wetlands. The aim of this project was to design and construct a semi-autonomous boat with water depth measuring capabilities. It was intended to map the depth of coastal wetlands to determine erosion rates and assess coastal restoration effects. Depth-measuring equipment was incorporated into an autonomous pontoon boat powered by solar panels. The propulsion system consisted of two paddlewheels and two-way motors to allow movement and positioning for measurements. Modifications included a lightweight, hard coating on the pontoons and powder-coating the frame to extend their usable life. A microcontroller controlled the boat and captured depth data from sensors and location data with a GPS system. The depth measuring system consisted of a pulley and counter system that completed each measurement in less than 45 seconds. This allowed the boat to take approximately 400 measurements per day. Net accuracy was approximately 3 cm in the tested configuration. The boat can continually measure the depth of specified areas in the wetlands; with this data, the change in depth can be monitored to see the effects of restoration projects.

The LSU Irrigation and Leaching Control System was designed to reduce irrigation consumption and nutrient leaching during containerized plant production. Recent work has 1) integrated wireless tipping bucket sensors into the system, and 2) tested the system at an ornamental nursery production facility to document reduced irrigation and leaching volumes. Microirrigation, combined with cyclic application, can increase water application efficiency compared to timed irrigation, but continue to lack ease-of-use or precision. Other methods to determine volume and frequency of irrigation include evapotranspiration modeling, monitoring container capacity, and monitoring substrate moisture using sensors. However, lack of reliable models and high costs make these methods impractical for commercial application and therefore have limited adoption by the industry. Therefore, the automated, sensor-driven irrigation system was designed by the LSU AgCenter and shows significant reductions in water consumption and leaching with potential for considerable labor savings as well. The basic technology used indicator plants and eliminated the need to measure environmental factors needed for complicated evapotranspiration models. Versions developed can reduce water usage and have potential to implement deficit irrigation and highly controlled, repeatable leaching events. This control system has been effectively incorporated in both microirrigation and overhead irrigation systems. Recent studies show reduction in water use of 59% compared to the existing commercial irrigation management practices. Ongoing commercialization work focuses on increasing the system’s user friendliness, safety, and manufacturability. Overall, these systems can contribute to the multibillion dollar horticulture industry by saving water, energy, and reducing leaching of nutrients.

Individual autonomous vehicles have been developed for previous applications, including aquacultural and water quality applications. Development of a fleet of vehicles for more advanced applications required unique uses of sensors as well as communications hardware. Autonomous vehicles can be especially useful for applications that would otherwise be long and tedious for humans to perform. Such tasks include reducing predatory birds from aquacultural ponds, measuring depth, and tracking temperature and chemical gradients. A fleet of autonomous vehicles can complete these jobs more efficiently than a single boat by covering more area and by coordinating the work through the use of communications.

A single autonomous vehicle has proven to be a safe, environmentally friendly, and effective method to reduce bird predation on aquaculture ponds. This research has been extended to larger aquaculture systems and to other areas related to aquaculture such as water quality monitoring. The vehicles are also being tested in a natural environment taking water quality and other data related to monitoring coastal erosion and efficacy of restoration efforts. These large scale environments necessitate the use of multiple vehicles to accomplish the tasks in a timely manner. The usefulness of multiple autonomous vehicles is greatly increased when the vehicles have a method of communicating location and sensor information. We discuss various communications methodologies, design considerations and realized benefits of one such system currently being tested.