Bok Choy: The Solution To Overfishing?

The Atlantic Food Channel:

"Just think of this as a gourmet wastewater facility," said Kevin Ferry, tearing off a romaine leaf and stuffing it into his mouth. I'd [Barry Estabrook] come to Cabbage Hill for a firsthand look at a form of food production that offers a promising alternative to traditional aquaculture. Called aquaponics, it is a variation on hydroponics, with a sustainable twist.

Read the whole story: The Atlantic Food Channel

Comments

[jsarets]

12:38 PM on 11/29/2009

Aquaponics is based on a concept developed by the New Alchemy Institute in the 60s and 70s.

In an optimized setup, it's possible to cultivate enough algae in the fish tanks to feed herbivorous fish such as tilapia or catfish with no external feed inputs.

The most modern setups use pebble-bed drip hydroponics and inoculate the water with nitrogen-fixing bacteria. This allows the beds to completely filter the water without external waste outputs.

Ideally, the only inputs are a small amount of water to make up for evaporation and small amount of electricity to run the pumps and perhaps water heaters (depending on climate).

And the only outputs are fish and veggies. About as closed-loop as possible.

But aquaponics is capital-intensive and fairly complex to optimize. A few commercial ventures have tried to go big without enough small-scale testing and did not get it right.

I don't think it will be long before someone gets it right at a commercial scale.

[dsws]

08:36 PM on 11/28/2009

The article says it's economically non-viable at this point, primarily because of all the labor-intensive management the system requires. But if it were scaled up to mass production for the freezers of Wal-Mart and Trader Joe's, a lot of that labor could be replaced with electronics.

[Humanistic]

05:51 PM on 11/27/2009

Just one word: GAS!

[BannedNBoston]

05:18 PM on 11/27/2009

A better alternative than eating a few times a week for the fish oil or taking fish-oil capsules is;
ORGANIC HEMP SEED OIL

Hemp Seed Oil: Superior Omega-3 and Omega-6 supplement
(Cold Pressed Hemp Seed Oil: Excellent Omega 3 and Omega 6 essential fatty ... Skin care and Hemp seed oil; omega-3 and omega-6 oils are helpful in improving skin

http://www.intensivenutrition.com/hempoil.htm

Gamma-Linolenic Acid (GLA)- In addition to the two essential fatty acids, Hemp Seed Oil ... nervosity and irritability as well as aggressivity and depression. ...

[TakeSake]

05:36 PM on 11/27/2009

Hemp milk is part of my daily breakfast!

I top off rice mixed with assorted raisins, nuts, seeds, and a banana sliced in.

[research]

12:38 PM on 11/27/2009

It's a good idea, but it has do deal with toxic sludge.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andrew-kimbrell/give-thanks-but-not-for-t_b_369698.html

[dsws]

08:33 PM on 11/28/2009

Sludge from municipal wastewater treatment is unsuitable for use on food crops. But that's because of all the other stuff that gets dumped down drains, from bleach to pharmaceuticals. I would have no objection to eating the produce grown in the water from this project or the raised beds fertilized with its sludge.

[research]

10:42 PM on 11/28/2009

Better to BioChar it for energy and fuels, which kills all the pathogens and toxic organic compounds.