Aquaponics is one step ahead and one step greener.

Seems like emulating the battery chicken process should not be anyone's goal.

This makes me want to go vegetarian.

Sorry to post twice, but really, that's gross. We destroy the oceans, so we just switch to tanks in a factory farm?

john m, I think the point was to avoid further destroying oceans. It seems this method of obtaining fish should be much more energy efficient then sending ships out to catch them. Also, as we strive to lessen other sourcces of pollution, we can have a source of fish raised without mercury in the water until we can clean of natural sources of water and fish. Many other type of fish farms use fish such as tallapia(sp?) that feed off the waste of other fish to help clean the water, and can also be eaten (I find tallapia quite tasty). So water can be circulated between tanks where there are more and less desirable types of fish to send to market. If the fish is not hazardous to us, and reduces issues of fishing for wild fish (by-catch, pollution from buring/leaking fuel and oil) than I think it is an improvement.

Old_Wolf:

three words: "free range fish." i admit to playing devil's advocate, and i agree that this method of fish farming solves the environmental concerns, but consider the fish and their quality of life. could anyone with a conscience really feel better about eating fish from a tank in someone's basement? i hope someday all organisms will be treated with equal respect and understanding, but until then I suppose we will do what we can regardless.

I see the vegan nutjobs are out in force this morning.

When it comes to fish, I am not all that considered about quality of life, as long as people aren't intentionally inflicting pain for some sick reason. And I am not too terribly worried about treating all organisms with equal respeect. I would erradicate MRSA staph. a. if I could. Especially since I was in the hospital due to that organism (well, a large number of that organism). I am by far more concerned about dolphins, and other fish that are not going to be eaten, being caught. If I do not feel that an organism I am going to eat is not all that aware of its environment, than I rather raise it in an environment that leads to less waste.

Give me a break. A cool and neat way to raise fish to eat and clean and people are STILL bitching. Good god, no wonder environmentalists \have a bad name.

Fish in the ocean feed themselves. Fish in tanks depend on our farming system. So while you're not hurting the oceans as much, you're using up more land for agriculture. Besides, like all animals raised in confinement, farm-raised fish are lower in nutrients than wild ones. Farm-raised salmon meat is actually grey, and is dyed pink so that it looks normal.

Jilted, I'm sorry if it comes off as a bitch to you, and I'm also sorry if I sound like a vegan nutjob (especially since I still eat meat). But raising fish in tanks is no better for the environment, and it's worse both for the fish and for us.

The solution is responsibly-managed waters.

I think it's better for the environment. Especially that concept of the fish being raised closer to the customers. I mean, every day health advocates say you need to eat more fish, and then there's a lot of people not on the coasts, so that means the fish gets frozen and shipped in a refrigerated truck, or, worse, the fish is sent quickly by jet chilled but not frozen for those who claim there's a big difference between fresh and frozen.

That was a mistake for him to say that this is similar to mass-farming chickens. I don't really think fish have as much to worry about as the chickens. If a fish can't move, it dies. It needs to swim to breathe.

What I want to know is, how much growth hormone are they adding to the fish feed...

Well, Tim, actually nuts and seeds have a lot more of the omega fats that make fish so healthy. Besides, if you have to grow it in a tank, is it really a local food? We evolved in a lot of places besides just coastlines.

http://www.pponline.co.uk/encyc/omega-3-omega-6.html

Clearly I've not been doing my job. A lot of misguided comments here. Just a few points:

Tilapia is also known as St. Peters Perch and yes , delightfully delicious!!

Rabbit, although you seem to be defending these factory farms, you seem to do a better job of acknowledging the problems with them. The waste and energy issues are pretty significant, when you think about it. Oceans deal with those issues for free.

And while I thank you for admitting that it's wrong to catch wild fish just to feed them to farmed fish, you didn't say where else the feed would come from. The answer of course is the land, which is already taxed from feeding our population, will soon have to grow ethanol for people's SUVs, and would only get worse if we used it to feed these fishtanks, too.

The strangest thing about your comment is that you say there's "potential" for these things to "look like" CAFOs (factory farms). That picture looks like a factory farm to me already, Rabbit. And it isn't just looks.

this is my story: exactly this kind of automatic fishfarm was exibited at INRIBPROM-1985 international exibition in Leningrad. At that time i assisted to the inventor and producer of the rotating bio-drum (main part of automatic fishfarm) -Mr. Leif Holmberg, Denmark. I translated hundreds of talks with soviet (at that time) ingeneers and chief ingeneers of giant purification plants from all the big cities of the former USSR. All of them did not believe the inventio really works.
Through more then 30 years by now i follow this invention fate. My opinion is - its environmental capacity to clean water in rivers, ponds, sea - everywhere contradicts to interests of those who produce water pumping equipement, electromotors etc. of big water purification plants. With kind respect - Vladimir

Wow. So many minds so closed to anything. If this system has some issues that you contest then try and come up with a solution. All I ever hear is how we are destroying this and that. Well, do something about it. This article shows forward movement in the production of a food source. Is it perfect, no. Can it be improved upon, yes. If your only gripe is that the fish food comes from the already burdened land then become a vegan. Oh wait. That would mean that you are now consuming more veggies and are yourself causing a further burden on the land. If you are concerned that little Nemo isn’t happy in an environmentally controlled, predator free (except for us) environment, grow up. We as a world are fishing the oceans to extinction. Maybe not in the immediate future but as the world turns to the ocean more and more we need a plan. This, my friends, is a plan. A community could grow much of their food source in an environment that is controlled and mercury free. It won’t take the ocean long to recover if we start a process early enough, but if we sit and complain about how this is wrong and that is bad and forgo progress it will be an enviable demise of the largest natural resource we have. If I have a tank in my basement and grow my own food (using the expelled tank water as fertilizer) I can self sustain the process and eliminate manmade fertilizers from my garden. All this could be done in a very limited space and I would have enough to supplement other families. The reduction in beef consumption (fish replacing beef) would free up land that was used for feeding the beef cattle. With my small flock of chickens I now have eggs and additional meat. A few goats and I can reduce my fuel to mow grass and have a source of milk and more meat. All this can be accomplished on 1 acre of land. Add a few solar panels and a wind turbine (dead birds mean more meat, j/k) and my footprint on this earth has shrunk tremendously.
Hell, anyone can whine. Try doing.

LoL from all the people who was commenting My67falcon's comment is the best one. I do think this fish farming is a good idea. I'm googling rotating bio-drum now too. There are people who goes too far in both side. I have a plan to really reduce your "footprint"...... Creamate your body now and feed it to the fish farm! =) The Super-Eco will reduce the waste they generate and help the fish farm! j/k.... Or This should be the best idea I've ever had in the time I started reading this article. Ok here goes the Master Plan! In 50 years when bio-diversity is gone in the ocean, we should start doing massive fish farms in the ocean. And when the fish that didnt evolve to survive off the fishery waste dies, then thats too bad! But there's a But, If Darwin is right then there will be fishes that will evolve and flourish Dependent to our massive Fish Farm! ..... OR... we can just have World War 4 and kill 90% of world population. A kind of soft reset of the world.... wow I like free-writing.... I think something might be wrong with my head.... Anywho I'm getting hungry..... Keep Hugging Floss-Silk Trees!