Fish Farming Moves to the Condo
by Karin Kloosterman, Jerusalem, Israel on 02. 4.08
Big fish are moving into the big city. Recent headlines about contaminants found in the sushi of New York restaurants gives us all the more reason to love Yonathan Zohar's city fish farms. Perfect for the basements of large condos or parked near a big city market, Zohar's commercial fish farms solve a number of problems.
"It is clear that the consumption of seafood and fish is on the rise, because of the great health benefits... but now we are over-harvesting," warns Zohar, director of the Center of Marine Biotechnology at the University of Maryland. "We need to change that practice and become more efficient in a way that is compatible to the earth."
Using advanced concepts of microbiology, Zohar has entrained special microbes to live in symbiosis with the fish in order to digest their waste, 21c reports. Aerated by plastic plugs that house the microbes, the fish pools are bio-secure and contaminant free.
In addition, part of the solid waste that is created by uneaten food or microbial byproducts is converted into methane and used as biofuel, says Zohar. This is significant. Zohar was one of the original team to develop the technology of fish farming in floating cages at sea in Israel.
The urban fish pools, each about the size of a children's pool with higher walls and a roof, can be put into operation anywhere Zohar stresses – from the mid-West to Las Vegas.
Zohar is looking for an investor to build the first pilot plant. How about a condo near you?
This isn't the first time TH has covered this story, but it is the first video that explains the new concept (even if only in a "shallow way" - hey get it?). See Llyod's post here.
TreeHugger related: The Carbon Footprint of Sushi; Gravitational Vortex Plant Safe for Fish.
So why is this any different than supposedly evil fish farms in the sea?
The difference between this fish farms in the ocean is that there is no chance of these fish escaping, interbreeding, or harboring diseases. Modular landlocked fish production facilities have no vectors for contaminating the wild population.
Some of the problems with open net fish farming are:
* Sea lice and disease from farmed salmon threaten wild stocks.
* Pollution from farms contaminates surrounding waters.
* Drugs, including antibiotics, are required to keep farmed fish healthy.
* Escapes of farmed fish (alien species) threaten native wild fish.
* Net loss: Farmed fish are fed pellets made from other fish, depleting other fish species on a global scale.
You can find more info at http://www.davidsuzuki.org/Oceans/Aquaculture/Salmon/
Which is where I took the above points from.
I'm really excited about modularized landlocked fish farming.
"Contaminants" namely Mercury tends to concentrate it's way up the food chin. Feeding fish fish is a bad idea.
Eating fish from one of these condos could actually be healthy.
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080213/LIVING07/802130303