Lack of imagination is the major impediment to the revitalization of the Urban Environment. Politicians continue to ply the same old industrial 20th Century Solutions to 21st Century Problems. Need urban development? Slap up some Condos, build some roads and run some job training programs are typical solutions that go nowhere. It seems that most communities and most people never bother to challenge themselves to come up with a holistic solution capable of creating an affordable, sustainable community which benefits everyone in the community. Which leads me to the first part of this series?
'Sleeping with the Fishes':
New Jersey use to be a truck farming center supplying local produce to the major urban centers in the area, Newark, New York and Philadelphia. All that changed, with the advent of the interstate highway system and cheap oil leading, to urban sprawl replacing the farms. We now get not only our exotic food but our regular every day food from all over the country and all over the world from California, Chile, China, etc. This works well so long as food is cheap and plentiful and there is the rub. As the rest of the world rapidly industrializes and we subsidize the production of biofuels, the era of 'Cheap and Plentiful' food for Americans is coming to an end. The rest of the world wants what we got and are willing to bid the price up to get it. Fresh water is becoming a scarce resource and the oceans are quickly becoming depleted of edible fish stock. This crisis won't be going away any time soon but its solution can benefit our community. How?
Indoor urban fish farming -OK, you can stop laughing. It turns out that if you are going to rethink the urban environment this a good place to start as a proof of concept. 'For example, using a RAS (RECIRCULATING AQUACULTURE SYSTEMS, click for details) it is
possible to product over 100,000 pounds of fish in a 5,000 square-foot building, whereas
20 acres of outdoor ponds would be necessary to produce an equal amount of fish with
Traditional open pond culture...' Ask yourself, how many 5000 square-foot buildings that are empty or underutilized do we have along the Raritan Valley RR corridor in Plainfield?
- The fish stock is protected from predators, weather changes and natural calamities
- With high control over temperature, water quality and feeding, it is possible to produce fish faster and at any time during the year
- Closed, indoor aquaculture systems are often considered as more friendly to the environment because they require less water and result to less waste. As an alternative to marine aquaculture, it doesn’t result to the pollution of coastal waters with drugs, chemicals and antibiotics
- It avoids the usual danger of fish escapes associated with traditional open net pens and cages system of fish farming in coastal waters
- It allows higher stocking densities, requiring smaller spaces and lesser management needs. As such, it can save a farm owner labor and time to manage a farm
- It allows production facilities to be near the market, saving transportation costs'
So in the future could Plainfield be 'Sleeping with the Fishes?'
10 comments:
Not just fish but hydroponic gardens . . . also look what Perdue has done with chicken.
TAP: Not to worry, I'm doing this one step at a time.
Hydoponic fishing is part of the greening of America. It has been succesful in Buffalo, NY; which is one of the most depleted cities in the USA, when one looks at the economic and social problems there. They raise talapia and have brought jobs and innovation using green solutions.
Nat, once in a while there are federal SBIR grants for small businesses pursuing innovative aquaculture R&D. www.sbir.gov. It is not an easy business to get into; I would advise entrepreneurs to spend some apprenticeship time in a fishery before undertaking it. Capital costs for closed systems are high, and you have to have serious back-up power, etc. to keep everything alive, clean, and working. But government needs to be aware of all urban food production possibilities in order to rethink what types of businesses they seek to attract.
This may be closer to fruition (or fishition)than you think.
Colleen you are correct. This is of a piece: first; the vision; second, the feasibility; third, the buy-in; forth, the marketing; fifth, funding, the pilot; sixth, evaluate the pilot; seventh; if go, second round of funding; eighth, scaling up the pilot to production.
I will be adding a logical progression of ideas that go beyond indoor fish-farming but the farming is the key initial component. When you get a chance check out Big- Dutchman Gruppe, http://www.bd-fish.de/, they sell an innovative above ground indoor tank system that bolts to the floor.
Thanks, Nat--I'll look that up. Also, though a fledgling project, I commented further on www.beautifulcapacity.com. Turns out there is a live SBIR on the topic due in June.
Hi Nat
Aquaculture is a viable option.
Part of the vision for the recycling business I am starting here in Plainfield has an aquaponics component.
After I get the food waste recycling process ramped up - I would then capture waste liquids from the process into an aquaponics system.
It is expensive and you need expertise in managing these types of a systems. The engineer I'm working with has a client that is currently installing an indoor tilapia facility in NJ. It is pretty involved.
There are companies doing research and have set up active systems for indoor produce raising.
People are pursuing this and I think it is the future. We are just in the beginning of the revolution!
Olive Lynch
Olive your stealing my thunder. I'll talk about Wanda, a little later and dealing with the waste products. Is your client aware of the Big-Dutchman?
Also, I'm looking for a white paper on start-up cost. If you have one I can look at send it. natsingleton@gmail.com
Believe it or not, although rusty, my knowledge of tropical fish is/use to be fairly extensive. Never thought it would come in handy, in particular African Cichlids.
I started researching details of fish farming a few days ago and am still getting up to speed.
Nat,
This is such a cool idea, hopefully this is something Plainfield can support. Yes. I can see this happening right here in Plainfield along the tracks.
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