Tag Archives: Sacramento
What is Aquaponics?
Interest is growing for aquaponics—the combination of aquaculture (farming aquatic species) and hydroponics (soil-less plant culture). This interest comes from a diverse group including backyard hobbyists, non-profits, and commercial ventures. And it’s easy to understand the allure. Aquaponics produces sustainable, locally grown fresh produce, using recirculated water, and combines knowledge from various disciplines including animal husbandry, plant ecology, pest management, and engineering, to name a few. There are also a variety of opportunities for aquaponics as a teaching tool for students, entrepreneurs, and veterans. Particularly in California, aquaponics represents a drought-smart method of food production, where water use can be as little as 10 percent of conventionally-irrigated terrestrial crops.
Combining aquaculture (farming aquatic species) and hydroponics (soil-less plant culture). With an input of fish feed, nitrogen-rich fish wastes are converted by bacteria into nutrients for growing plants that in turn biologically filter the water.
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Sturgeon Aquaculture Tour
Sterling Caviar recently hosted a tour of their sturgeon farm and caviar processing facility in Elverta, California for an audience of state legislative and agency officials, accompanied by post-graduate Fellows from the California Sea Grant Program. Organized by the Office of the State Aquaculture Coordinator and the California Aquaculture Association, participants learned about this local success story and the long-term commitment required of farm-raising caviar, which takes an average of 10 years to yield its crop.
Dr. Sergei Doroshov and colleagues with a white sturgeon (1979).
Bobby Renschler speaks to group touring facility.
White Sturgeon in large tanks.
Workers carefully extract sturgeon eggs to create caviar.
Bobby Renschler describes the traditional Italian caviar tins that have not been surpassed by modern alternatives.
Shaoching Bishop with a tin of caviar.
Just a small taste.
Stem Lecture Series: Farming with Fish: Aquaponics and Urban Agriculture in Sacramento
Presented Thursday, February 19, 2015 at California State University, Sacramento
Courtesy of CSUS
Dr. Dudley Burton, Professor in the department of Environmental Studies and Dr. Brook Murphy, Lecturer in the Environmental Studies and Biological Sciences department at Sacramento State, will address their current aquaponics research happening at the Sustainable Technology Optimization Research Center (STORC) at Sacramento State.
As our population grows, a strong movement toward localized food production in non-traditional agricultural areas has begun to take hold. Professors Dudley Burton and Brook Murphy created the aquaponics program to highlight the significance of urban agriculture in addressing global food supply and environmental sustainability issues. Aquaponics farming is a system of aquaculture in which the waste produced by fish or other aquatic animals supplies nutrients for plants grown hydroponically. It uses 90 percent less water than traditional farming methods.
Aquaculture Matters 